The year started out pretty well, the first couple of days were pretty slow. We didn’t have much to do. Felix, Pablo and I visited a few families to see if their terrain was ready for us to start working on or not. A couple of families were ready so we set forms for their foundations. On Monday the 7th we started working with our first Vision Team of 2008. We set a mobile floor, for a one room house, in the morning and made some panels in the afternoon. On Tuesday we went to San Pedro Mirador and poured a foundation for a two room house. (The small houses are 16ft. X 12ft. with one door and two windows, the two room houses are 24ft. X 12ft. divided into two 12ft. X 12ft. rooms. The two room house is actually set on a foundation that is 24ft. X 20ft. so we end up with an 8ft. X 24ft. covered corridor; it in essence becomes a third room.) Do to a lack of running water it took us a couple hours longer than usual to finish. We started at 8:30am and finished at almost 3pm. On Wednesday we built the house we’d set the floor for on Monday, it takes about half a day to build the smaller houses (house #1 of 2008). Thursday we built some more panels and had the house blessing in the afternoon. The house blessing is an opportunity for the Vision Teams to ask the family questions and offer their congratulations and well wishes. That afternoon we had their despedida, sending off, as they were going to New Hope for the last day of their trip. The Vision Team was from Minnesota and had a lady in her 60’s and a sophomore in high school. They were a lot of fun to work with and they worked hard. Friday we checked on some more terrain then went for a tour of the area just north of Antigua. During the weekend I did my laundry, had a BBQ and played some ultimate Frisbee, updated my blog and watched some NFL play-off games.
On Monday the 14th Chicho, Pablo and I went to the school in San Juan del Obispo to help them disassemble and move some classrooms that Common Hope had built for them several years ago. We were moving them to a different part of the property. At the start of the day we had a few teenaged students helping us but soon it was just the three of us and Hubo, a teacher that works at the project and in San Juan, dismantling the buildings. It took us all day but we finished taking them apart. Tuesday we set level-lines for a small house in San Gaspar and made some extra floor tiles in case one broke. Wednesday morning Pablo and I started setting the mobile floor and Chicho joined us part of the way through. In the afternoon our second Vision Team of the year showed up, from IL. The group that I worked with in the afternoon to deliver the panels and materials to San Gaspar consisted of a Youth Minister, a Retired Gynecologist, a Banker, and a Psychiatrist/ Dean of Students at Northwestern Medical School. After delivering the materials we came back to the project and made more panels. The next morning we assembled the house in San Gaspar and that afternoon we cleaned the slab and set the forms to make more floor planchas. One of the other members of the team was Sue, the Sr. Pastor at Hinsdale UCC in IL. We had some great conversations about Colorado; for many years she was a pastor in Greeley, CO. We talked about backpacking and hiking and all of the other outdoor activities that we had participated in throughout CO. Friday morning we mixed 12 wheelbarrows of sand with 12 bags of cement and 12 wheelbarrows or little rocks with a lot of water to fill the forms we set the day before. That Saturday I didn’t do a whole lot and in the evening I met up with the Vision Team to have dinner at a place called Don Rodrigo’s. The food was great, I had the salmon, and we had some great conversation about all sorts of stuff. On Sunday I cleaned around the house and then went to Monoloco to watch the Patriots beat the Chargers in the play-offs. Sunday nights at the local Irish pub, Reilly’s, they have pub-quiz, so we decided to give our collective knowledge a test. We didn’t do great, but we weren’t last ;)
Every time I go out I have the opportunity to meet someone interesting and this night was no different. I met a young woman, Amber, who was born in Japan and grew up in the states and currently living in L.A. She was just traveling and having some fun but was also looking for places to pursue her dream. She wants to find some blend of working with computers and modeling to benefit third world countries. We talked for a long time and I was really impressed and encouraged her as much as I could to continue in her pursuit.
Now Monday the 21st we had 2 Vision Teams at the same time. I spent the morning working with the group from IL at the project while Pablo and Felix worked with our new group from MN doing a foundation in San Miguel. Tuesday the IL group headed to New Hope and we started building a house with the MN group. By the end of the day we were pretty much ready for the roof.
Tuesday night my roommate Pamela was sad so we talked and I got to see some more stuff about Guatemala that just doesn’t make sense. One of her friends and his girlfriend had been carjacked/ kidnapped couple of weeks earlier and had agreed to help the police to find the perpetrators. After a few weeks the police successfully located and arrested them. The following day, (Tue.) Jan 22nd, there was an article in the paper detailing the incident and arrests. Nothing strange in that except that along with the detailed description of the events came a detailed description of the two victims—Pamela’s friends—and their addresses. Due to this her friend was going to have to move out of the country as he had become a target for the gangs as a snitch. Guatemala has many stories such as this that are just part of the reason it has been stuck in the state it is for so long.
Anyway, Wednesday morning we put the roof on the house in San Pedro Mirador and in the afternoon we had the house blessing and the despedida for the MN group. Thursday morning we went to visit some families in San Cristobal El Cerrito (the little hill). From where the road ends to the houses is about 1 or 1.5 km, it’s a hike, a lot of it uphill… The visits took almost all morning and in the afternoon, Pablo and I didn’t want to do anything so we just wandered around the project visiting people. Esteban, one of the maintenance employees, was doing some welding and I stopped to chat with him. He offered to teach me how to weld and I agreed, so after a quick intro and some practice I was successfully arc-welding stuff. Friday morning I had to be at work at 6 am because we had staff training in the city. There 30 of us total from Antigua and New Hope and our day was spent talking about a variety of things surrounding stereotypes and discrimination. Saturday I did some laundry and updated my blog. When I got home Britt and Carlos were going to walk to some ruins near-by, so I joined them. We climbed around on them and talked for a while before heading into town to see Pamela at Café No Sè. There I met a young man, Paul, who was a Major in the Air Force before he finished active duty and joined the Peace Corps. We talked about a lot of stuff including his time at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Sunday morning Bob picked me up and several other people and we headed into the city on our way to climb a volcano. Bob and I have decided to climb as many of the volcanoes as we can, there are 20-some. On our way we stopped at the Gym where Bob coaches gymnastics. He volunteered at the project for two years and is now living and working in the city. We played on all of the apparatuses and in the giant pit filled with foam blocks. WE then headed on to find and climb Tecamburro (Tay-com-boo-rrow). We found the volcano where it was supposed to be, thankfully it hadn’t moved, and stopped first to see the acidic-sulfury lake next to it called Ixpaco (Eesh-pok-o). We took some photos and found a Lemon tree then climbed to the top of the volcano. On the way up we found a vine that we decided to swing on, and it provided much fun and enjoyment even after it broke while I was swinging on it… On our way back down we temporarily lost one of the group and spent some time looking for her, but she wasn’t far away and the day ended successfully.
This was January…, there are a lot of pictures to see… check them out :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18432&l=a6878&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18442&l=40772&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18444&l=9a812&id=752630746
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
December 15th - December 31st, 2007
December 15th was kind of a lazy Saturday and my rommate, Pamela, asked me if I wanted to go to the city and have lunch with her family. It sounded fun and I wasn't doing anything so I went along. I met Pamela's: Grandmother, Mother, Sister, Uncle, Aunt, and cousin. We sat down to eat Spinach soup and chicken enchiladas. (note: if you ever have the chance to eat a meal with a Latin-American family, take it) They spoke so fast and, a lot of the time, at the same time. After, lunch we went shopping at the super market, Hiper Paiz, which is litterally Super Wal-Mart. They purchased several of the big chains here in Guatemala and all across Central America a few years ago. I started to wonder what that will do to Guatemala, a place where families run a tienda, little store, and there are several within a community, what will a huge corporation like Wal-mart do..., Is it ultimately a good thing or not??? Anyway, we finished shopping and went back to their house to eat some more. We had some Rice Tamales, packed up Pamela's car and came back to Antigua. We met up with some friends, had a few drinks and called it an early night.
December 16th - Dia de Canastas (Baskets Day)
Tha staff all showed up by 7 am on Sunday morning to prepare for the operation..., yeah, operation. We had 8-900 families coming to the project to receive a Christmas gift basket and along with that there was an hour of entertainment for the adults and kids seperately. I was helping with passing out the baskets to the families. Each basket had a variety of useful stuff in it, like pasta and a blanket (see photos). In all we estimate that there were between 3-5,000 people that came through the project. It was a long day but really rewarding and fun too.
Decenber 17th-21st
It was a pretty normal week at work, just real quiet around the project. Pablo and I built a lot of panels in preparation for the 4 Vision Teams that were coming in January. On Wednesday I went with Chicho and another satff person to our new out-post in San Rafael. It's about a 45 minute drive north of Antigua. This is what Common Hope is looking at doing to expand their shadow of service. Building a facility like we have here in Antigua is very expensive so they don't want to do that again. Instead they are starting little outpost that use our facility as a jumping off point. This one is in the school in San Rafael. Chicho and I went to work on the stove that the school has. It was originally built too high and the cooks couldn't lift the big pots on and off of it, so we lowered it to about knee height. Thursday I started watching my friend Rocio's dog while she went back to Mexico for Christmas. Mailo is a Golden Retriever and still a puppy, one and a half years old, I think. That Friday, the 21st, we had the day off, comp time for the previous Sunday so I did nothing all day.
December 24th
This was the first low day I've had here in Guatemala.It was really different to not be around any of my Family and Friends, and even weirder that I wasn't going to be at CUC for the duration of the evening. I spent the day hanging out with Mailo and watching some sports. Then I called my father to ask him to call me later that night during Silent Night. My church has a tradition that each of the five X-mas Eve services are closed by singing Silent Night by candle light. At the 11 pm service, they have Communion right at midnight then sing Silent Night. It was about 1:15 am local time when my father called and I got to listen to the congregation sing. When they finished the whole congregation wished me a Merry Christmas. (even as I type this I'm beginning to cry) It was really nice and I appreciated it a lot. The only thing that sort of disruppted all of that was the dance party that started immediately after the barage of fireworks ended. Part of a Guatemalan's Christmas celebration includes launching off Fireworks at Midnight Christmas Day. So, for about half an hour there was a nation-wide fireworks display. At 12:30 am they turned on the music in the plaza of Santa Ana, which is directly in front of my house, and had a party til about 8 am.
Christmas Day
I got up and went for a run with Mailo, we ran for about 40 minutes, it was a beautiful day. 85 degrees or so, sunny, blue sky..., no snow anywhere..., very different from any Christmas I'd had before. I called my folks and several friends and then made some dinner. I invited my nieghbor An, from Belgium, over to join me for dinner as she was alone too. We enjoyed dinner and conversation, Pamela got home and joined us as well. All around a good day.
December 26th - 29th
Chicho, Felix and Pablo were on vacation so it was just me and Mario working. I did lots of little random stuff and just stayed busy. I also worked on a desk that I was building for Pamela. There was one in the house but it was sold to someone before we moved in just not picked up, so they finally came and got it. Pamela needs a desk for studying, so I told her I'd make her one. I used old scrap wood here at the project, plained it down and cut it up..., for my first piece of furniture I think it looks pretty good. Saturday I did my laundry and worked on the desk some more.
Sunday December 30th
I got up and was motivated to clean, so I washed all the dishes and cleaned the house. Sometime in the middle of scrubbing the toilet I got the idea to go to the beach! I asked pamela what she thought and she was up for it. So we loaded up the car with some food and beer and picked up Peter, the guy she was dating at the time, and headed south to Puerto San José. It's about an hour and a half drive south of Antigua on the Pacific Ocean. Antigua is in the hills but as soon as you start heading south it is just one gentle slope all the way to the ocean, the elevation drops, the humidity sky rockets and the temperature increases too. It was about 2 pm when we got to the black volcanic sand beach. The beach was pretty dirty, lots of trach and stuff, but it was nice. I played in the surf for a while and we sat and talked and screwed around, trying to do hand stands and front hand springs. We also got a call from our friend Carlos, telling us that he had tickets for us to go to the XL party that night in San Jose. The big Rum company here, Ron Botron, throws a huge New Years party every year. It's free but only if you know someone who gets tickets, Carlos used to work for them, so he gets tickets. We showed up and they had a huge stage set up with models, male and female, walking around in togas. Atlantis was the theme, we got a little dance performance, and then a concert by The Kumbia All-Stars, a big Mexican rock band. The rum was free and all you could drink, so I did my part..., and then a bit more... We finally left at about 2 am to head back home. Pamela drove and I fell asleep in the backseat. Somewhere down the highway, that 'bit more' didn't want to stay down, so I hung my head out the window and left it on the highway... We got home a little before 4 am and I went straight to bed.
Monday December 31st
A phone call woke me up at around noon, it was to confirm meeting plans. I was meeting up with Rocio, Terry, and Terry's friend Rob to go to the city and run in the San Silvestre 10K. I didn{t feel all that great, I wonder why, but I got up and had some tea and some food and headed into Antigua. We left at about 2 pm and got to the start of the run about 3 pm. It turned out both Terry and Rocio decided not to run so it was just Rob and I. There were about 2,000 people there, several in costumes, and only 2, yes TWO port-a-potties. Rob and I walked down the street to McDonalds to go to the bathroom. Then a 4 pm we started running. Surprisingly I felt pretty good until about k. 7, I wanted to die. I pushed through, though, and I finished in 50 minutes flat. Not that amazing in and of its self, but 10 minutes better that my previuos 10K and after a night of heavy drinking... We came back to Antigua and I showered, napped, and then headed to Rocio's house for dinner and drinks. Lot's of the Volunteers from the project were there and we ate and laughed and had some Vodka Jell-o shots. At about 11 pm we walked into Antigua where Pepsi was throwing a huge street party on Calle del Arco. I headed to the Monoloco to meet up with Carlos and Pamela and Bob. We watched the fireworks from the patio and then they kicked everyone out except for about 20 of us and they opened the bar. We listened, and sang, to loud music and drank until about 4 am. When we got back to the house Santa Ana was having another party so the music was blaring, Guatemalans don't do music quietly, and another friend came over with champange. Finally at about 6 am I was done so I went to bed and was asleep with out any problem.
That was the end of 2007! It was such a great year, so many amazing experiences, new friends old friends, Mission Trips and retreats, singing and dancing, laughing and loving, quiting my job and moving out of the country... WOW! I'm looking forward to life to come, especially in 2008!
Follow your heart and passions, life is too short to say, should've, could've, and would've...
Blessings on you and your's in this new year :)
Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14006&l=3abd5&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14323&l=fbb19&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14330&l=c5055&id=752630746
December 16th - Dia de Canastas (Baskets Day)
Tha staff all showed up by 7 am on Sunday morning to prepare for the operation..., yeah, operation. We had 8-900 families coming to the project to receive a Christmas gift basket and along with that there was an hour of entertainment for the adults and kids seperately. I was helping with passing out the baskets to the families. Each basket had a variety of useful stuff in it, like pasta and a blanket (see photos). In all we estimate that there were between 3-5,000 people that came through the project. It was a long day but really rewarding and fun too.
Decenber 17th-21st
It was a pretty normal week at work, just real quiet around the project. Pablo and I built a lot of panels in preparation for the 4 Vision Teams that were coming in January. On Wednesday I went with Chicho and another satff person to our new out-post in San Rafael. It's about a 45 minute drive north of Antigua. This is what Common Hope is looking at doing to expand their shadow of service. Building a facility like we have here in Antigua is very expensive so they don't want to do that again. Instead they are starting little outpost that use our facility as a jumping off point. This one is in the school in San Rafael. Chicho and I went to work on the stove that the school has. It was originally built too high and the cooks couldn't lift the big pots on and off of it, so we lowered it to about knee height. Thursday I started watching my friend Rocio's dog while she went back to Mexico for Christmas. Mailo is a Golden Retriever and still a puppy, one and a half years old, I think. That Friday, the 21st, we had the day off, comp time for the previous Sunday so I did nothing all day.
December 24th
This was the first low day I've had here in Guatemala.It was really different to not be around any of my Family and Friends, and even weirder that I wasn't going to be at CUC for the duration of the evening. I spent the day hanging out with Mailo and watching some sports. Then I called my father to ask him to call me later that night during Silent Night. My church has a tradition that each of the five X-mas Eve services are closed by singing Silent Night by candle light. At the 11 pm service, they have Communion right at midnight then sing Silent Night. It was about 1:15 am local time when my father called and I got to listen to the congregation sing. When they finished the whole congregation wished me a Merry Christmas. (even as I type this I'm beginning to cry) It was really nice and I appreciated it a lot. The only thing that sort of disruppted all of that was the dance party that started immediately after the barage of fireworks ended. Part of a Guatemalan's Christmas celebration includes launching off Fireworks at Midnight Christmas Day. So, for about half an hour there was a nation-wide fireworks display. At 12:30 am they turned on the music in the plaza of Santa Ana, which is directly in front of my house, and had a party til about 8 am.
Christmas Day
I got up and went for a run with Mailo, we ran for about 40 minutes, it was a beautiful day. 85 degrees or so, sunny, blue sky..., no snow anywhere..., very different from any Christmas I'd had before. I called my folks and several friends and then made some dinner. I invited my nieghbor An, from Belgium, over to join me for dinner as she was alone too. We enjoyed dinner and conversation, Pamela got home and joined us as well. All around a good day.
December 26th - 29th
Chicho, Felix and Pablo were on vacation so it was just me and Mario working. I did lots of little random stuff and just stayed busy. I also worked on a desk that I was building for Pamela. There was one in the house but it was sold to someone before we moved in just not picked up, so they finally came and got it. Pamela needs a desk for studying, so I told her I'd make her one. I used old scrap wood here at the project, plained it down and cut it up..., for my first piece of furniture I think it looks pretty good. Saturday I did my laundry and worked on the desk some more.
Sunday December 30th
I got up and was motivated to clean, so I washed all the dishes and cleaned the house. Sometime in the middle of scrubbing the toilet I got the idea to go to the beach! I asked pamela what she thought and she was up for it. So we loaded up the car with some food and beer and picked up Peter, the guy she was dating at the time, and headed south to Puerto San José. It's about an hour and a half drive south of Antigua on the Pacific Ocean. Antigua is in the hills but as soon as you start heading south it is just one gentle slope all the way to the ocean, the elevation drops, the humidity sky rockets and the temperature increases too. It was about 2 pm when we got to the black volcanic sand beach. The beach was pretty dirty, lots of trach and stuff, but it was nice. I played in the surf for a while and we sat and talked and screwed around, trying to do hand stands and front hand springs. We also got a call from our friend Carlos, telling us that he had tickets for us to go to the XL party that night in San Jose. The big Rum company here, Ron Botron, throws a huge New Years party every year. It's free but only if you know someone who gets tickets, Carlos used to work for them, so he gets tickets. We showed up and they had a huge stage set up with models, male and female, walking around in togas. Atlantis was the theme, we got a little dance performance, and then a concert by The Kumbia All-Stars, a big Mexican rock band. The rum was free and all you could drink, so I did my part..., and then a bit more... We finally left at about 2 am to head back home. Pamela drove and I fell asleep in the backseat. Somewhere down the highway, that 'bit more' didn't want to stay down, so I hung my head out the window and left it on the highway... We got home a little before 4 am and I went straight to bed.
Monday December 31st
A phone call woke me up at around noon, it was to confirm meeting plans. I was meeting up with Rocio, Terry, and Terry's friend Rob to go to the city and run in the San Silvestre 10K. I didn{t feel all that great, I wonder why, but I got up and had some tea and some food and headed into Antigua. We left at about 2 pm and got to the start of the run about 3 pm. It turned out both Terry and Rocio decided not to run so it was just Rob and I. There were about 2,000 people there, several in costumes, and only 2, yes TWO port-a-potties. Rob and I walked down the street to McDonalds to go to the bathroom. Then a 4 pm we started running. Surprisingly I felt pretty good until about k. 7, I wanted to die. I pushed through, though, and I finished in 50 minutes flat. Not that amazing in and of its self, but 10 minutes better that my previuos 10K and after a night of heavy drinking... We came back to Antigua and I showered, napped, and then headed to Rocio's house for dinner and drinks. Lot's of the Volunteers from the project were there and we ate and laughed and had some Vodka Jell-o shots. At about 11 pm we walked into Antigua where Pepsi was throwing a huge street party on Calle del Arco. I headed to the Monoloco to meet up with Carlos and Pamela and Bob. We watched the fireworks from the patio and then they kicked everyone out except for about 20 of us and they opened the bar. We listened, and sang, to loud music and drank until about 4 am. When we got back to the house Santa Ana was having another party so the music was blaring, Guatemalans don't do music quietly, and another friend came over with champange. Finally at about 6 am I was done so I went to bed and was asleep with out any problem.
That was the end of 2007! It was such a great year, so many amazing experiences, new friends old friends, Mission Trips and retreats, singing and dancing, laughing and loving, quiting my job and moving out of the country... WOW! I'm looking forward to life to come, especially in 2008!
Follow your heart and passions, life is too short to say, should've, could've, and would've...
Blessings on you and your's in this new year :)
Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14006&l=3abd5&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14323&l=fbb19&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14330&l=c5055&id=752630746
Monday, February 4, 2008
More photos...
The stories to go with these are still to come, but I'm making progress...
Check them out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14006&l=3abd5&id=752630746
Check them out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14006&l=3abd5&id=752630746
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Last Week in November thru December 14th
So I'm going to condense this down a bit because I'm so far behind.
November 25th - December 2nd
This was my third and final week of Spanish school and living with the Velasquez Family. I changed my afternoon class to the morning so that I could do my morning orientation at the project. On Thursday I went out after work to meet up with a guy from the states, Jack, at Reiley's. He was having a sort of going away party. It started slow but soon there were a ton of people from all around the world. England, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Austria, France, Australia, Guatemala, Brazil, and the U.S. were all represented..., amazing! On Friday the 30th, after work, I went to meet up with Rocio and her boyfriend Terry so that I could meet Rocio's dog Mailo (My-low). I agreed to watch him while she was on vacation over Christmas, he's a beautiful and playful Golden Retriever. Later that night I went to another house in Santa Ana for the going away party for my roommate Andrea. The house was in the same place as where I was going to be moving too. It is a gated piece of property with three houses on it and a common garden. Met a bunch more people from all over the world including a young woman, Kristin, from San Fransisco that used to work at the church that helped Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness) Glide. We chatted about homelessness and life and all sorts of stuff. The next morning I had breakfast and took my laundry to the project to wash it. Then that afternoon I packed all of my stuff up and moved to my new place in Santa Ana. Jorge drove me there and then brought me back for my bike. After some quick goodbyes and I'll come to visits I was back in Santa Ana unpacking when Bob arrived. Bob is the long-term volunteer in the warehouse and he was taking my new roommate Britt and her boyfriend Carlos (Charlie) to see a dance recital. He had an extra ticket and invited me to join them, so I did. Bob's girlfriend's daughter was dancing in the recital, it was at these ruins just north of the market and it was such a cool atmosphere however, I didn't bring my camera with me so I don't have photos to share of that. Sunday saw me do absolutely nothing all day. I slept in, ate, read, watched a movie, ate, thought, read, ate, and went to bed..., good day :)
Decmber 3rd - 9th
Monday the third marked the start of my Full-time presence at the project, I still had some orientations to complete in the afternoons, but I was at the project all day. I worked with Pablo, doing what I will be doing a lot of over the next 11 months, making the panels for houses. We have two tables that we fabricate the panels on so that they come out basically the same all the time. In the afternoon I helped to cut out 1000 construction paper stars to decorate the project for Christmas. Tuesday we moved all of the planchas, concrete pavers 23" x 23" x 2", to two homes. They will eventually become a floor, there are 48 planchas for each floor, lots of heavy lifting, good for the muscles. After work I played soccer with a group of the employees. On Wednesday we laid the floor for a house in San Gaspar using the planchas, now it's ready for a house. That night I went to this little food stand across the plaza from our house. Background: Our house is on the corner of the central plaza in Santa Ana. The plaza consists of the cathedral on the East side, a small plaza, and a basketball/ popi-fut court. The stand is owned by Miguel Angel, and he cooks all sorts of stuff. That night I got a Chalupa, now this isn't the kind of Chalupa you'll find at Toxic Hell, it was more like a quesadilla with lots of extras inside. Thursday we laid another mobile floor, this one in San Miguel. That night my roommates, Britt (hospitality volunteer at C.H.) and Pamela (Guatemalan) and I went out with one of our Belgium neighbors to a bar called La Sala. We danced some Salsa, a little, I still need some more instruction, and had some laughs. Friday December 7th was the Common Hope staff Christmas party. We all loaded up in buses and headed South towards the Pacific Ocean. We came to a water park called Guatepeque. Some of us played a game of soccer for a while, it was very hot and humid, so we played for about an hour then all headed in to get in the pools. It was fun to watch some of the Guatemalans who had never seen or been on a water slide before. Some tried it out, others would have nothing to do with it. Saturday I started slow, but about 11 AM I got motivated and went to the market to buy food. While there I came across a laundry basket for Q25 = $3 and I needed one so I bought it. Now, I live a couple of kilometers from the market and I had ridden my bike. So, I took off my belt and ran it through the slots on the side and lid of the laundry basket, then clipped it to my backpack (which was full of food) and rode home. I wish someone would have taken a picture of me, it was a very Guatemalan thing to do. Later Britt and Charlie and I went to a BBQ at a friend Vance's house. Sunday I had another lazy day, it is quite nice to not have to get up on a Sunday to go to work. Britt left for the states for the holidays and Pamela's Step-mom and little brother came over, we talked an hung out and I played some basketball with her little brother until Bingo started. Sunday Night is Bingo night in Santa Ana. People come to the plaza to play bingo for Q2 and win little prize baskets, very cool small town feel to it. It reminds me a bit of my Grandmother's town Millstadt, IL.
December 10th - 14th
Monday built the house up in San Gaspar. Pablo, Felix, Mario and I worked fast. Tuesday we built the house in San Miguel. It was cool to see how excited the families were, they would have a new home to celebrate Christmas in. When I got home Bob was there and said he was going to the market, so I tagged along. We walked around and he did some shopping for Christmas gifts, I found a christmas tree for the house. It was about 4 feet high, and pretty cheap, so perfect for my house. The fun part was riding back home on the back of Bob's motorcycle with it. The next day we went to get lumber from Jocotenango. We got 20- 2"x3"x14' and 75- 2"x3"x12' boards then went to Mastil (the Home Depot/Lowe's) and got 30 sheets of the cement fiber board plus 7- 100lbs. bags of cement. When we got back to the project we set all of the wood out to dry, yes it comes wet, then started to make the pile of sand and rock that we would need to make more planchas. 14 wheelbarrows of sand, 8 of rocks and left it for the next morning. The rest of the day was just doing little things around the project. The next day we added 12 bags of cement to the sand and mixed it up, then added all of the rocks and started to added water. Mixing a large amount of concrete by hand is a great work out. We finished all of the planchas an hour before lunch and just hung out for a while. In the afternoon, more panels. That night I went out with William and David to Rainbow Cafe, then La Sala, then the Cajba. Friday we made more panels then we, the construction crew: Mario, Felix, Pablo, Chicho, and I, all went to lunch for our own little Christmas party. I had Ceviche (Say-v-chea), a Guatemalan seafood dish and a Michelada, a beer with vegetable juice added to it. After our lunch we headed back to the project and made some more panels. That night Pamela took me to Pollo Campero, which is a big chain here in Guate similar to KFC. It was an experience and the food tasted like fast food. Later we met up with William, he was leaving the next morning, and danced and stuff. Eventually I was back at the MonoLoco until it closed at 1 AM then we all headed to the after party. At around 3 am I finally ran out of gas and went home.
More of these to come..., I'll be up to date soon...
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12588&l=ae4dc&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12599&l=3385b&id=752630746
November 25th - December 2nd
This was my third and final week of Spanish school and living with the Velasquez Family. I changed my afternoon class to the morning so that I could do my morning orientation at the project. On Thursday I went out after work to meet up with a guy from the states, Jack, at Reiley's. He was having a sort of going away party. It started slow but soon there were a ton of people from all around the world. England, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Austria, France, Australia, Guatemala, Brazil, and the U.S. were all represented..., amazing! On Friday the 30th, after work, I went to meet up with Rocio and her boyfriend Terry so that I could meet Rocio's dog Mailo (My-low). I agreed to watch him while she was on vacation over Christmas, he's a beautiful and playful Golden Retriever. Later that night I went to another house in Santa Ana for the going away party for my roommate Andrea. The house was in the same place as where I was going to be moving too. It is a gated piece of property with three houses on it and a common garden. Met a bunch more people from all over the world including a young woman, Kristin, from San Fransisco that used to work at the church that helped Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness) Glide. We chatted about homelessness and life and all sorts of stuff. The next morning I had breakfast and took my laundry to the project to wash it. Then that afternoon I packed all of my stuff up and moved to my new place in Santa Ana. Jorge drove me there and then brought me back for my bike. After some quick goodbyes and I'll come to visits I was back in Santa Ana unpacking when Bob arrived. Bob is the long-term volunteer in the warehouse and he was taking my new roommate Britt and her boyfriend Carlos (Charlie) to see a dance recital. He had an extra ticket and invited me to join them, so I did. Bob's girlfriend's daughter was dancing in the recital, it was at these ruins just north of the market and it was such a cool atmosphere however, I didn't bring my camera with me so I don't have photos to share of that. Sunday saw me do absolutely nothing all day. I slept in, ate, read, watched a movie, ate, thought, read, ate, and went to bed..., good day :)
Decmber 3rd - 9th
Monday the third marked the start of my Full-time presence at the project, I still had some orientations to complete in the afternoons, but I was at the project all day. I worked with Pablo, doing what I will be doing a lot of over the next 11 months, making the panels for houses. We have two tables that we fabricate the panels on so that they come out basically the same all the time. In the afternoon I helped to cut out 1000 construction paper stars to decorate the project for Christmas. Tuesday we moved all of the planchas, concrete pavers 23" x 23" x 2", to two homes. They will eventually become a floor, there are 48 planchas for each floor, lots of heavy lifting, good for the muscles. After work I played soccer with a group of the employees. On Wednesday we laid the floor for a house in San Gaspar using the planchas, now it's ready for a house. That night I went to this little food stand across the plaza from our house. Background: Our house is on the corner of the central plaza in Santa Ana. The plaza consists of the cathedral on the East side, a small plaza, and a basketball/ popi-fut court. The stand is owned by Miguel Angel, and he cooks all sorts of stuff. That night I got a Chalupa, now this isn't the kind of Chalupa you'll find at Toxic Hell, it was more like a quesadilla with lots of extras inside. Thursday we laid another mobile floor, this one in San Miguel. That night my roommates, Britt (hospitality volunteer at C.H.) and Pamela (Guatemalan) and I went out with one of our Belgium neighbors to a bar called La Sala. We danced some Salsa, a little, I still need some more instruction, and had some laughs. Friday December 7th was the Common Hope staff Christmas party. We all loaded up in buses and headed South towards the Pacific Ocean. We came to a water park called Guatepeque. Some of us played a game of soccer for a while, it was very hot and humid, so we played for about an hour then all headed in to get in the pools. It was fun to watch some of the Guatemalans who had never seen or been on a water slide before. Some tried it out, others would have nothing to do with it. Saturday I started slow, but about 11 AM I got motivated and went to the market to buy food. While there I came across a laundry basket for Q25 = $3 and I needed one so I bought it. Now, I live a couple of kilometers from the market and I had ridden my bike. So, I took off my belt and ran it through the slots on the side and lid of the laundry basket, then clipped it to my backpack (which was full of food) and rode home. I wish someone would have taken a picture of me, it was a very Guatemalan thing to do. Later Britt and Charlie and I went to a BBQ at a friend Vance's house. Sunday I had another lazy day, it is quite nice to not have to get up on a Sunday to go to work. Britt left for the states for the holidays and Pamela's Step-mom and little brother came over, we talked an hung out and I played some basketball with her little brother until Bingo started. Sunday Night is Bingo night in Santa Ana. People come to the plaza to play bingo for Q2 and win little prize baskets, very cool small town feel to it. It reminds me a bit of my Grandmother's town Millstadt, IL.
December 10th - 14th
Monday built the house up in San Gaspar. Pablo, Felix, Mario and I worked fast. Tuesday we built the house in San Miguel. It was cool to see how excited the families were, they would have a new home to celebrate Christmas in. When I got home Bob was there and said he was going to the market, so I tagged along. We walked around and he did some shopping for Christmas gifts, I found a christmas tree for the house. It was about 4 feet high, and pretty cheap, so perfect for my house. The fun part was riding back home on the back of Bob's motorcycle with it. The next day we went to get lumber from Jocotenango. We got 20- 2"x3"x14' and 75- 2"x3"x12' boards then went to Mastil (the Home Depot/Lowe's) and got 30 sheets of the cement fiber board plus 7- 100lbs. bags of cement. When we got back to the project we set all of the wood out to dry, yes it comes wet, then started to make the pile of sand and rock that we would need to make more planchas. 14 wheelbarrows of sand, 8 of rocks and left it for the next morning. The rest of the day was just doing little things around the project. The next day we added 12 bags of cement to the sand and mixed it up, then added all of the rocks and started to added water. Mixing a large amount of concrete by hand is a great work out. We finished all of the planchas an hour before lunch and just hung out for a while. In the afternoon, more panels. That night I went out with William and David to Rainbow Cafe, then La Sala, then the Cajba. Friday we made more panels then we, the construction crew: Mario, Felix, Pablo, Chicho, and I, all went to lunch for our own little Christmas party. I had Ceviche (Say-v-chea), a Guatemalan seafood dish and a Michelada, a beer with vegetable juice added to it. After our lunch we headed back to the project and made some more panels. That night Pamela took me to Pollo Campero, which is a big chain here in Guate similar to KFC. It was an experience and the food tasted like fast food. Later we met up with William, he was leaving the next morning, and danced and stuff. Eventually I was back at the MonoLoco until it closed at 1 AM then we all headed to the after party. At around 3 am I finally ran out of gas and went home.
More of these to come..., I'll be up to date soon...
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12588&l=ae4dc&id=752630746
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12599&l=3385b&id=752630746
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Hey, I know it's been a while...
I realize it has been a while so know that all is well and this week I will be working on getting everything current on here.
Ihave good news!!! I have posted pictures on my facebook page, I finally got the person I needed to download the ActiveX control so I could upload pictures!
I have added the link to the blogs that they knid of pertain too and here they are too.
These are photos through the first part of December, this week I'll be updating the blogs and adding more pictures.
X-mas Party, BBQ, and building houses:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12599&l=3385b&id=752630746
Thanksgiving and more:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12588&l=ae4dc&id=752630746
November 7th - 17th:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8779&l=4f3e2&id=752630746
November 7th -17th continued:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12584&l=cd489&id=752630746
Enjoy the photos and I'll add more stories soon.
~Peace
Ihave good news!!! I have posted pictures on my facebook page, I finally got the person I needed to download the ActiveX control so I could upload pictures!
I have added the link to the blogs that they knid of pertain too and here they are too.
These are photos through the first part of December, this week I'll be updating the blogs and adding more pictures.
X-mas Party, BBQ, and building houses:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12599&l=3385b&id=752630746
Thanksgiving and more:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12588&l=ae4dc&id=752630746
November 7th - 17th:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8779&l=4f3e2&id=752630746
November 7th -17th continued:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12584&l=cd489&id=752630746
Enjoy the photos and I'll add more stories soon.
~Peace
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