Post-Trip Service & Year-End Wrap-Up

On Saturday, April 19th, we returned to ECO City Farms for our Post-Trip Service!

We were directed to a farm that is currently in development in order to re-mulch saplings.

We ran into Mary, Team Guatemala's previous staff advisor and a UMD grad student, at the Bladensburg farm - & the volunteer coordinator we worked with previously worked at UMD! 

Go Terps!

With this post, I would like to pass the torch to our new ELs, Chelsea and Lina. 

Enjoy this experience, especially the time with your participants and community partners. Buena suerte!

Post-Trip Meeting #1

- Discuss future fundraising ideas: 

• raffle (Chelsea), FIFA tournament (Vishal), dance performance
• still in the running for Chipotle, hopefully

- Movie: The Spongebob Squarepants Movie

Dates to keep in mind ...
- Post-Trip Meeting/Restaurant Outing: Fri. 3/28, time TBA
- AB Activation: Mon. 4/7 @ 5 PM
- Post-Trip Service at ECO City Farms: Sat. 4/19, time TBA
- Chipotle Fundraiser for Nelson (fingers crossed): Sun. 4/27

Check out Sarahann's blog while she's studying abroad in China!

Day 11, Jan. 25: Caitlin & Sarahann

Caitlin's part:

We had our last Guatemalan breakfast at Donde Monica, and we packed all our items on the bus.  Then, Neri drove us for the last time to the airport, and we all jammed out to Grace’s tunes.  As we drove through Guatemala City, I pondered upon how many of us on the trip would return to Guatemala to do service again. 

I believe we were all sad to leave, but mostly, we were sad to leave behind the bonds that we formed in Los Andes.  In particular, I think we were missing the kids, such as Nestor and Rosemary, and the leaders.  We met such intellectual and inspiring people in the span of ten days, from Nelson and his family to Olga. I can’t forget to mention the very many Albertos we encountered!

I’m so grateful to have been apart of this A/B experience because it got me outside of my comfort zone, I picked up a few Spanish terms (especially colors of paint that we used), and it has introduced me to fourteen amazing people/new friends.  I look forward to working with the group to make an impact on our own community.

            Whether or not all of us choose to return to Guatemala to do service, I believe our trip has shown us that we can make an impact on communities by investing our time and influencing young minds.  Something that I will never forget from this trip is when Olga told us that one of her friends did a research study in which they asked Guatemalan kids what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Most of the kids answered the question with their parents’ professions, for example, a farmer.  The problem with this is that none of the kids aspired to be anything more than that.  These kids should inspire to have goals, and I’m hoping that by the presence of our University of Maryland group, that we have encouraged the kids in the community to continue with higher education (and hopefully college, if they can afford it) in order to reach for the stars!

Sarahann's part:

              Saying goodbye is always hard. But for me, saying goodbye to Guatemala was one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever given. The friendships we have made both with the Los Andes community and with each other have been amazing, and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful memories made on this AB trip. But, most of all, I am grateful for the way AB has opened my eyes to the world of service and to community development. Even though I never really had a full conversation with any of the people in Los Andes (fyi, my Spanish is horrible), I feel like I’m leaving a part of me in that schoolhouse. What makes it the hardest is that I never know if I’ll have the chance to go back to Los Andes and see the people I’ve met.  It’s hard to think that these amazing people spend their days picking coffee, while I spend mine on a comfy college campus. The stark differences in lifestyle are hard for me to swallow, and returning home will be an adventure of its own.

               As we sat in the Atlanta airport, taking last minute pictures of the group, chowing down on good ol’ American fast food, shouting “Timber,” “McDons,” and “Shots Fired,” it was hard not to realize how much of a community was built between the 15 of us. While I am sad to leave Los Andes, I am so excited to see what the 15 of us can accomplish. We’ve already started brainstorming ways to keep our connection with Los Andes going and *cross your fingers* hopefully raising some money. I joked a few times that we were “Social Change Soldiers” because of our army-green AB shirts—but, you know, I actually believe that. In some way or another, this trip has impacted each and every one of us; and we really are going to change the world.

Day 10, Jan. 24: Return to Antigua

It feels weird writing about one day in particular. It’s crazy to think that it’s only been a week since coming back from Guatemala, and yet all the memories and experiences somewhat blur together. Even the gazillion mosquito bites that remind me of the trip everyday are starting to fade away!

I don’t think it really hit me that I was leaving Guatemala until we officially left Los Andes on the bus. The majority of our stay in Guatemala was at Los Andes, so when we were physically leaving our Guatemalan home, I finally realized that the end of the trip (but not of the experience) was approaching us. Chelsea had to leave a day early, which made it even more of a reality. Everyone had gotten really close and it felt like there was a gaping hole that needed to be filled when she left!

Even though Antigua is beautiful, I think a lot of us would agree with me when I say that the simplicity of Los Andes is even more beautiful. I think it’s because despite the superficial aspects of the different places we stayed, ultimately, we really connected with the people of Los Andes and I think that’s what we’re going to remember years from now.

For our final reflection – well, maybe it was just me – I remember it being a little silent. I feel like no words really had to be spoken because we all shared the same sobering thought that this was going to be our last night in Guatemala. Of course, afterwards, we all were our usual, goofy selves - but I think our true final reflection was more on an individual level than anything else.

Being back at school, I feel like I’m still thinking about my time in Guatemala every day. Just like Sarah and Chris said might happen, it’s hard to explain my trip to my friends and family because I feel like they won’t comprehend the entirety of the whole experience without every detail (and every inside joke). Now, whenever someone asks me about my trip, all I say is that it was “amazing.” Some things need to be experienced firsthand to really be understood, you know?

Kids in Los Andes in front of a freshly painted fence

Day 7, Jan. 21: Sara

Today was our second day at work on the school. Although I was tired from yesterday’s work, I was so excited to see Nelson and all of the kids again. It’s amazing how close I feel to them all after spending one day with them. There’s one little boy named Nestor who commands all attention from the ladies. Although he was shy at the beginning, he quickly warmed up to us, and now he loves to bring us flowers and give hugs! I have really enjoyed teaching him some English. I quiz him on colors as we paint the fence, and he quickly learned how to say, “My name is Nestor.”

            We got a lot done and like to end our days with music (when we get power back around 6) and soccer. The kids also love to play a game called, “perro y gato.” It means “dog and cat” and is basically duck, duck, goose. They’re endless energy is so refreshing.

            Our time spent back at the house has revolved around Bananagrams, chess, Battleship, and creating variations on the cup song (“I’ve got my ticket for the long way ‘round…”). I think not having power for most of the day and having no wifi has really brought the group closer together and made our nighttime reflections even more peaceful.

            We like to finish off our nights with some group star gazing. When the sky is clear, the stars are stunning. We try hard to identify constellations, but none of us can really say we’re experts. Regardless, it’s another way for our group to spend more time together in the moment, laughing and sharing stories.

Day 4, Jan. 18: Chelsea & Caitlin

Some of us began the morning with a brisk hike to a nearby waterfall. This hike consisted of three suspended bridges and a visit with spider monkeys and coaties. We found out that we weren’t allowed to swim in the waterfall due to an increase in cyanobacteria (this was not the case last year); however, we enjoyed meditating on the rocks below the falls.

            After a delicious breakfast, we met with guest speaker, Dr. Alberto Rivera, owner of Atitlan Nature Reserve. His passionate lecture educated us about a variety of topics. He is very knowledgeable about many topics including sustainability, economics, butterflies, physics (including zip line building), marine biology, history (A.K.A. he knew more U.S. history than all of us combined). Dr. Alberto taught us about the three volcanoes surrounding lake Atitlan and the seismic activity 85,000 years ago that caused the crater/lake that we see today. Alberto is from Columbia and visited lake Atitlan as a child—he would boat to the middle of the lake and drink the water. He left to study in Minnesota but returned to lake Atitlan when his father became sick. Upon his return, Dr. Alberto was disgusted by the state of the lake water. This initiated his efforts to gather a team of researchers and environmentalists from around the world to collaborate and improve the health of the lake and surrounding land. This is still a huge work in progress, and is especially challenging due to the lack of government support and money.

            At the reserve, we went into the butterfly garden and laboratory. While here, Dr. Alberto informed us about the garden, endangered species, lab studies, and even a new butterfly species!

            We left the campsite and waited along the beautiful lake shoreline before beginning our boat ride across the lake.  While the scenery was beautiful, we ran out of fuel twice and were drenched by the 20-foot waves (well actually 3 feet), as the wind blew violently at our cold bodies.  Thankfully, another boat towed us to the shore of San Jose, and we quickly realized that this town was one of the poorest that we encountered.  Malnourished looking kids clothed us in textiles and scarves that they hoped to sell to us, but we didn’t have much money and were recovering from our horrendous boat ride.

            As our bus drove through the town of San Jose, we saw that it greatly differed from the scenery and vibe of Antigua.  The latter city was majority tourists and a lot of police presence.  But in San Jose, we only noticed one tourist and encountered a man who was dragged off of the street after he had been injured.  We were shocked by how the locals left him alone and unconscious right after they had moved his body.  The houses and schools looked dirty and unkempt.  It seemed as we got to the middle of nowhere, the standard of living decreased.  Does the government even know that this town exists? 

            We rushed to Los Andes and made it to the gates with two minutes to spare.  After a bus ride full of jokes and bonding, we happily arrived at Olga’s spacious house (Casa Oliver) in the dark.  We were gracious for the filling, delicious dinner provided to us, and we looked forward to showering and sleeping.  Due to a recent power outage, we will only have electricity available from 6pm-about10pm during our stay at the Los Andes Reserve.  After camping, this was not a large issue that concerned us.

            We are eager to start the service portion of our trip at Los Andes!

Day 3, Jan. 17: Nick & Sarahann

            For our last morning in Antigua, some of us decided to take a walk around the city to watch it wake up and see people going about their daily lives. As soon as we walked out of Donde Monica, the hustle and bustle was right there in front of us. Across the street from Donde Monica is a school where hundreds of young Guatemalan dressed in clean uniforms were heading for the day. We saw parents driving their kids to the school, and got to see the students greeting eachother for the first time that morning.

Following that, we continued walking around town, passing by the Cathedral of La Merced where many devotees were saying a quick morning prayer. We noticed that of the many Catholic symbols, most looked very similar to the American versions of them, except for one. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, was depicted, she looked more like a five-foot tall Guatemalan woman than an Israeli.

After that short trip, we packed our bags and got on the bus to Panajachel. On the way, we saw gorgeous scenery of volcanoes and thousands of agricultural fields and their accompanying workers. We stopped twice along the way at two amazing scenic overlooks, admiring the spectacular geography of this region and the beauty of Lake Atitlan. From a distance, we were able to see Panajachel, where we would be staying and camping that night.

We arrived at La Reserva Natural de Atitlan and hurried to unpack our bags before heading to the zip lines. There were two different zip lining courses: an extreme course and an ultra-extreme course. Most of us opted to try our luck with the ultra-extreme course. We headed out for a very steep and tiring climb up a mountain, seeing monkeys, coaties, waterfalls, and passing over a few too many swinging bridges for our liking. At the top of our climb, we could see the entire lake and the double-headed volcano on the other side where we would be travelling to serve at Los Andes the next day. The view was tremendous until you realized that you would have to be going down- and down- and down with nothing more than a cable to sustain your life.