Leavin on a jet plane

We are at the airport in Miami, waiting for our next flight. Some of us are reconnecting with family and friends on the phone, some are catching up on nine days worth of news, and others are swapping stories or looking back at photographs. Whatever we are up to, in the back of our minds are the amazing people who supported us in Guatemala. 

A huge thank you to Franklin, Andy, Devon, Matt, Lindsay, Pedro and Jason with As Green As It Gets. You showed us around, shared ideas, and were just plain fun to hang around. Matt, we hope our digging skills made you proud!

To our awesome translators: Allison, Juan Manuel, and Guillermo...you kick ass! Thank you for helping us communicate, and for teaching us.

To our drivers: thank you for safely getting us from point A to point B. Wow!

And to the farmers and artisans: your kindness, patience, and passion will not be forgotten. We will share your stories, emulate your work ethic, and remember you fondly. We will be better consumers and better people for having met you. 

Love all of us!

Last Day Best Day/Atitlan

Waking up to roosters again, we were all greeted to a breakfast of fried plaintains, beans, and more delicious coffee. From breakfast we had an early start to meet the shuttle to drive to see some mayan ruins! After about an hour and a half of perilous driving on the winding road we piled out of the shuttle at Ixemche, the late ruins of the mayan culture. We were lucky to have Roberto, a tour guide/archaeologist/Olympian/comedian to guide us. He walked us past the ruins, hid so we could climb them for group photos despite the signs requesting that we NOT climb, and showed us the museum. After experiencing a taste of ancient history we continued onward to go zip lining!

As we rolled into the beautiful Atitlan nature reserve you could see why it was labeled as a wonder of the world. Majestic volcanoes surrounded the vast shimmering lake, and people were awestruck at its beauty. The reserve itself was beautiful and as we hiked to the zip lines we were able to see some spider monkeys in their natural habitat. Zip lining was exhilarating, and the highlight of most of our days, if we could go back for a second chance to zoom through the trees like monkeys we would have.

At the conclusion of the eight lines, everyone was more than happy to take off the restrictive full body harnesses and grab a bite to eat.Perhaps the most interesting meal was Lisa's quesadilla, a tortilla filled with only a square slice of American cheese!

Full from lunch, Roberto informed us that he had a surprise planned. We drove on to Panajachel, down to the docks of Lago Atitlan where a huge boat was blasting pop music. This was our surprise...a 45 minute tour of the lake and surrounding volcanoes complete with dancing and singing. At the end of the ride, several folks braved the cold temperatures and jumped into the water.We finished the day with another round of shopping, and headed back to Antigua for a final dinner at everyone's favorite place, the Whiskey Den, where we said our final goodbyes, and went home to pack in tears.

Overall we all had the most amazing time, and a few of us are already planning our return trip. The shuttle arrived early, so please excuse our hasty exit, Guatemalan time...unpredictable as always.

More to come when we return home to the US!!!!

Guac in the Guat

Today on this fine day we were woken up by roosters per usual and enjoyed pancakes with Guatemalan honey.  After breakfast we rode in the director of As Green as it Gets truck to San Juan Del Obispo where we learned about the history of the town and the mudslides they have dealt with over past years. We saw the animals that were used to produce manure that we later be used to as fertilizer for the soil. From there, we began walking through the hills towards San Miguel Escobar. We saw farmers beginning coffee fields where coffee beans would later be harvested. The view we able to see from being on the hillside brought a smile to our faces almost as pleasant as our tour guide for the day. Lunch took place at a restaurant in town where we were served burritos, nachos, and delicioso smoothies. The blend of banana, strawberries, and pineapple were mouthwatering. Even the Coca Cola was better at this restaurant. We took the chicken bus to Antigua where we shopped for souvenirs by haggling Guatemalan shop owners. After an hour of swindling our way to gifts for mom and dad we began preparing for the dinner that we would be making for later that evening. We were each given 150 q to spend on our list of vegetables, fruits, and rice. Some had the right idea and bought chocolate cake i.e. Kenny Faria. Due to a late start in preparing the needs for dinner we had to purchase the needed chicken at the local market. For our last time we rode on the notorious chicken bus which as usual smelt like a chicken bus. Each group member took part in preparing dinner whether it was preparing the tortillas, salad, guacamole, and chicken. The scholarly authors of this post partook in preparing the scrumptious salad and the rounded to perfection tortillas. Once dinner was on the table we began our Guatemalan feast. The dinner was delicious made with care from each group member and after our meal some rowdiness plates may or may not have been broken. Luckily to save the day which some would say was the highlight of the day we ate THE chocolate cake. *smiley face*

Today's blog was brought to you by Jessica Lambert and Kenny Faria. We hope you enjoyed reading about our day.

Live, from Guatemala, it's Michelle Brahen and Carrie Hall!! (Ayy bayy bay)

Hola, buenas noches everyone ;)

       Michelle and Carrie will be your bloggers for this fine evening. After a week full of strenuous work, our time of relaxation consisted of waking up for a 9 AM hike further up the volcano to pick more coffee beans. This hike was a vast improvement over the last one as Carrie did not taste her breakfast coming back up. We hiked this volcano like champs and still beat the farmer even though he rode a poor, old, hard working horse. Once we arrived to our destination, we again got our baskets and began to pick beans for a few hours. Last time we picked beans, we collected 62Ibs (which Michelle guessed correctly before being weighed) and this time we collected 93Ibs! During this time, we got to try all kinds of fruits from the trees such as Loquats which were DELICIOUS! 

      After descending down the scenic volcano, we went back to the farmer’s house for a fine lunch consisting of beets, rice, stuffed peppers, and of course, more tortillas. The real treat was a bottle of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, made with real sugar ;). After lunch, we stayed at the farmer’s house to start the processing of the coffee beans. One group gathered all the beans and picked out all of the red and yellow ones, the other group pitted with the work-out bicycle, and the last group took the batch of dried, fermented beans and separated good from bad ones. Once we finished up this task, it was time for some of us to head home to relax for a little, while others continued their adventure on the chicken bus to Antigua to exchange some moolah. Carrie's trip on the chicken bus was much better than our previous ride as there was an opportunity to actually sit. If you have never rode a chicken bus, just think of an elementary school bus painted in mad crazy colors flying down the road at high speeds, racing other buses, passing other vehicles in dangerous zones, with doors open and citizens packed inside with our lives at risk. Luckily we have survived and actually got our money. Anyways, as they made their journey to Antigua, the other part of the group just hung out in the living room singing some lovely tunes and enjoying everyone's company. 

      Around 6:30 PM, we heading towards the farmers house again and on our way, we ran into a precession. Devon, our guide, was not sure if it was for a holiday or funeral. It turns out they were celebrating the 15th of January? lol. Anyways, we also ran into many homes with bumpin music, fireworks, and people all over the streets. At the farmer’s house, we had some chicken, rice, and of course, everyone's favorite, especially Lisa and Kya's, TORTILLAS! 

      After one of our last farmer's meal with everyone, we all packed into small taxi cabs and made our way to Antigua for an adventurous night. Our first stop was the Whiskey Den, which Franklin, our new friend owns. We were given a complementary coffee of our choice...yumm ;). This is where we ran into familiar faces who have joined our previous adventures this past week, Geairmo and Jaunmaun (spelling?)  We all sat together and had a great time and got to hang out with our friend Jaunmaun! After our delicious, warm, scrumptious cups of nutella latte's, we walked around Antigua's town square and enjoyed the scenery and music playing from all around. 

      Wow, it's been a wild and crazy time this past week and it seems like just yesterday we were getting off the plane. Even though there is only 2 full days left here in this bonito (beautiful) country, we still do have 2 fantastic, adventurous days ahead of us that we are looking forward to. Words cannot describe all that we have learned and experienced this past week and the friendships we have made and will always cherish. (A special thank you to our leaders Jess, Alyssa, and Hannah) As much as we love it here and want to continue helping this country and its people, we cannot wait to come home and share all that we have observed and learned with everyone. This has really been a life changing experience one we wish to continue as we go on with our lives.

Love,

Carrie Hall and Michelle Brahen

Rissa!

Today I was writing a letter to one of my best friends and roommate, Rissa. When Rissa went to Nicaragua this past summer, I wrote her an email every day, knowing she wouldn't get them till she was home. I just wanted her to know that I was thinking about her and love her. Today I checked my email, because, well I haven't since coming here. I'm glad I haven't, part of this trip was detaching from some of my privileges, like the phone and internet. But I'm glad I did. My inbox was full of messages from Rissa! It's really nice knowing that people on the other end of the interwebs are thinking about us as much as we are thinking about them. It means a lot to me that you've been writing Rissa! I love you, here's a photo of a puppy I thought you'd like!

!!!!!GUATEMALA!!!!!

January 11, 2013 !!!!!GUATEMALA!!!!!

Hey everyone!,

So tonight Alyssa and I (Cam) are writing the blog.  We all experienced something different today.  The day started with breakfast with a local farmers wife who made us a lovely batch of french toast. Then we started out the day by breaking into our three groups again to do the last part of either construction, textiles, or causemetics.  I (Alyssa) went and made the burlap bags today. It consisted of first cutting out the pieces to sew together from leftover coffee bags that were not used from last year. After that I was able to sit next to one of the farmers wife's while she sewed the bag together. So I (Cam) started my day with causemetics and making hand, face, and foot creams.  We learned about how the Maker of the creams started out and how she had a really rough life and now since she has been selling the creams she has been able to put her kids through school and pay for the house they now live in, which was provided to them by As Green As It Gets after the hurricane Agatha that occurred 2 years ago.  Mom you would be proud and happy to know that I made you some wonderful face cream that you will now be able to use when I arrive home.  Also I was so impressed with the products that I wanted to buy more products to support her, so I bought some foot cream and hand sanitizer.  After we had lunch and I went back to the construction sight to help Matt finish the 7 ft biodigester and I had a great time.  Knowing that I am working for a good cause makes me want to do that much more work down here and I wish I did not have to leave.  While Cam was working at the construction site again in the afternoon I (Alyssa) spent the afternoon doing coffee processing. That consisted of sorting the coffee berries into piles separating the green ones from the red ones. Then putting them through the bike which separated the bean from the pulp. From there those beans are transferred into a bag where they have to sit for eight days to ferment. From that point they will be ready to be washed and laid out to dry. So I was also able to go through the process of putting beans into a strainer and washing them then separating the good ones from the bad ones by putting them in a bucket and if they floated than it meant the beans were no good. From that point we laid them out to dry on the patio for eight to ten days depending on the weather. It was a wonderful day of learning and really appreciating all the work that goes into coffee making. Though I have never liked or really drank coffee it made me appreciate it so much more knowing the hard work that goes into such a long and hard process. Lastly we ended the night by having dinner in the farmers house. Dinner consisted of re fried beans, eggs, cheese, and of course tortillas. On the walk home we were greeted by a LOVELY surprise which was the mythological person that goes by the name of Franklin. We were finally able to put a name to a face after hearing about so many amazing things Franklin has done in the towns of Antigua and San Miguel Escobar. We ended the night with hearing the lovely story of Franklin's life and all the awesome things he has done which truly has inspired so many of us here! Especially inspiring us to travel and get out in the world and do what we love.

Here are some pictures of the lovely day we had

P.S. love Alyssa and Cam...

.

Rolling in the deep... dirt.

Rolling around in the dirt and drinking freshly squeezed lemonade straight from the farmer's trees, brought us back to when we were younger, when life was all about playing in the sun and being with the ones you love. Though we have only spent four days in the country of Guatemala, we have come to realize that these people truly have life figured out. Happiness isn't about having the newest iPhone or pair of UGG boots, instead it is about simply being, being one with nature and taking the time to appreciate the small things in life. As we were caked in dirt, riding home in the back of a pick up truck, we all looked at one another and spoke about how we were truly enjoying our time here, and had no desire to go back to the states any time soon. We worked hard helping a local family set up a self-sustaining system which would allow them to produce fertilizer for their gardens and methane gas for cooking. Somewhat sore and sunburned from being under the sun digging massive holes and shoving dirt for hours, we were all still content. There really isn't any other way to explain it. There was not one complaint as we road back to our house, because we were confident that we bettered these people, people that have taken us in with open arms. Every interaction with Guatemalan folks has been pleasant. From the mouthwatering home cooked meals where families opened up their homes, to strangers in the street yelling "hola" as we walk by, we feel as though we have become a part of this community. We hope that the rest of our time spent here can continue to benefit the community in which has already taught us so much.

-Kateland Dittig & Hannah Gagnon