Moved a mountain, Built a House

     Yesterday, we moved a mountain, built a house, and Diego got struck by lightening. Just kidding, kind of. After our classic meal of oatmeal and beans (which, contrary to some team members, I don't recommend mixing), we walked to a nearby farm for our first assignment. Our job was to help clear  rocks and level off some of the land so that they could build a road up the hill to the coffee washer. With our combined team effort, including some rock-breaking skills from Stuart and Miguel and the master of the wheelbarrow Katie Pierson, we made a fairly good dent in the work. It seemed though that whenever we moved one rock, it was only to discover another one underneath. The Guatemalan workers seemed to be able to break the rocks effortlessly with one little tap on their metal pole or pick axe-with all their experience they had a better idea of the rocks cleaving points.

     After, we went back more than ready for lunch, which was delicious as usual. Then, we returned to the housing project we worked on the previous day and worked on building columns for reinforced concrete. On the way back, we decided we needed some ice cream. I'm definitely going to miss pina colada ice cream, and the prices, when we go home.
     My dinner was highlighted by more amazing bread. I honestly could not tell you what was in it -  maybe bananas or apricots, but it was pretty darn good. Lucky for team FU, it was our turn to wash dishes when the thunderstorm struck. Those of us not washing dishes ran back and took cover to watch the storm from our porch. Then we watched as dishwashers David, Maddy, and Margaret jumped out of their tuk-tuk (a little three-wheel taxi) and ran for cover. I think their adrenaline is still going. The survivors were treated with praise and even free massages as we spent the rest of the night relaxing on the porch.

Until manana...

Susan Bitetti

Stuart´s Turn!

    As many of you know the blog has been down for a few days which has forced me to postpone my blog. I will be writing about last Thursday, the 12th.
    We got the chance to do our first official work this day. After breakfast, we loaded up into the back of a Ford pickup modified with an intricate roll-cage type railing system (my new favorite mode of transportation) and drove out to a temporary housing project setup for people whose houses were destroyed in a hurricane. We were assigned the task of moving a large pile of sheet rock from a house to a shed about 100 yards away. I know everyone, myself included was ready to get some work done and it felt good to get some exercise and some sun. After we picked up loose sheet rock and trash all over the area. When we were done we were toured around the area and shown their water system, pilas (outdoor laundry area), and the new latrines they were building.
     Later in the afternoon, we got back in my favorite truck and headed out of town. I was sure to get a prime spot in the front of the truck this time. After a bit of driving we started to climb a mountain road, and drove until we reached a small village near the top of a mountain. We parked the truck and hiked the last 5 minutes up to a small house. We all filed in to a small, dim house with three beds in the corners. We had come to listen to the widow of man who died in the Guatemalan civil war tell the story of her husband´s death. The woman, like many of the indigenous population only spoke K'iche', a narrowly used native language. She would speak, then our guide Andres would translate into Spanish, then Professor Grant would translate into English. It was an awe-inspiring scene. Her late husband was the leader of a movement trying to advocate for the rights of the poor in this area. The government targeted him as a suspected communist. They came to his house and shot him through the window of the house we were sitting in. They then came into the house, and shot his wife (our story teller) three times. To be able to hear this story firsthand was an amazing experience for all of us, and I know that we are all grateful for it.

The cooking area of the house we visited

     This was an amazing day, and I feel like we are learning a lot. Despite all the learning, we are also having a great time. It feels like time is flying by and I know I will be sad to leave.

Lavando la ropa

     Typically back at Furman, I happily do laundry once a week for free in the automatic washing machines and dryers. Here, it's a totally different story. Once or twice a week the Guatemalan ladies hand wash their clothes in pila (essentially a big rock basin). That is exactly what I and four other American ladies attempted to replicate. Some of the other students paid an outrageous 30Q (approximately $4) for the hotel ladies to do their laundry for them. But we definitely made the right choice. As you can see in my educational video, doing laundry is a bit different. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0zRPMvRSNA

     Yes, the ladies stared at me. Yes, they laughed while I carried my clothes on my head. But I got it done--Guatemala style.

     Also, to recap the main event of Friday the 13th... After an exciting breakfast of oatmeal and black beans, we hopped on the back of a pickup truck to go to our next destination. Our friend Andres took us to visit Andres Tos Toy in Panemaquip. He is essentially the Martin Luther King Jr of the San Lucas area. He worked with about 100 others on a coffee plantation where they were severely mistreated because of their Mayan heritage. They were expected to work more than 12 hours a day and receive minimal payment of less than 50 cents of the Guatemalan money. That translates to about a nickel a day for backbreaking work. Andres realized this social injustice. He led a 13 day strike against the owner of the farm and eventually they were able to settle on a fair salary for less time working. It was a monumental time for San Lucas. This strike allowed the local Mayans to know that they were being severely persecuted. This one occassion sparked many other strikes around at the farm.
     Andres´ story is not something that can easily be read and studied in a textbook. In fact, there is a book written about this history, but it forgoes many of the details in fear that a violent uprising could happen at any moment. Essentially, the only way to hear the real story is to hear it straight from the source. No amount of Wikipedia can substitute a firsthand account of a real strike that inspired many other Mayans. I guess this is what Furman means by Engaged Learning.

School children in Panemaquip

- David Hanor

Travels on Lake Atitlan

     Many of us started our Sunday by attending mass at 7:30. It was very busy this morning because many of the community children were receiving their first communion, but it was a beautiful service.

      After a quick breakfast of pancakes and refried beans, we hopped onto a boat to visit two other cities across the lake. Our first stop was San Pedro, about an hour away from San Lucas Toliman.  We only had an hour to spend in San Pedro- Bruce even specified it as an hora gringa (American time), which REALLY means an hour, not an hora chapin (Guatemalan time), which we have discovered can be anywhere between 30 minutes and three hours.  We enjoyed a quick tour of the town markets before re-boarding the boat for a short ride to Santiago, a more tourist-oriented city with a good bit of history.  Our first destination was the Church of Saint Santiago, where a series of violent riots during the Guatemalan Civil War resulted in the death of a prominent American priest and mission worker, Father Stanley Rother.  After learning a bit more about Father Stanley's life, we headed for the market streets, where the vendors were incredibly determined to sell to us gringos.  The more headstrong people from our group ended up with real bargains, while the naive ones got the shaft from experienced Guatemalan vendors.

Church in Santiago

Father Stanley Rother

    
     And we can't forget the most important part of the day: Donna and Bruce renewed their marriage vows, new "rings" and all, presided by the captain of our boat! What a fun end to our relaxing boat trip.

El Fin de Semana

     Our first weekend in Guatemala was anything but work-free. Saturday morning started off with a delicious breakfast consisting of black beans and oatmeal. At first we thought that we had the morning off to work on our final projects, but we soon found out that there was work for us at the "granja." Our work was anything but easy. We were cutting and bending iron in order to make cement re-inforcers for buildings down here. We soon realized that what we were making were the same things that we see sticking out of the top of every building. When Guatemalans build houses or buildings, they always leave room to build another floor which is why we see metal bars sticking out on top of almost every building.

Four Projects

After a great night´s sleep, we had a very educational day. It began with an orientation at the mission telling us about their philosophy and different projects. For more information on the San Lucas Mission visit their website at http://www.sanlucasmission.org/. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to tour the city and see the different projects in action. The four main projects are a Women´s Center, a health clinic, a coffee mill, and a reforestation center. It was so neat to see what we had been hearing about actually taking place in the city. Tonight we had our first experience of the rainy season...it poured for 5 minutes straight...and then it stopped. It was a great beginning, and now we are headed back to the hotel to hang up our wet clothes. Check out our pictures below!

The group in front of the Parish Church

Women weaving at the Women´s center

Andres teaching us about coffee production

Coffee at it´s second stage of production

Outside of the health clinic

Reforestation Project

Cyprus trees are the favored tree for reforestation because they grow the quickest

3:30AM alarm clocks, Qdoba at 8AM, Guatemala City at 11:30AM...

We've arrived! After a long day of travels, we are safely here in San Lucas, Toliman at the Hotel Iquitiu.



Our lovely hotel. According to Bruce, it is the nicest option in San Lucas. We won't be "roughing it" on this trip!

Our day began bright and early in the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport. From there we flew to Atlanta, where upon arrival Bruce, our fearless leader, encouraged us to stop for a breakfast burrito at Qdoba to begin our diet of beans and tortillas. Keep in mind...it was 8AM. Yum. After a short layover in Atlanta, we boarded for Guatemala City! It was a quick three hour trip...we were here before we knew it. We headed to the buses to begin our 4 hour journey to San Lucas. We haven't even seen a bed since we left early this morning and have already seen cities, jungles, lakes, mountains, and volcanoes. And we're already learning! On our way to San Lucas, our bus driver stopped on the side of the road to show us how they harvest rubber from rubber trees, one of Guatemala's major crops.   

Rubber drips from the tree into this bowl.

This evening, we had our first meal at the San Lucas Parish and helped clean up afterward. Tomorrow, the plan is to go on a tour of the city and learn about the projects that the Parish is a part of here in San Lucas. We look forward to the rest of our trip after a great first day!