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!

Great Expectations...

As April quickly approaches, the reality of our departure for Guatemala both excites us and makes us anxious about what we're about to learn. Through team meetings and reflections on our pre-arrival materials, we are preparing ourselves to be immersed in Guatemalan culture to learn through seeing, asking questions, stuyding, reading, and working alongside Guatemalans to learn about their everyday life. We know that firsthand experience is the best way to learn and therefore we are excited about the relationships to be made during our time in Guatemala. Then we look foward to being able to bring that knowledge back and become better global citizens.

Our team of eleven students and three faculty have recently partnered with the Shucker Leadership Institution to engage in team-builiding activities as part of our preparation to spend three weeks together. Dr. Clemens, the leader of the trip, frequently reminds us that teams typically grow close to one another during their travels. We're looking foward to the relationships that will be formed!

Look for a post soon including a picture of our team!