Day 2 work recap

Day 1 work recap

La Despedida (The Goodbye Party)!

On Sunday night we all met up at La Union (the Spanish School in Antigua) for a goodbye party with the families. It was a particularly rainy day so many people could not attend (especially the Spanish teachers), but we tried to have fun anyway! There was a yummy potluck dinner, then we danced and gave speeches about our experiences here in Guatemala. The students were presented with certificates of achievement in language and we were recognized for our service efforts in El Hato.

Macadamia Nut Plantation

On Sunday morning we got to sleep in a little bit! We met at 9:30 at the gasolinera (our usual morning meeting spot: the gas station in Ciudad Vieja). We drove to another small town to visit a macadamia nut plantation and hear about their mission and operation. According to their website the Valhalla Project is "a Guatemala-based organization that seeks to reverse global warming, assist indigenous people in developing self-sustaining agriculture, and educate the public about the nvironment. We accomplish this mission by planting trees. The Valhalla project introduces ungrafted macadamia seedlings to indigenous people as an alternative to slash and burn agriculture, which contributes to global warming." They have donated more than 200,00 trees to indigenous communities in Guatemala and offer a variety of products at their plantation including chocolates, oils, cremes, flour and butter. After we received a tour of the facility we were given facials and massages with their products! They also claim to have the most photographed bathroom  in the world (in which Sammy posed for us)!

 

Volcan de Pacaya

Saturday morning we headed southwest of the capital (Guatemala City) to climb one of the country's active vocanoes! There wasn't any lava to see like in years past, but the students enjoyed exploring all the steamy crevices, volcanic rocks and solid lava formations. Here are some pictures from the hike:

More salsa!! (video)

More Merengue!! (video)