Lunches & Pitaya

Each day our host families pack lunch for us. After we finish our work in El Hato we come back down to Antigua and eat lunch together in the patio of the language school (Centro Linguistico La Union). Today we tried the local fruit pitaya...

Eating lunch!

Erica eating pitaya

Gabe and Rachel eating pitaya

Back to Work on Monday Morning!

We headed back to El Hato this morning to continue our work. We did more of the same: sifting sand, mixing cement, applying the mixture to the wall as well as chipping away the stone to even the surface so that the cement could be applied.

Sunday Market in Chichicastenango

On Sunday we woke up in Panajachel and had breakfast together at a local restaurant. We wandered around for a little while then drove about an hour north to the department of El Quiche to visit the famous traditional market in Chichicastenango. We spent a few hours traversing the maze of stalls set up in the area surrounding their church. Before heading back to our host families in Ciudad Vieja (about 3 hours away) we had lunch together in a local restaurant.

Breakfast in Panajachel, on Lake Atitlan

Fruit for sale in Chichi

The famous church in Chichicastenango

Let´s have the food already!

Lunch in Chichi

Lake Atitlan

On Saturday morning we drove up to through western highlands to the area where I used to live and work as a Peace Corps volunteer. We stopped in Solola at the cooperative COINDI to hear about their many projects then we drove down to Panajachel, on the shores of Lake Atitlan. The lake is at the base of three (dormant) volcanoes; San Pedro, Toliman and Atitlan. There are also 12 towns surrounding the lake that are named after the apostles. We took a lancha (boat) across the lake to Santiago La Laguna where we walked around, visited Maximon (an explanation to follow) and did a bit of shopping. Once back in Panajachel we wandered the streets and shops, although a steady shower fell on us all afternoon and evening. Some photos:

  

Washing Clothes in the Community Pila

This afternoon during their one-on-one Spanish classes our students went to the Tanque La Union, a community pila where people without access to water can come and do their laundry. Our students learned how to wash their clothes like a large part of the world has to ... by hand, with a bar of soap and no running water. The students seemed to enjoy themselves, but probably have a new appreciation for our washers & dryers back home. Here are some photos:

Friday Morning Work (22nd)

We wrapped up the workweek with another morning up at El Hato. This time the students had fun working, singing and joking around with Luis, a scholarship student from Vuelta Grande (another community that BA students have worked in) and Armando, a member of La Union's staff. We were a well-oiled machine this time around with everyone chipping in to get various jobs done without having to be directed or shown what to do. Here are some pix:

Salsa & Merengue Classes!!

We spent an hour at Salsa Dreams learning the basic moves to salsa and merengue last night. The instructors were very entertaining - encouraging the girls to move "mas sexy". There was a lot of laughing and we're looking forward to the next lesson! The students did a great job! Here are some pix: