Yesterday we went to a place called upavim. There we spent time with kids from ages 1-5. We had lunch with them and even a mini food fight broke out. Kids loved John. They played with his beard and watched while Katie got hugged. Laura even made a friend called Hugo and they read a book together. Then we had a tour of the grounds at upavim, which is a women run sewing and handcraft shop. 100% of the sales from the goods they produce go towards the daycare and school that they run. After the tour, we returned to Semilla to rest and make another trip to the supermarket to get more snacks. Many of us tried the chocobananas at Semilla because we were really hungry. After dinner of beans and rice, we met as a group to reflect on the past couple of days in the CASAS program. We all shared our highlights (many of which were playing with the children at upavim) and our lowlights (many if which were the fact that we are really tired). We finished up the day playing cards and packing to leave on Saturday. At the current time, I am blogging from the courtyard where we have just finished breakfast. It's now time for mcc orientation so I should stop blogging. Talk to you when we find Internet access again (because we will be in he country for the next couple of days, so don't freak out when we don't blog every single day). -the vendrely twins

Hello again from guatemala. Just passing day 2 with everyone still alive and just a little damp. We started off bright and early at our 7:30 breakfast after two survived their cold showers (why they took cold showers ? Maybe they haven't relized yet that the hot and cold knobs are switched here.) The group bonding began after our breakfast during our wait for the bus. The 10 of us, Bonnie, Laura, and Papa Juan expirenced our first taste of Guatemala traffic during our commute to the central Pastoral de attencion al migracion in zone 2 of the city. In the process only one bus seat was broken (oh CJ). Once we arrived we met Carlos, one of the managers of the center. He explained to us the purpose of the center, to serve the migrant workers and provide basic services. Carlos also explained some of the reasons behind the large population of migrant people and the extreme poverty present in many central American communities. Afterwards we once again headed towards the bus, but only after locking ourselfs out of the bathroom. Our next activity took place in the center of the city. We "plunged" into the culture by splitting into groups and exploring the city. We perfected our awesome Spanish skills (wait, isn't amable some sort of pineapple juice?) and also conversed with many of the locals. Since most of us are incapable of actually reading a map, we learned quite well how to ask questions. Our next stop was the palacio national and central cathedral. We also learned about the weather of Guatemala during our run through the torrential downpour. Back at our home-sweet-home Semillas we camped out in our bunkrooms and questioned the whereabouts of Kelly and Abby. Before dinner we figured out the best ways to fall out of the top bunk, tp'd Laura's bed, and sent each other secret love notes and flowers (hmmmm....) Kelly and Abby eventually did arrive, but only after visiting a Guatemalan McDonalds. Anyways we all good and pigging out on yummy food. Adios for now - Lily Q.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Greetings from Guatemala. Today was our first full day here and the first activity of the day was exchanging our money for quetzals. After that we met the other group staying at semilla with us. we learned a little guatamalan history from Hector and even CJ said he learned something today. After lunch we drove to the guatamalan city cemetary to see how people from different countries moved to Guatemala at different times in history and how their lives and culture was affected. the cemetary was like nothing any of us had seen before. There were people waiting around, hanging out and just talking with family members in the cemetary.
We split up into 5 groups to find our assigned crypts and promptly got lost. CJ got really lost and was bitten by a dog with rabies. At this point in time you're probably thinking what the heck is going on down there, but you must understand that it is really fun here and CJ wasn't bitten. After that we walked through the cemetary to the landfill. We saw how the garbage system works in guatamala (or how it really doesn't work). People put their trash in the garbage which is taken to the landfil and then workers go through the trash to find things that can be recycled. There were millions of vultures overhead waiting to eat some garbage. The landfil had a horrible stench and garbage and dust blew from the landfil into the cemetary, it was an unforgettable experience (and we have pictures). Katie took way too many pictures and got too close to the edge of the cliff, and because of all the rain lately, the ground was really soft and broke off but Katie caught a branch before she fell to her death in the landfil. Our guide reached over as we formed a human chain to save Katie. She was unscathed (minus the broken arm but that's beside the point). After our long afternoon in the cemetary and landfil (in case you had any doubts Katie didn't really fall off the cliff) we returned to casa emaus (where we are staying). We had rest time and watched tv in Spanish and some of us took a trip to the supermarket to buy candy and drinks. Dinner was delicious and it was dark here before 7 pm. I am sitting here at the dinner table with cj's iPod touch listening to johns crazy stories of his youth. Everyones tired and ready to go to bed but john's on a roll. We're having a blast and learning a lot. We have a busy day tomorrow of sightseeing so I should probably wrap this up. I do believe Lili is the designated blogger for tomorrow, so if you're a fan of her writing, be sure to check back for more updates tomorrow at about this time. Thanks for sending us here and praying for us, and most of all thank you for taking (or wasting) your time to read this blog. ~kate (obviously it's me and my terrible humor).

We made it to Guatemala city

MYF Prayer/Itinerary Log

Prayer/Itinerary Log

July 6: Arrival in Guatemala City 8:15pm. PRAY for safe and efficient travel for the group and patience and wisdom for the leaders of the group, good health for all travelers and openness for all travelers to new cultures and ideas

July 7-9: Time with CASAS (Central American Study and Service) in Guatemala City

http://semilla.mennonite.net/ingles/CASAS/casas.html PRAY for the CASAS program, leaders and volunteers

July 10: Start time with MCC. Leave for Lake Atitlan area - travel to Panajachel in van (3-4 hours), lunch there and then take a boat across the lake to Santiago Atitlan/Panabaj where our partner organization ANADESA is located. Community tour with ANADESA and meet host families. PRAY for good travel weather and the host families which will be hosting our group and good rest

July 11-12: Time with community of ANADESA - small work project, time with children, host families, time to enjoy the lake, shop some, etc. Nights with host families. PRAY for the ANADESA partner organization and the work project that the MYF does is a blessing to the local community

July 13: Travel from Santiago Atitlan to San Marcos (about 4 hours in microvan); lunch and meeting with Nate upon arrival to learn about context and issues in San Marcos and hear about the project out there. We will also be able to meet with someone from the Catholic Diocese who works with a group called "Human Movement Pastoral" about the immigration issue and how it is affecting that area. We would then travel out to Sibinal (2 hours in microvan) where we would spend a night at a hotel there. PRAY for the work of the Catholic Diocese and the Human Movement Pastoral group and those in Guatemala and this specific area affected by immigration issues

July 14: AM work project in Sibinal. This is the main town/market area in the municipality of Sibinal where residents of the outlying communities come to shop, sell, etc. Nate and his co-workers who spend most of their time working in communities in community development projects focused on food security and small business agricultural projects, often meet here to make plans for the projects. They are in the process of starting to build an office space for their project in Sibinal, to have a more central location to meet, and have asked if the group would be interested in supporting them in this process. It is my understanding that they have not started yet, so we would help them in the initial stages of the construction process for most of the day on the 14th. Around 4:30 pm we would travel out to one of the communities called La Vega del Volcan (1.5 hours in bus) where the project has a community cooperative. We would have dinner and a cultural/talent night with the community where the group would be asked to share something - songs, readings, skit, get-to-know you type of activity/game to teach the community, etc. These types of activities are always quite entertaining and interesting! Night would be with host families. PRAY for strength for the youth and leaders as they serve and work on the service project and continuing good health and safe travel

July 15: Breakfast and time with host families in the morning, followed by a tour of the community and a chance to learn about the project and issues that are affecting the community. The project is a co-op which is mainly growing trout to sell in larger markets (the area has a lot of fresh water supplies) and they are also in the process of building a tourist center to host groups that come to the area to hike the 2 volcanoes that are nearby - the 2 highest points in Central America. This community has been heavily affected by immigration as 75% or so of all men have spent time either working in Mexico or in the U.S. The afternoon would be time for some activities with the youth from the community - more get-to-know you type of games and a soccer and/or basketball game, depending on what the group is most interested in playing. We would then return back to Sibinal in a bus to spend the night at the same hotel. PRAY for all those in this area significantly affected by immigration issues and for good listening and learning from the group

July 16: 6:30 am bus back to San Marcos (2 hours), breakfast there and then another bus back to Guatemala City (5 hours); this would be the longest travel day. Dinner/night at SEMILLA. PRAY for safe and efficient travel for the group and patience and wisdom for the leaders of the group and for those travelers and locals they come in contact with during the day

July 17: Activity with youth from various Mennonite churches in Guatemala City PRAY for wisdom and learning as our MYF interact with the local youth and for God’s blessing on the Mennonite Churches in Guatemala City

July 18: Hike Pacaya Volcano, depending on how things progress with the volcano, and/or visit tourist town of Antigua. Debriefing/evaluation time with MCC either this evening or the night before. PRAY for patience and rest and regeneration time for the group as they explore this area

July 19: Departure from Guatemala City at 8:40am, arrival in Chicago at 6:25pm. PRAY for safe and efficient travel for the group and patience and wisdom for the leaders of the group