Entry #10, Striving to remedy the Guatemalan plight

Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/14/10

So I missed the yoga session I had intended to attend earlier today because I overslept. . Come to think of it, I couldn’t have made it anyways simply because it conflicted with our meeting time at 9am. Anyways, I got up at 9am sharp, showered, and got to breakfast around 9:15am. For breakfast, I stuffed down 3 “pancakas” and a fruit salad. Lately, I’ve been overindulging in food since its so cheap here in Guatemala and frankly this makes me very guilty. Right outside our hotel gate, there are plenty of undernourished children and the sight of them makes me question my habits. Although I am still growing physiologically and at the prime of my appetite, I should eat as much as I need and not more. This is a valuable lesson that I try to practice from this day on.

So we boarded a boat heading to Tzununa around 10am. Today’s mission in Tzununa was a crucial one. We would visit Mayan Medical Aid’s mobile clinic and hold a meeting with the leaders of Tzununa, our client community of approximately 400 families. Luckily, I got to witness Dr. Sinkinson’s consultation sessions with the Mayan families that were visiting his clinic today. Almost all the clients that attended the clinic were there because of their children’s illnesses. We saw about five children today. Each of them was petrified at the sight of foreigners. All our smiles didn’t suffice to stop these children’s crying, but once the doctor pulled out a toy for the children, they forgot their worries and relaxed suddenly.

Team Pura at Tzununa

A shot of the dock at Tzununa

It was devastating seeing all the Mayan women coming in the clinic worried as hell about their babies. These children were suffering from ill stomachs, malnutrition, and waterborne illnesses. This gave plenty of purpose to our water filtration project.

What was interesting was that the Mayans didn’t speak a word of Spanish in a country in which the official language is Spanish. So in the operation room, we had a girl translate from Katchikal to Spanish and another person translate from Spanish to English so that we could understand the content of the medical diagnosis.

Watching the dire circumstances in which these people lived was an extremely humbling experience, which won’t wear off me for sometime. After seeing the hell in which these people live, I don’t think I can complain about a single thing in my life. I am grateful for all the God has bestowed upon me, and I believe that it is my duty to serve others who are less fortunate. Once I “make it,” I will certainly draw on this experience to hold myself accountable to sharing my fortune with others.

After attending the clinic, we climbed up into the mountains where we were due to meet the Emergency Committee, the leadership of the Tzununa community. Surprisingly, for such a primitive community, there was an effective political structure that governed the various affairs of its constituents. In addition to the Emergency Committee, there was the Development Committee, the Board of Teachers, and others…

The protocol for meetings here is very strange. Our meeting was at 3pm, which in Guatemalan time meant that the meeting’s participants could show up at anytime from 3pm to 4pm. Before the meeting starts, everyone shakes everyone else’s hand, and we passed out a banana cake that we had baked for them at he Iguana. There were about 12 Guatemalans, Team Pura (my group), Dr. Sinkinson and his wife, Carmen, and Paulina, our translator. The Guatemalans sat on one side, and we on another.

Once the meeting began, Carmen introduced us and other project. At first there seemed to be much tension in the air. I felt that the Tzununa leadership was skeptical of our project, so we had to win their trust over. Paulina and Carmen did an excellent job of describing our detail in depth. After much discussion and negotiation, we reached a compromise. Fortunately the Committee accepted our proposal, but we agreed to involve them in the monitoring phase of the participant families so as to allow all transparency. Also, we agreed to hold joint education programs with the Guatemalan Ministry of Health. Overall, our meeting was very successful. This was indeed another milestone in our project.

Once again, we expressed our gratitude for their support, shook all their hands again, and were off. As Dr. Sinkinson put it, “We had just killed the dear, the easiest phase of the hunt. Now we had to skin the dear and follow through.” This metaphor meant that we had just received their approval and now we must fulfill our promises by delivering them an effective filtration system. In my eyes, this was the most important phase of our project. We have now crossed from the hypothetical planning phase into the practical aspect of the project. I am confident that we shall succeed.

We took a launch back to Santa Cruz, had a filling dinner at Casa Rosa, and here I am typing this. Tomorrow we have a meeting with Carlos, a member from the Ministry of Health with whom we will be testing samples of the water from Tzununa to determine the presence of E. Choli, bacteria, and viruses. That means that we’ll have to be up by 8am tomorrow. The rest of the group went to the Iguana to chill. I think I’ll spend the rest of the night reading the Bhagavad Gita and get an early night’s sleep.

Asta Maniana!

A shot of the sky at dusk

Entry #9, Encounters with Mayans & Lessons from The Gita

Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/13/2010

I was just about to write, “today was eventful as the past days,” which is in some respect true, but I have discovered that not a day goes by in Guatemala without some special flavor belonging to it.

Today, I was out of my hotel room at 8am with my jogging gear on. I have realized that jogging is an alien activity to Guatemalans. The locals look at me run by them with a look of incomprehension on their face. At one point during my jog, I found myself two Guatemalan boys carrying baskets of coffee beams. Once the saw me, they started running away from me. I realized that I, “the gringo,” had scared them, so I slowed down my pace until they were out of sight.

My jog took me to the top of the mountain again, where I found myself out of breath in the middle of the town square. At this hour, there was a group of traditional Mayan women sitting round idle with their children. I walked a bit around the town square until I found a vacant playground. Perfect! I thought to myself. This was an opportunity for me to work out.

Without thinking twice, I was on the monkey bars doing some pull ups. Before I knew it, I found two Mayan children, a boy and a girl, creep up from behind me. At first, they seemed apprehensive to approach me, but after smiling welcomingly at them, they were in the playground. The stood two feet away from me, watching with curiosity as I pulled my chin above the bar. When I got off the bars for a rest, the two kids jumped up on it. The swung from bar to bar more adeptly than monkeys would. The whole time they had their eyes on me and a wide smile across their face, as if to show me their skill. The whole time, I played along, gasping and blurting out, “Ohh” or “Ahh” as if to show interest (besides these were the only words I could utter as I don’t speak Katchikal, the local Mayan language). The whole time, these two kids kept giggling. It seemed as if they were having the time of their lives! It was such an endearing experience.

The next thing I knew, a flock of new kids crept into the playground. As much as I would have loved to have entertained them by having entertain me, I had a work out to finish, so I said my “Adios!” and descended the mountain. I finished my jog by running westward along the shore of the lake, about a mile from the hotel, where I stopped for a break, did some pushups, and then was back on the path back to the hotel.

Upon my arrival to the hotel, I was glad to run into the hotel owner, who can’t seem to remember my name so she calls me “Mohamed,” which I don’t mind. It was gratifying for her to give me a thumb up for working out. I had the usual “Chapin” for breakfast and showered.

My group and I met at 10 am to discuss our plan of action for the day. Today we would meet Paulina, our liaison, who would work on the ground with the community in our absence. We prepared the tasks that we would delegate to her over breakfast.

The girls in our group decided to go shopping in Panajachel (aka Pana), a relatively touristy site on the lake near Santa Cruz. Since the boys would just lounge around at the hotel, I decided to tag a long with the girls to experience more of Guatemalan life.

At 11am, we boarded a “launch” across the lake. I enjoyed sitting at the head of the boat and having the wind caress my face; it was such a refreshing experience. I snapped a couple of shots once more. It’s amazing how this lake has 12 grades of beauty, each for the hour of the day.

A shot from the boat ride

In Pana, I just followed the girls around as they penetrated the different alleys of town in the quest to check off all the items on their shopping list. At first, it was fun seeing the different handicrafts and embroideries on sale, but after a while I was bored to death. It reminded me of when I’m forced to go shopping with Mom. But shopping is definitely a way of experiencing Guatemalan culture. The Guatemalan bargainers always keep their cool and it’s always the foreigners who lose it. I enjoyed watching this dramatic interaction.

Some photos from Pana:

After our shopping expedition, in which I failed to find anything to buy, we visited the Pana church once more and I tried to span a couple of photographic shots since we had the leisure of strolling around the church square for a while.

Me standing next to the church

A traditional Mayan family in the church courtyard

At around 1pm, we rendezvoused with the rest of our group members. Over lunch, we discussed our plan of action with the community leaders tomorrow. We met Paulina and acquainted her with our project. Our project is segmented into phases. For the first three months, we will monitor the community’s hygiene habits. After that, we will introduce a hygiene education program and monitor the effect of this program on their habits and rate of sickness. After we educate the community members, we shall introduce a the filtration system to see if that plays any significant role in reducing their rate of illness. So that’s our project in a nutshell.

After our meeting with Paulina, we returned to the hotel. Since we had the rest of the day off, I took my book and sat on the dock. I’ve decided to re-read the Bhagavad-Gita since I don’t think I grasped many important aspects of its message after initially reading through it.

As I sat on the dock, with the sun setting behind the volcanoes in the backdrop, I began to question many of my existentialist notions about life and reality. What I inferred from the Gita is that we have different levels of awareness. “Maya” is the level of awareness that represents what we perceive to be “reality.” In this reality, we perceive everything to be discrete and separated, even though the Gita claims that everything is unitive and undivided. In essence, life is merely a dream, and death and the hereafter is the awakening from that dream. The reason we perceive the world as discontinous is because of the limitations of our mind’s senses. Whoever realizes this limitation and believes that God has everything and lacks nothing will “desire nothing else [than God] and cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow.” Life, then, becomes an opportunity to give, serve, and love every living creature.

My view of the lake while reading the Gita:

This reading session really moved me, especially since I was sitting on a dock facing the lake. There was something really magical about the sunset. Its beauty radiated the feeling that God was signaling to me that what I’d read was as divine as His message.

The day ended with a scrumptious Guatemalan meal at the Iguana. Its 10pm and I think I’m going to hit the hay. I intend to wake up around 7:30 am for a yoga lesson at 8am tomorrow morning. Since the lesson will be on the lake, I am sure it would perfectly complement my latest readings of the Gita.

Good night for now!

Entry #8, Visiting Santiago and the Hospitalito

Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/12/2010

For the first time since we’ve gotten here, crossed the width of the lake to the side with the two volcanoes that I’ve taken dozens of photos of. Our destination was Santiago, a larger community where the Building Goodness Foundation was scouting possible partnership projects with the local community. My team didn’t have any particular mission to carry out in Santiago, but we thought it would be a good opportunity to familarize ourselves with the communities around the lake.

We took a “launch” to the other side of the lake around 8am. At this time of the day, the water give an aura of silvery lush, it was gorgeous. I snapped a couple of shots with my camera as we neared the volcanoes. For the first time since arriving to Lake Atitlan, I witnessed the various fishermen in their traditional Mayan canoes, which have a very distinctive shape.

Some of the photos I took in on our ride to Santiago:

Santiago appeared from the middle of nowhere as our boat reached the gulf between the two titanic volcanoes. It almost seemed as if it were a lost city. Just like many of the other towns surrounding the lake, Santiago is a run down place with slums crawling all over the hills surrounding the lake. Its was fascinating walking in a town with a clear view of the volcanoes. According to historians, the lake is a “water-filled collapsed volcanic cone.”

Shots of Santiago:

Our first visit of the day was to the Hospitalito d’Atitlan, a small sized hospital housed what was previously a tourist hostel for college student. Our group of ten boarded the back of a pick-up truck to get to the hospital. Being transported in this fashion made one feel as if he was part of a group of livestock. We toured the various sections of the hospitals, such as the Emergency Room, the Operation Room, the X-ray room, the administrative offices, etc…. There were many Mayan patients in the waiting room and it was obvious that the hospital was under-funded and under-staffed. It was surprising to see how many foreigners (mostly Americans) volunteered as doctors at the hospital.

We the visited a construction site where the Hopsitalito was due to move to upon the building’s completion. The construction methods used to build this structure were very primitive, consisting of a basic pulley system to lift the rocks from underneath the ground. Again, lack of resources was the culprit for this inadequacy. As we toured the new hospital structure, Molly, the American architect explained to us her design plan. I’m such the information she imparted to us made much more sense to my Civil Engineering counterparts.

The construction site for the new hospital

During the hospital visit, I had a long discussion with Jessica (or Guatemalan tour guide) about Mayan traditions, religion, and their calendar system, which claims that an end of an important era is due to take place in 2012.

We later took three “took tooks” or rickshaws to the town center, which is another marketplace that sold Mayan handicrafts and embroideries. There we found a neat restaurant by the lake side where we had a traditional Guatemalan meal: nachos dipped in guacamole, tortillas, chicken, vegetables, and yellow rice.

Guatemala's "Took Tooks"

At this point in the trip, we would part from our mentors as they had other business to conduct around the lake, while we would go back to Santa Cruz where we had the rest of the day off. On the launch ride back, we sped to the extent that the “launch” was hovering over the water with only the back motor in the water.

On our "launch" ride back

Upon returning, I went for a nap that lasted 3 hours. I woke up around dinnertime. Over dinner, we met an interesting traveler called Mike Tallon whom I could relate to when it came to traveling. Mike is currently the owner an English magazine based out of Antigua. He had traveled extensively in India and Nepal, so I could relate many of my experiences in that part of the world with him. Its interesting how one finds a lot in common with fellow travelers.

The night ended with me sitting in the “Chill-out room” of the Iguana reading a bit in a book a picked up titled “The Marx-Engel Reader”. That got boring after a while, so I read the introduction of Homer’s Odyssey. Well, I’m back here in Casa Rosa. I better go to bed because I want to try to go for a jog tomorrow morning and then I’ll be going to Hiba and Liz to Pana for a tour.

That’s all for now.

Entry #7, A day dedicated to our mission

Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/11/2010

Guatemala has been superb thus far. I have met some of the most incredible people in my life, gone through some very eye-opening experiences, and really gained some insight into human values by learning from the Guatemalans we are serving and the Americans I am working with.

I just finished dinner at the Iguana once again and have come back early to sit and reflect to myself. Before recapping the day’s events, I would like to acquaint you with Team Pura (the name of my team, which means “pure” in Spanish).

Team Pura

Team Pura is an interdisciplinary team, composed of myself, a Systems Engineering student, Hiba and Liz, two Civil Engineering students, Jake, a Commerce student, and Alex, an Economics student. Each of us has a very different perspective of how we should approach our mission, which is twofold. First, our main objective is to provide a filtration technology that will facilitate with the Tzununa community of Lake Atitlan with pure water. We wish to complement that effort with a hygiene program that will prevent the diagnosis of waterborne illnesses in the community.

For the first time in my life, this project has given me the opportunity to interact with real stakeholders to solve a real-world problem. The success of our mission can set a precedent for a best-approach model for future projects in the region (and I like to think the world). Throughout the project, I have attempted to make input that would allow the group to think with a Systems Engineering methodology, whereby we clearly define our objective, seek alternative solutions, rate those solutions based on metric system, and ultimately implement the most viable solution. Our emphasis in this project is to take a collaborative approach with the community. The success of the project depends just as much on the community as it does on us. The most desirable solution would be a win-win situation. Jake and I have discussed the concept of corporate social responsibility in depth and the humanitarian aspect of this project has come up repeatedly in our meetings.

We are working with Building Goodness Foundation (BGF), a Charlottesville based NGO that carries out development work in Haiti and Guatemala, Mayan Medical Aid, a local clinic in Santa Cruz, and the Emergency Committee of Tzununa. Our liaison is Jessica, a local Guatemalan who has been very helpful and is very friendly, and our mentors are Professor Elzey and Dr. Burt, two UVA professors with much insight into engineering in a global context.

I consider myself to be very fortunate to have selected this as my senior design project because I am passionate about the cause of our mission and it has introduced me to a field of work that I am very interested in. Also, I have met some people with a wide breadth of experience in this kind of work. This is an industry for serving people and making their lives better. I would much rather have a career in such a field than work for some dull industry. This is a dream come true and I pray that in the future I have the opportunity to do similar projects.

Enough said about the scope of our project, let me go over another amazing day in Guatemala. Today, we met the folks from BGF and our mentors at the lobby of La Casa Rosa at 8:15am for breakfast. As usual, I ordered a Chapin (a breakfast meal composed of black beans, fried eggs, and plantains) and a fruit salad and granola for desert.

Team Pura then had a meeting at the dock, which was more like a brainstorming session that lasted 15 minutes. After the meeting, I spent an hour or so reading more about Guatemala in a guidebook that covered everything from Guatemalans’ customs and religion to Guatemala’s rich history.

After my reading session I mounted the hill with the group to Mayan Medical Aid’s clinic, where we met BGF and the mentors, along with Dr. Sinkinson, the director to Mayan Medical Aid. From there, we decided to visit the Tzununa community of the first time.

Tzununa is about a 10-minute boat ride away from Santa Cruz. On the boat ride over, I sat at the front to snap a couple of shots of the lake. Today it was pretty much cloudless, except from the mist surrounding the summit of the volcanoes. As we drove past the hills, there were several houses in the hills that belonged to foreigners. These were mansions that were dug into the mountains. I can imagine how beautiful their view must have been. I would love to own something of the like someday.

Photos from the boat ride:

Some of the mansions owned by expatriates on the shores of the lake:

We reached Tzununa around 3pm. This town was located in a gorgeous, hidden gulf of the lake. Paulina, a native of Tzununa who speaks Spanish and Catchical, the local Mayan language, showed us around. Tzununa is a very shanty town with many concrete houses with tin roofs. We toured the townhouse where the school, the mayor’s office, and a local clinic were located.

Panoramic view of the Tzununa Community

What truly amazes me about the villages around Lake Atitlan is how steep they are. Going up the roads of Tzununa was almost a frightful experience as the roads would sometimes be so steep that one would feel as if they were climbing a wall. It actually reminded me of when I climbed the Great Wall outside of Beijing. The locals are all very friendly. I was discussing with Professor Elzey how despite the hardships they live through, the Guatemalans are a perseverant people, always looking towards the future with optimism and ambition. Also, even though we were rich tourists, the poor townspeople always welecomed us with an “Ola!’ or a smile!

The steep roads of Tzununa:

On the way down from Tzununa, I ran in to a bunch of kids playing soccer and had the chance to take a shot with the ball. It was a lousy shot compared to the skill of the Guatemalan kids who were doing everything from bicycle kicks to headers.

The soccer field

As we left Tzununa, we saw a bunch of medics transfer a Mayan teenage girl onto a Red Cross boat who was having birth complications. It was a very sad sight to witness but it reminded me of the importance and severity of the problem in these communities and how much of an impact service projects, like the one I am involved in, can make.

Anyways, here I am back in my hotel room getting really sleepy, so I’m just going to call it a night. Adios amigo!

View of the lake from Tzununa

Entry #6, A jog up the mountain and a dip in the lake

Casa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/10/10

Last night was extremely wild. Since it was Saturday night, the expats here on Lake Atitlan wanted to celebrate the weekend, but I have to admit their way of celebrating was way over my head. After dining once again at the Iguana, men started coming in the restaurant dressed as girls. Apparently they were having a cross-dressing party. Guys who would dress as girls would get free alcoholic drinks, so before you knew it, almost everyone in the bar was drunk. To be honest, this didn’t make me very comfortable, so I decided to leave early.

As I left the bar, I was shocked to see hundreds of Mayans packed outside in the little bay of Santa Cruz. It was pitch dark, so I kept bumping into them. I was so curious to find out what they were waiting for. I later found out that they were having a meeting with another community on the other side of the lake. I am still curious to find out why they would meet at such a late hour.

What was beautiful about the night was how densely populated the sky was with stars. I hadn’t seen the constellations in such beauty since my days on the North Coast of Egypt. I admired the view above for some time before slipping into my room to go to bed.

This morning was thrilling! There had been some stuff on my mind that was bugging me and I missed working out, so I said what better way is there to clear one’s mind but to go for a jog. I woke up around 7am, and by 8am I was on the road. I was in a bind as to which route I should take: the one up the mountain or the one by the lake’s shore, so I decided to do both.

The mountain is extremely steep, so I had to take a break every minute of jogging. My aim is to run up the mountain without any breaks by the time we leave the lake. Upon reaching the top of the mountain, I reached the basketball court, where the townhouse and church were located. I penetrated further up into the village and was met with the smiles of many of the local Mayan villagers.

I was amazed by how they managed to survive in such a remote spot on top of the hill! What was even more amazing was to see them bring down firewood, which they wrap around their back, and carry down very steep paths. It seems like the Mayans are very much in touch with nature. At 8am, the town was alive and vibrant, with roosters crowing, dogs strolling around, children playing, etc… Despite the filth and poverty in which they lived, I wouldn’t mind living such a simple life in which one is in touch with nature.

After running down the mountain, I went for a jog by the coast of the lake, and once I reached a hotel a mile away from our hotel, I stopped, stretched for a bit, and admired the beautiful scenery at this early hour. The sun’s reflection off the lake gave the water a silver shade, a divine view to feast one’s eyes on.

The jog back to Casa Rosa, our hotel was tiring, but I felt much better than before I’d gone on the jog. Upon arriving to my room, I heard Hiba and Liz, the two girls on our team, call out “Moose!” That’s what my group has decided to call me. I went to check up on them. Liz and I decided to grab breakfast after I took a quick shower.

For breakfast, I had the Chapin, which is a Guatemalan breakfast made up of fried eggs, plantains, and black beans. I topped that off with yogurt, granola, and fruits. It was a scrumptious meal!

Up until noon, I tanned on a hammock while reading a book about Guatemala. What struck me about what I had read was that Mayans have kept their ancient civilization’s customs and traditions intact. Its as if the Egyptians of today would still be practicing the rituals of their Pharoahnic ancestors. This idea made me ponder. Shouldn’t Ancient Egypt be an important part of our national idenity? Couldn’t we seek to incorporate the virtues of our ancestors’ traditions into our modern-day heritage?

As I returned to the hotel lobby around noon, I was surprised to find Professor Elzey and Dr. Burt, our two mentors from UVa. They had arrived from the U.S. today. Two members accompanied them from the non-profit Building Goodness Foundation, an NGO based out of Charlottesville that does development work abroad. We had lunch with them at the Iguana and discussed the logistics of our project. Our meeting lasted three whole hours. Although the meeting’s content was very interesting, my attention span could not endure these long hours. Our meeting covered everything from the business model of implementing such filtration projects on a large scale to how we would market and sell these filters to the local community members around Lake Atitlan. Our mission is to promote a business that helps the welfare of its consumers.

After the meeting, Hiba, Liz, and I sat by the dock of the lake and chatted for a bit. Just staring at the lake made it too tempting, so I decided that I’d take a dip in the water. I was worried if it would be safe to swim in the water considering that it’s the “Most Endangered Lake of 2009” according to the World Water Forum. After asking some of the locals, they assured me that its safe. Besides, I’m from Egypt, which means that I’d probably be immune to the water (at least I believe so!). After changing into some swimming gear, I came back to the lake for a dip. Initially the water temperature was cool (I think it must have been 22 degrees), but then as the sun set it became freezing. That’s when I decided to climb back out of the lake. Dipping into the lake was truly like connecting with the lake. I’m glad I broke the ice with the lake, which means that there will be many more times for me to go swimming.

The Spot Where I dove into the lake

Here I sit writing at the usual time of the day to reflect on my day. To distract myself from hunger before dinner, I write. Anyways, I’ve got to get ready for another interesting night at the Iguana. Adios for now!

Entry #5, Seeing El President, a Wedding, and Panajachel

Casa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/9/2010

I can’t believe four days have already flown by. Each day here gets better as we learn more about the Guatemalans and their culture.

Our day started at 8am today because we had a lot to get done. We took a boat across Lake Atitlan to Panajachel, a relatively cosmopolitian town compared to Santa Cruz, where we are staying. On the boat ride there, we had a Mayan family sit in front of us. The Mayans try to keep their interaction with foreigners at a minimum. I tried helping a little girl get on board the boat, and she and her family avoided me and the rest of my group. They wouldn’t even sit next to us. I almost wanted to tell them, “Don’t worry, I don’t bite!” What’s interesting was that there was a baby hanging on the back of her mother from a pouch and she wouldn’t get her eyes off of us the whole boat ride. I am sure she must have been wondering, “Where did these aliens land from!” as she stared at an Egyptian and three Caucasians.

The Mayan family in front of us on the boat ride

When we landed on Panajachel, we experienced event that we would have never expected: We saw the president of Guatemala! As we moored at the shore of Panajachel, a military helicopter spun overhead. We were curious to see what it was going to do next because it kept nearing to the mountains. It then returned to the shore and landed swiftly, blowing so much dust our way. All of the sudden, security personnel surrounded the chopper. As we stood by to watch which important person would come out, a Guatemalan standing next to me almost whispered to me, “That’s our president!” His tone was that of reverence. Our Guatemalan tour guide, Jessica, then confirmed that it was indeed their president. What a thrilling experience to have seen the president of the country we reside in, especially since the political situation in Guatemala has been quite unsettling in the past.

Witnessing the landing of the Guatemalan President on Lake Atitlan:

Later in Panajachel, we toured the local market, which is the Guatemalan equivalent to a Middle Eastern bazaar. The market was filled with Guatemalans going about their daily lives and a few expats here and there. The highlight of our market tour was Dina’s Chocolate, a family owned chocolate store with some of the finest chocolate I’ve tasted in my life because they were produced using organically grown cocoa beans.

The Panajachel Market

Dina's Chocolate

We then grabbed a quick breakfast, at Deli, a local restaurant with the most delicious food I’ve had in a long time. The richness of Guatemala cuisine is mind-blowing. They have the greatest variety of fruits I’ve ever seen in the world, and its all very cheap. This time, I had fluffy banana pancakes topped with honey and a side of fruit salad. This meal definitely made my day!

We eventually toured Panajachel. Our first stop was a Spanish colonial church. We were fortunate enough to witness a wedding. Whenever I see a wedding, I become very happy because I was taught from a young age that this is a festive event and we should be happy for the newlyweds. I snapped a couple of photos of the bride and her father. We even wished the bride good luck in Spanish. It was moving experience witnessing a Guatemalan wedding!

The Spanish colonial church with a Christmas tree in front of it

The Guatemalan Wedding: A photo of the bride

We then toured the townhouse, which was a small garden with a fountain and a mural of the colonization of the Guatemala with the Spaniards fighting the Mayans. The thing about Guatemala is that the simple things that are natural and spontaneous are what make it beautiful, but not the man-made structures. The townhouse was very shabby, but other things make it beautiful, like Maria! Maria was a little 8-year-old girl we ran into that sold us some scarves. The smile on her face was priceless.

The fountain in the town center

The mural of the Mayans fighting the Spaniards

Maria, the Mayan girl who sold me the scarf, and me

Oh yea, for work, we visited a warehouse store where we compared the various types of sand and gravel they have at hand so that we can report to Hydraid, our filter manufacturer, the feasibility of implementing a large-scale filtration project here in Guatemala. Luckily, we found what we needed. We would come back to purchase the materials we need to put the filter together.

We later had lunch at Eco-lodge, a very exclusive hotel/restaurant located at a town neighboring Santa Cruz. We were disappointed by how pricey and how small the portions of food were. Anyways, the view of the lake was worth all the money in the world anyways, so it paid off.

The view from the Eco-Lodge

On our walk back to Santa Cruz, we located a beach-like spot for us to go swimming at some point.

When we got back we called it break time. I took this opportunity to read a bit more about Guatemala history, culture, politics, and economics in one of the guidebooks we brought along with us. I didn’t know this country had a rich history like the Ancient Egyptians. Apparently the Ancient Mayans had made many discoveries, such as cocoa, corn, vanilla, and devised many calendar systems. They also had a very elaborate religious system. I wish we could visit some of the Mayan ruins.

I later ran into Jake, one of our group members and we sat on the dock to get some more reading done. We then talked about our lives, what we want to do in the future, and we questioned whether our service work will really have an impact or not. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but it seems like the problems here are very dire that if we do have an impact, it will be very miniscule. The fact that we have to do this as a school project takes away from the selflessness that I wish I’d dedicate to this project. Anyways, I’ll approach this problem with the best of intentions.

We just finished a group meeting in which we discussed the “macro” issues of the project and we devised a plan of action for the week ahead. We’ll be heading over to the Iguana for dinner and then there’s supposed to be a “cross-dressing” party. Obviously I won’t be cross dressing, but it should be interesting what ends up happening.

Overall, I’m so glad I spent another fruitful day in Guatemala and I’m looking forward to the days ahead with excitement.

Entry #4, A Relaxing Day

Casa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/8/2010

Another very relaxing day. The weather is mild, with a tropical breeze. It is a bit humid though, and I can feel some symptoms of asthma, even though I’m not asthmatic. Seeing the lake in the morning is even more beautiful. The colors show up more vivid on my camera when I snap shots of the nature here. I’m determined to wake up early tomorrow to catch the sunrise; I’m sure it must be a very moving experience.

Some photos of the lake taken first thing in the morning:

Today we ran in to some problems with our project. We decided against installing any filters because we don’t have the right materials. We are going to proceed with the hygiene education program, but don’t want to risk providing unsafe water for the locals. We decided to come down in March for the implementation phase of the project.

Later in the afternoon, we went to a remote hotel where we had another exotic lunch. The highlight of my meal was an avocado and strawberry smoothie. Everything here is very cheap and fresh when comparing it to the price of things in the U.S. I think I’ve eaten more fruits in my last three days here that I have in my past four years in the U.S.!

The restaurant where we had lunch

My group as we awaited our meals

After the meal, we just lied around and watched the clouds pass us by in the sky. My group partners are very talkative, and for some reason I’m in a very contemplative mood. I can’t get myself to engage in their conversations because the jungle and the lake have this calming effect on me. I love enjoying it in solitude and silence, except for the chirping of the parrots and wildlife in the background. I’m really glad I got to travel to this part of the world.

A photo from our cloud watching session

Anyways, I’m back at the hotel room. I think I’m going to take a nap. I guess the plan is get some dinner from the Iguana later on, get some work done (i.e. create a plan of action), and then hit the hay because tomorrow we’ll be sailing to another town on the coast to get some materials. My aim is to wake up before sunrise, continue resting on a hammock and enjoy the sunrise. Looking forward to telling you all about it!

The hammock at the Casa Rosa, our hotel