March 23: Last day for the Sahali team

Hi everyone!

Today was our last day here in Guatemala. We started off with our final breakfast at Fernando's Café. We will really miss the food.

After breakfast we had free time, and we all took to the streets of Antigua to frantically spend all our remaining quetzals. By the end of the day, most of us were the epitome of tacky tourists: braided bracelets, guat shorts, pants and tee-shirts, hair wraps, bags and more. The boys invested in a character picture, and we all agree the artist got Rob's hair spot on. Our last day was a hot one, and we soaked up all the sun we could before coming back home to the inevitable cold weather.

We went back to the hotel at 2:30 and prepared to make our carpet for the procession. A rectangle of pine
needles was laid on the cobblestone, and we adorned it with beautiful flowers and plant seeds, which is a tradition here in Guatemala.

The streets were then flooded with people in purple robes, and spectators lined the sidewalks as we watched the floats go by and smelt the very strong incense in the air.

We had our last meal at Fernando's, and were treated to some comfort food: salad, pasta and chocolate mousse for dessert.

Now it is time to pack, and get ready to be up at 4:00am to head to the airport. Cole found a new friend (a wolf spider he named William) and is amusing himself while the rest of us are watching him, unimpressed.

See you guys tomorrow at midnight!

Hasta Luego,

The Guat Crew
DWC Participants & Sahali High School Students
Guatemala: March 2014

March 21: Day 7

Hi everyone,

Today was probably one of the most memorable days of our trip. Today marked the end of our work week in San Miguel Duenas. It was a very emotional day filled with good company, good laughs, and goodbyes.

In the morning both groups split up to their work sites to finish the last day of building. Neither groups were able to finish their houses, but put a solid dent in the building process. We had to carry heavy beams of wood for quite a long distance. It was a good workout!

The rest of the morning was spent exploring the village and looking at past houses built by Developing World Connections.

Teresa introduced us to a family living in the village. The family was quite large and didn't have much. The mother recently passed away leaving behind four children with the grandparents. One of the sons had recently broken both legs in a work related accident, but the family can not afford to pay the medical bills. The grandmother spends her days selling homemade tortillas on the side of the road. Because of all of the cooking, the family's home is engulfed with smoke making it very hard to breathe, especially for the young children. It was a very emotional moment for our whole group when we saw how grateful they were with the little groceries and money we brought them. When we get back to school we are going to fundraise for this family in hopes of collecting $700 to pay for the son's surgery.

After lunch, we headed back to our work sites to say a final goodbye. The families were extremely grateful and more tears were shed. These families never expected to have a home of their own and it seemed like an unachievable dream. Even though we didn't get to finish the homes, it was very rewarding to know we were a part of this experience.

We headed back to the Open Windows Foundation to say goodbye to Teresa, Patrick, staff, and children. The goodbyes were hard but the relationships we made were celebrated with a piñata. We handed out Canadian pins to leave them all something to remember us by.

As soon as we got home, Mary and Mrs.Simpson booked us a salsa dancing class. It might of been the most we sweat all week. It was surprising to see how well the boys could dance. The rest of the night was free time in Antigua. Even with all of the choices of local Guatemalan cuisine, most of us opted for McDonalds.

We are now sitting on the terrace and we can see the red lava erupting from the volcano near our hotel (but relax parents - it's okay). We miss you all and can't wait (but can) to see you soon!

The Guat Crew
DWC Participants & Sahali High School Students
Guatemala: March 2014

March 20: Day 6

Hi Everyone,

Today was a very hot, long, and exhausting day for us here in Antigua. We started off with the usual breakfast at Fernando's before proceeding to the work sites. The "Dirt Bags" house is very near completion and "Das Chavos" has some catching up to do but is not too far behind. Team "Dirt Bags" would not be as far as they are without the assistance of dedicated leaders Jill and Peter (Mrs. Simpson's parents).

We spent the morning filling the cracks between the bricks with cement and hauling dirt. We began running out of jobs to do because as our buildings have progressed there have been things that only the professional builders can do. Therefore, we spent some time with the kids near our work sites drawing with chalk and finger knitting.

We went to our usual lunch location for another home-cooked meal. Today we had chicken soup and tortillas, for dessert we had papaya.

After lunch only a few of us returned to our work sites due to lack of jobs for us. Arjun, Rob and Robyn continued working on the house for the "Dirt Bags" and Sarah and Rachel went to the "Das Chavos" work site. Everyone else worked with the children at the center, except for Cole, who spent the afternoon with a doctor, from Florida, who was doing check ups on children from the village.

Later in the afternoon we all met up to play soccer against a team of Guatemalan children from one of the schools in the village. After a long day in the heat we were extremely tired and couldn't pull off a win but managed to keep it a close game and lost 5-4. After the game our bus was surrounded by children saying goodbye to us.

We went to Teresa's house for dinner, she is the volunteer coordinator for us and runs the Open Windows Foundation. All the teachers from the center joined us for dinner as well as a couple other volunteers, including our translator Patrick. Teresa toured us around her house, which was exceptionally beautiful.

Everyone is exhausted from a long day.

Buenos Noches

The Guat Crew
DWC Participants & Sahali High School Students
Guatemala: March 2014

March 19: Day 5

Hi Everyone,

We had another good day in Guatemala. We started off with the usual breakfast at Fernando's, and loaded the bus on time to get to San Miguel Duenas.

Today was hot, and we started work right away. At the "Das Chavos" work site, we spent most of the morning chiseling blocks and making re bar, while our builders continued to add to the walls. At the "Dirt Bags" site, concrete was made, blocks were hauled and some time was spent with local kids.

We went back to the same family home for lunch and had a very Canadian meal of pasta and bread, with watermelon for dessert. It was delicious again.

After lunch, Erin, Sarah and Danielle went back to the Open Windows Foundation while the rest of us went back to the work site. The Dirt Bags are eager to see a finished project by Friday. At the learning center, the girls taught the kids how to finger knit. They absolutely loved it!

At 3:00, Arjun, Rob and Robyn stayed at their work site while the rest of us went back to the Finca compound to hand out the care packages we made. Some of the items that were in them were soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, yarn and little candies. Initially, there were only about 15 kids in the compound and we were able to hand out packages to everyone, but word spread quickly and suddenly about 20 others showed up. We had no more packages, and it is heartbreaking to deny these kids things we take for granted back home. Many of them have dry coughs, and runny noses and walk around in broken shoes and clothes that are too small.

We then went to a large field and started up a game of soccer with the Finca kids. It was disorganized, but their skill level was incredible. Seven year old boys were heading the ball and slide tackling, giving Shelby and Cole a run for their money.

We headed back to Antigua at 4 and were able to go to a few shops and enjoy the remaining daylight before a later dinner at Sabarico. It was in a lovely rain forest setting, and we enjoyed yet another good meal.

Talk to you tomorrow!

The Guat Crew
DWC Participants & Sahali High School Students
Guatemala: March 2014

March 16: Day Dos LOL (translation: Day 2 jajaja)

Hi everyone! We are all sitting in the boys "penthouse" right now writing the blog post.

Today was another busy day here in Antigua. We started off with breakfast at Fernando's pretty early. Then we loaded onto the bus to head to the Pacaya Volcano... except it was the wrong bus heading to the airport. Luckily we got off and made our way to our actual destination. We drove through many little cities and saw a lot of garbage and crazy driving. A few of us got pretty car sick as the road was super twisty.

As soon as we got to the volcano we were swarmed by many little boys trying to rent us their walking sticks. We all rented one and made our journey up the volcano with the help of our tour guide Checha. He was an awesome tour guide and took us on an advanced route through poison ivy and many bushes. There were sections along the hike with pretty viewpoints and people trying to sell us food. We all got to try orange slices with salt because "when in Rome...". They were actually very good and fueled us for the rest of our journey.

On one of our pit stops we spotted a "little Tarzan" climbing a tree. Hooper felt the need to show off as well and quickly followed, along with Aidan and Robyn.

After the tree climb we continued on our way at a steady pace. We had some hiking buddies- a few friendly stray dogs. They were so cute and we shared our lunch with them. When we reached the volcanic ash we could definitely feel the warmth under our feet and roasted some marshmallows that we bought from the vendors (thanks Laurie, but Keegan forgot them at our hotel). We also saw some lava and a lot of steam.

After our long hike on the volcano we went to a pool. Mrs. Simpson told us it wasn't going to be that nice but we were pleasantly surprised. It was gorgeous! There were various pools and several levels- it looked like a castle!

We made our way back to the hotel for 4 o'clock. We had a bit of downtime then walked outside our hotel to watch a bit of the Roman Catholic Procession. It was very different from anything we have ever experienced.

Pizza was for dinner tonight and now we are resting from our long day. Our first day in San Miguel Duenas tomorrow to start our volunteer work.

Until tomorrow! :-)

The Guat Crew
DWC Participants & Sahali High School Students
Guatemala: March 2014