I guess you all want more pictures so here they are. We have been busy working and excavating land for the school we are building in Comalapa. Also we built a new chicken coop and welcomed 3 new chickens to the family! Our gardens are full of Lettuce, Kale, Mustard Greens, Peas, Beans, Dill, Cilantro, and 10,000 Elm, White Pine, and Cypress trees. Andys parents came to visit in February and we traveled around Western Guatemala including Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Xela, and of course San Juan Comalapa. We will be joining Long Way Home staff and will be coming back to the U.S. in May to work and fundraise before returning to Guatemala in the Fall.
Our three months are up soon so we will be traveling to Mexico to get new stamps, so look forward to more posts soon.

Check out the photo album link below!!

Guatemala Early 2009

Oh, We´ve Done So Much...

It´s been quite some time since we have last posted, and our only excuse is that we have been trekking across the country with friends and building a school out of tires. Life has been tough!

When last we wrote, we had dug the new water line to the location of the new vocational school that will be called Tecnico Maya. With that completed, we began working in the Vivero (tree nursey) at Parque Chimiya, preparing it for the 10,000 pine, elm and cypress trees that will be planted all over the region. The tree roots will help to stablize the soils and the branches will provide shade for coffee plants and herds of cattle as they graze the hills. It´s a great project that benefits everyone, from the farmer to the rancher and back to the workers at Parque Chimiya, as sales from the tree starts help to pay workers salaries. The chance to participating in projects that are both sustainable and beneficial to the entire community is one of the largest reasons why we left everything in Oregon to live in Guatemala. Happily, we are learning everyday that such a great thing is possible.

Needless to say, although we have been working like crazy almost everyday, we have been having the time of our lives. It was the perfect time for a visit from one of Rebecca´s best friends, Kaisa and her aunt Jeanie. They were both so enthusiastic about Long Way Home, that we all stayed at Parque Chimiya (crammed into one room and two twin beds!) for two days to work in the gardens and the Vivero. Then...we hit the road!

First, we headed Northwest to Lago Atitlán. We stopped in Panajachal for two nights to eat Mojarra, shop and swim in the lake. (Guatemala explorer tip: skip Pana!) The view of the San Pedro Volcano is breathtaking, but not worth the dozens of women who will, literally, chase you down the street with their wares and then curse you, in english, for not buying from them. It is a place where foreigners don´t have to speak any spanish, eat tempeh (which was delicious) and buy overproduced crap at embarrasingly cheap prices. Beautiful,but not our scene.

From Pana, we headed to the region of Cobán which is located in the center of the country. Even before we got here, and everywhere we have travelled since, people have been telling us about the caves of Lanquin and the waters of Semuc Champey. Once we told Kaisa and Jeanie about using candles to swim through the darkness of some of the caves, they were in! Ten hours later, we got stuck in the city ofCobán, two hours from our destination. Luckily we found a nearby hotel, that just happened to be an old colonial castle with it´s restaraunt located in the tower. We were the only guests, had our own sweet rooms and an incredible fish dinner made by the owner himself. Sometimes getting stuck in a place works out for the best.

The next morning, we got a shuttle to Lanquin. Two hours later, we threw our bags in our cabañas and walked to the limestone caves. We saw gigantic stalagmite/stalagtite formations and spiders the size of Rebecca´s hand!

The next day, we took a tour to the caves and pools of Semuc Champey. It was amazing! Armed with only our swim suits and a light (candle or headlamp), we climbed over a waterfall with a rope, swam across sections with bats overhead and jumped off a narrow but high ledge into a dark pool. (Okay only Kaisa and Andy jumped, but we all scaled the waterfall!) We then floated down the river in the sunshine, ate homemade chocolate in a cocoa plantation and climbed a mile to overlook the green and blue pools of Semuc Champey. It must be said again, it was amazing!

Our group of four parted ways for a few days after Semuc Champey. Kaisa and Jeanie wanted to see Tikal in the very northern part of Guatemala, and we desperately needed to get our visa´s extended in Guatemala city. Luckily, we had time to visit the most famous Vivero in Guatelmala, Vivero Verapaz.

Located in the city of Cobán, it cultivates over 30,000 different species of Orchid, including the rarest, White Nun Orchid, which is also the official flower of Guatemala. The Vivero specializes in miniature orchids, blooms that are so small they grow them on wine corks! The head gardener took us around personally, telling us the history behind some of the crazy names, pointing out a pepper tree and a lycopod, a prehistoric plant that has medicinal purposes he swears by.

We made it back to Comalapa Christmas Eve and shared a big feast with new volunteers and the regulars who have become like family to us (Matteo, Kat, Adam and Liz). The next few days were devoted to preparing for two visiting groups from the University of Illinois and St. John´s University. We celeberated the New Year with Kaisa in Comalapa. The town center was set up like a carnival, with food vendors, arcade games and a ferris wheel. Kaisa and Rebecca braved the old wheel, and when it finally stopped, were in tears from laughing and yelling.

Twenty-six people volunteering at Long Way Home for two weeks, and for the first three days we were asked to be in charge of preparing their meals and showing them the ropes.
With that many hands, we broke ground on the actual land of the school. We began laying the foundation for the walkway/road to the workshops and dug the hole for the latrine.
During the digging, an area was uncovered with almost a hundred pieces of ceramic and obsidian flakes. Matteo enthusiastically pointed out Long Way Home´s resident archaeologist, sending Rebecca every five minutes to log another found artifact. No piece was very old, but a treasure hunt is always good for morale after digging eight hours.

The leaders of the neighboring village of Cohol had asked Long Way Home to help complete an application to Engineers Without Borders for a new water system. Of the 300 homes in the village, 75% only had water for a couple hours a day and 10% of families had to carry water from the public pilas (water tubs). Andy took a group hiking along the hills to GPS all the nearby natural springs to create a map to determine from which spring a family would receive their water. Rebecca went door to door with a guide to collect information on each family´s water situation, health problems and educational history. The survey´s were to help our organization and EWB determine coalations between sicknesses and water shortage/cleanliness and overall situation with educational background. The application we submit will help point out that the lack of a decent water system is only one element in the cycle of poverty. We were welcomed graciously into every home, offered refreshments and served lunch prepared by the families of the town´s leaders. We are currently finishing the application and, although others have promised the same as we are now, we are ready to see this project through to the end and every family has water every moment they need it.

With the water surveys collected, the groups were off on their promised ¨mini vacation¨. We were asked to chaperone the group and help them enjoy the towns around the lake. We happily took the responsability and took them to San Pedro, San Marco and Santa Catarina around Lago Atitilan. We attempted to make the mini vacation somewhat education, so we arranged for the group to visit Rocio´s home, a local weaving woman who works with a board member of our organization and sells her wares in the United States for fair wage. She is a beautiful woman working hard to be respected and paid what she deserves.
The rest of the trip was a whirlwind! The group went kayaking, horseback riding, hooka smoking and shopping. As they did those things, we spent much needed time alone together. But we did jump off some cliffs and swim in the lake with them.

When we returned, it was back to digging. A local Mayan priest came to the school land to conduct a ceremonial blessing. About a half hour before sunset, he set up a circle of chocolate, sugar and other herbs and lit it on fire. He gave thanks for the help of the volunteers and then gave thanks to all the gods and Mother Earth and asked them all to bless the project and all the people involved in the construction, teaching and learning. Later we found out he specifically asked for the spirit of the deer for us, so we could be nimble and jump out the way of problems that might arise during construction. As the sun set, he handed out cigars to smoke and we all ceremonially threw dirt over the edge and hugged one another as he spoke prayers in Kechi-qel.

The holidays are over, Kaisa has gone back to school in Oregon and the groups are gone. We are no longer sleeping in a tent in the gardens and have our own room. Things are starting to settle down for all of us at Parque Chimiya, and we are both looking toward the future of our participaton in the organization. We have accepted staff positions with Long Way Home and will be committing ourselves to the jobs until the school project is completed. Andy has been asked to establish a computer internet lab at the parque, and has plans to build a ground refrigeration system for the kitchen of the tire house. And Rebecca has been asked to lead the recycling programs that will be set up at the local schools. We have already done so much, and we are excited about all the things we will be able to help get accomplished in our shared future.*

*Rebecca picking up every street puppy she finds!

Food, Waves and Digging!

We hope you all had a delicious and belt-bursting Thanksgiving! And don't worry, we didn't miss it. All the volunteers banded together and created Thanksgiving here in San Juan Comalapa. We each prepared our favorite dishes (fresh bread, garlic mashed potatoes and Green Bean Casserole for us), and invited over some of our Chapino friends to experienceour traditional American holiday of stuffing faces. There was talk of somehow showing a football game, but gladly weopted for playing horseshoes, instead. Fidelia, the owner of our favorite tienda, loved "our" food so much, we walked her home with two overfilled plates of leftovers. At that point, we'd done the Thanksgiving holiday justice.

The next morning, 6am, Keri, Cali and us, were on our way to the black sanded beaches of Sipacate! Six hours, three chicken buses and a lancha later, we reached the warm and sunny ocean. Unfortunately, we had to stay at an overpriced resort, Rancho Cabrillo, that had a complete monopoly on the Sipacate ocean. But the four of us threw our bags in the room, jumped into our suits and ran for the waves.

The waves were short, but incredibly powerful. Cali and Rebecca were almost pulled out by a gigantic wave before the super-ripped lifegaurd called us all to safer areas. We swam for hours the next day as well, but we decided to depart our friends and head to Antigua for a night of real showers and our favorite resteraunt that has both veggie burgers and a Peruvian pan-flute band. We came to learn later, that only hours after we left the beach, two men were pulled out by the current, and sadly, the lifegaurd could only make it to one. Such a things reminds us how important it is to always be cautious and protect each other.

We returned just in time for the town´s big dig day. A new water pipeline was going in, and every family who were to use it was responsible for digging as much as 25 meters in length and 80cm deep. Because we had about 10 people in our crew, and Rebecca´s impressive experience, we dug twice as much. It was great to work side by side with the people of Comalapa. We even shared in the refraccíon of Pepsi and pan dulce. After digging for three hours it suprisingly hit the spot.

We saw seven volunteers come and go in these two weeks and said goodbye to the two that welcomed us a month ago. Now we are the welcoming committee at the Casa de Voluntarios and are looking forward to completing the retaining wall of the garden and the kitchen of the Casa de Llantas.
Escribamos Más Pronto!

Into the Gardens of the Highlands

Our adventure has taken us into the Central Highlands of Guatemala, and to the artisan town of San Juan Comalapa. As we entered into the town we saw the expansive and famous mural. The quarter-mile painting tells the history of the Kechi-qel people from their part of the Mayan empire, the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, civil wars and dictators to their hopes for education, community development and self-empowerment. It is breathtaking to walk along. The mural lines the outer wall of the town's cemetery. From the outside, we can see the colorful tops of the graves lined with flowers and candles. We are eager to walk through the cemetery one day.













We came to Comalapa to volunteer with Long Way Home, a nonprofit organization that works with the surrounding communities on development projects such as reforestation, alternative building methods, water improvements and community parks. But most importantly, the website said they have an organic garden that needed work. We were also told they would welcome help on building a kitchen out of rammed earth bags, but the moment Matteo (Project Coordinator) heard Andy had done web design work, Andy has been working overtime redesigning Long Way Home's website. Check it out at: longwayhomeinc.org, it is a really amazing organization.

My assigned project has been to paint almost every day! I have painted fences a beautiful green
and painted signs for leading to the campo de futbol at Parque Chimiya, the protected community park, the organic garden, and the Casa de Voluntarios, our home. We have spent a lot of time together in the garden and have found so many pottery shards and obsidian flakes that we are fantasizing about conducting an archaeological report...
We have been here two weeks now, and we are sublimely happy. We believe in the organization and the people who work in it. We love Comalapala, the beautiful people and the incredible green hills of pine trees. Less than two hours west, are the ruins of Ixsmiche in Tecpan. We spent two days in the town and hours climbing up and down the ruins. We even happened upon an area that was stills used for Kechi-qel rituals and sacrifices today. As we walked up, the central pit was smoldering from a fire and there were freshly lit candles placed in
the towering altars. We looked quickly, and respectfully returned to the public site.

We are entering our third week here, and both have exciting projects to work on. We hope to be sending good news about our vegetables and the kitchen we will build out of old tires and earth bags.

We hope you have a delicious Turkey Day! We will be spending that holiday on the beaches of Sipacate! Don´t worry, we will tell you all how incredible the waves are!













Picture of two of my students at Casa Guatemala; Jennica and Karla! They loved the book Shelley! Thanks!

Thrown headfirst into the labyrinth of Casa Guatemala

We left Hotel Backpackers in an overcrowded lancha past 1am during a hellacious downpour.
Most of the other volunteers were drunk and, unlike us, not particualary warmed by the promise of our destination. But, Andy and I, drunk only by excitement and anticipation, were two of the first in the lancha, and the only two with huge, foolish smiles. Without stars and the
moon as a guide, we reached the dock and unloaded our drenched bodies and possessions. We followed our future housemate and were shown our room; small but private, four walls and two soiled mattresses. We huddled together on the better of the two, protected against it's foulness by our light, yellow bedsheet and held eachother in the wet dark. I had a nightmare that night, that is what Andy insisted it was, that a gargantuan rat pissed on my face as I slept. Yet, in Andy's protective arms, I groaned my way back to sleep and awoke to the jungle, roosters, birds and monkeys howling.

Our first day began with a volunteer meeting, which was to introduce the others to us, and us to the organization. Thirty mintues later, Carolina (one of our new housemates from France), took us on a tour of the orphanage. The buildings are pretty impressive. The dorms for the children are seperated by age and gender. Both buildings are two stories with large communal areas, balconies and multiple bathroooms. Previous volunteers had painted the walls and floors with brillant colors and painted the bunk beds with amazing pictures and designs. I could tell that the construction of the dorms had undergone conscious planning because the girls' dorm opened out to the courtyard for easy access to the hussle and bussle of the mealtimes, and the boys dormitory opened to the river so that they can easily jump (or swing) off their patio straight into the water. I knew right then, and still believe now, that the children at Casa Guatemala are very happy.

Working with the Kindergarden children has been an amazing and amazingly difficult experience. Although no single child is over five years old, together they are, at times, an insurmountable firing squad of little fists and biting insults. But, the next minute they are calling me "sueno" and smothering me with hugs and kisses. There are also some little dramas I have already observed. For instance, there appears to be an attention triangle between Jennica, Cesear and Rudy. Jennica appears to also be the ring leader of all the girls in the class. Then there is Diego, the shyest boy, who shows up to class with the tidiest clothes and ALWAYS with his immaculately organized backpack. Selvin is the troublemaker, but I know he only wants attention. It also doesn't help that his mother serves him coffee every morning. Last but not least, there is Edy and Lily. They are two of the youngest, always together and call eachother "novios". Erik is the only three year old and mostly speaks Quechi. We are doing all we can with him, but keeping him out of soiled clothes seems to be our best achievment everyday. There are others, but I will save that for the next blog.



I have been told that it is difficult to see the true expanse of the storm while you are in the center of it. Sadly, it appears that all the volunteers, paid workers and it's founder all live within the center of El Tormento de Casa Guatemala. School is almost out and the majority of the kids will go home to their families, only the ones without somewhere to go will remain. We both have a desire to work in a project that needs our help so we decided that 20 volunteers for 50 kids is probably enough. We are going to move onto a project that could use our help.

Some more Pictures!!!


One of the farm workers shot this bird because it was eating a papaya, he was delicious.

Andy, Erik and Selvyn.


Edi and Lily



Our house as seen from our room.

Pictures, Pictures, more Pictures.

Check out that tiny Banana!!! Makes me like bananas again.


First day at Casa Guatemala. It rained 3 days straight, not
a break for even a minute. Yay Tropical Depression 16!

Casa Guatemala is low on money so no gas for cooking. Now
they cook outside over a fire on some cinder blocks.

A couple of big centipedes on the way to our house.

The freshly planted corn field. Its been a week and they are
already a couple inches high. Stay away birds!


So we didn't end up going on break yet... Instead we are now at the orphanage for a week or so, then we will get our break after working at least 22 days. A traveling englishman was at the hotel for the last week or so, he has been riding his motorcycle for the last 5 years or so. After riding all the way down Africa he started riding from the tip of South America 5 years ago. His goal is to make it to Alaska and catch a boat over to Russia so he can ride home. http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/news/news06/17.html He taught us the best lesson we've learned here. When someone gives you a time estimate it means it won't be anytime before that. For example, the lancha leaves at 5:30 really means don't bother showing up before 5:30 because there is no way it will leave before then. If you do you'll probably be the only one there.

We have been in Casa Guatemala for the last few days and will be spending the next week there. We have both spent a little time in the kitchen and Rebecca has been working with the girls activites and today with the fishing and basketball activity. I have been working in the fields scaring the birds away from the newly planted corn. Check out some of the recent pictures.

Last week at Hotel Backpackers

Only two days left at Hotel Backpackers in servitude. We're both a little tired of people waving their empty beer bottles ( or sometimes not empty ) at us. All the people who work here are really nice and respectful but the same cannot be said about all the patrons. We may not be Chapinos but the sure treat us like we are. But working every night has really improved our spanish, so much that we are having real conversations about American politics, vegetarianism (though everyone still thinks we're completely loco!) and deadly spiders here and back home. Sadly, business has been very slow at the restaurant, but that did give us the chance to check out the latest novella from Mexico (Amor Real) and for Andy to play Sudoku with Edi. Tonight is the weekly barbeque, so it is sure to be bumping with Tourists who want to eat a gut full of meat for 65Q ( $9 ). That is the equivalent of six nights lodging so Chapinos, us and our hotel guests usually don't eat it.

Last night, I ( Andy ) spotted what looked like some big fish right near our room in the river. Some looked about two feet long and some of them were really skinny. Since they seem to feed off the surface we put a bobber on and baited the hook with cliff bars and then Bimbo® bread. First cast I got hung up on part of the framing that holds our room up. I had to climb out a small ledge to untangle it. I looked down and saw that the fish were not fish at all, they were eels! Rebecca cried out "Those are the shrieking eels!", "They always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh!" That didn't really happen but it should have. We have been hearing the eels for many nights but never saw them until last night. They feed on the surface and make a lot of noise as they slither around on top of the water. They don't seem to like bread though. As soon as we figure out what they do like to eat, we'll break out the Sushi set and make Unagi for everybody!



Two new volunteers arrived a couple days ago, one from Finland and one from France, which means two things; 1) There are a lot of good people who want to help the orphans of Guatemala and 2) WE GET TO GO TO CASA GUATEMALA FINALLY!! We had the choice of going straight to work at the orphanage for three more weeks or take a week descanso now and work at the orphanage for four weeks.... we talked about it for about 20 seconds and we decided to go to Livingston and hang by the Carribbean ocean for a week. We are going to have a groovy time so look forward to our next post everybody!