Guatemala

It's been too long since my last post, but I went to guatemala for spring break and it was totally incredible. We went to ChiChicastenango and went to the market on sunday and i got a bunch of stuff. I love bartering with locals. Then we drove to Antigua which is the old capital of guatemala but was destroyed by a flood in the 1500s and killed a conquistador's wife, so it was abandoned. Its really sweet now. Then we went to Xela, Quetzaltenango and we stayed at Casa Argentina and it was really fun, a huge hostel with lots of foreigners staying there. We did work at Primeros Pasos clinic and we helped them fix up an old cabin so they could make it an entertainment center for the kids in the afternoon. We cleaned it all up and painted it with elephants, a sea scape and a village with a palm tree. We also installed shelves which is hard to do because there are no big hardware stores so we went to the carpenter and got wood, then we had to go to a different place to get nails, etc. it was hard. Then we did salsa dancing and it was a lot of fun, our teacher was really suave, he said "y bailamos" and we had no choice but to do exactly what he said! My ASB group was a lot of fun and everyone added a different element to the trip and made it complete! I had so much fun!! Then we went to Santiago Atitlan and worked with some special ed children and had a "field day" for them which was a blast. There was a lot of trash in guatemala and the reason is because there is no infastructure for trash collection. Not too long ago, everything was packaged with natural biodegradable wrappers, like banana leaves. Then plastics came and they would throw them on the ground like the leaves, but they had no landfills and no one wants to put one in their backyard. Now, they have a few landfills, but they're expensive and they burn the trash, often they do both! Its just a bad situation down there and an example of how the modern world messes up small villages and corrupts them. There is so much injustice in the world and the trip made me realize how lucky i am to live in America and have all the things that I am blessed with, like toilet seats and clean water and the fact that i dont have to make a craft to survive when i am 4 years old! The homeless people over there sell things, they dont just ask unless they are too old to do anything anymore and then all they can do is beg. Its just a different world over there and its incredible how much they have and how happy they are. They have far less than any person over here and they seem far more happy than any one person over here! I respect that for them, and the Guatemalan people are very hard working and want to help each other out. Anyway, tonight I went to the green rave and it was fun, in the basement of branscomb and it was a blast. I'm having a hard time getting back into the "swing of things" since spring break, but i;mgetting there. Have a great night!