This morning we slept in to the ripe hour of 7:30 AM…it was quite the treat. Unfortunately we lost some of our troops to upset stomachs and other unpleasant conditions. After breakfast we embarked on our rugged journey, down two team members. We waited outside the house to be picked up and taken higher on the volcano Atitlan to hike. Sadly, Fidel is not participating in this leg of the journey with us…luckily, we have Salvador: The expert pick-up truck driver of Los Andes.
Our faces grew uneasy as we saw Salvador pull up in a pick-up truck with only one cabin seat and a metal cage surrounding its bed. Our faces grew more uneasy when we learned that we were to drive with Salvador in his truck by standing up in the bed and holding onto the metal cage for dear life. Not only was the situation questionable, but so were the “roads” we drove on for thirty minutes through jungle to get to our starting point. Other than Rado falling out a few times, the drive was a breeze. We expect him to turn up anytime now….just kidding.
We finally got to the starting point of our hike and Don Jesus led us into the brush. After about 55 minutes of walking straight uphill select members of our group were none-too-pleased. At one of the five “half-way points” Josh A. expressed his displeasure at the upward expedition. He requested that Josh T. and Rado level with him and stop lying about being “halfway there”—he just wanted to know the truth. Of course, as all of us twenty year-olds are huffing and puffing, 57 year-old Don Jesus is strolling along and leaving us in the dust, while paving the way with his machete.
Not only did Don Jesus handily use the machete and wear us out, he also showed us many cool sights of the forest. We saw a Quetzal nest, tea leaves, exotic flowers, and humongous trees—we even went inside the trunk of a 600+ year-old tree that had been hollowed by disease…it was awesome.
Thankfully, we finally reached the true halfway point and it was all downhill from there—literally. After a few more sights and many more casualties we arrived at the end of our path and Salvador was there with his pickup truck of death to take us back to the house.
We ate lunch, relaxed a bit, then embarked on part two of our hike. Jaime taught us more about the hydroelectric plant and, dogs in tow, we ventured down the volcano to see the plant itself. This was more of a stroll compared to the vigorous hike of the morning. It was all straight downhill so when we were dreading the walk back up who do we see but Salvador and his truck—he graciously (but not so gracefully) gave us a lift in his truck/cage back to the house once again. We played several heated rounds of president until it was time for another fantastic dinner.
After dinner we began team building activities and reflection. We began with a game of memory and teamwork which ended poorly for certain groups and in which a certain leader slightly degraded some of the lovely ladies of the group by calling them “idiots”.
We spent a lot of time on reflection talking about our definitions of “sustainable community development” and how to achieve it. We also discussed the causes of problems in Guatemala and their various solutions. These discussions succeeded in getting us pumped for our service project—which we start tomorrow. We’re so excited!! Stay tuned.
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