Wrapping up with Tikal and the Jornada Medica

Hey everyone, so my time here is Guatemala has just about come to and end, and everything is wrapping up with work and travels down here. My last week here has been absolutely amazing!

Last Tuesday through Friday I traveled to Petén, Guatemala, the North region, and visited Tikal which was a huge Mayan city and is now amazing ruins in the jungle. I traveled with the aunt and three cousins of Rodrigo, who are all visiting from California and are staying here for a month. One of the great things about the trip was the aunt is family friends with a family in Petén whose Dad helped excavate some of the ruins. With that connection we got to experience the ruins with some of the best guides possible. This family grew up around these ruins and jungle and they knew so much information it was amazing. On top of this, one of the adults and family friends took us into the jungle at 4am, and we climbed Temple V to watch the sunrise. It was one of the best sunrises in my life and definitely something I will never forget. After we spent time at the ruins for two days we stopped by another friends house who lives on the near by lake and hung out for an afternoon with him. To our surprise he and his wife had recently rescued a baby spider monkey after a fire in the jungle, so we got to hold it and feed it…it was so cool.

After my trip to Tikal, we had a farewell dinner and party on Saturday night with sonRisas and AIESEC for Karie and I. It was a really fun time spent with friends and I’m glad everyone could come. On Sunday morning, the 9^th, I had my last event with sonRisas, the Jornada Medica, or a medical day. I had been helping to plan the event for the last month with the help of sonRisas and another organization Manos de Amor, and the whole event went amazing. We had 5 doctors, 3 dentists, 1 pediatrician, and one optometrist who did check-ups the entire day. Also we had a huge amount of medicine and vitamins that we gave out after the doctors gave recommendations to each patient, then the patients could move to the next station and receive food, clothes, and other materials like pencils, notebooks, etc; all of which were donations. Overall the event gave free medical attention to close to 300-350 adults and children who were in need. It was really amazing to be part of something so amazing and was a great way to end my work with sonRisas, for the time being, with the culmination of my work being the Jornada Medica.

After traveling to Tikal and helping at the Jornada Médica, it feels like both my traveling and work has wrapped up. Right now I’m finishing the odds and ends of my work and preparing to pass along the work Karie and I have done to sonRisas and to future interns. I also have to make sure to spend time with friends and the family I stayed with down here, because I will no doubt miss them as soon as I leave. Thank you Guatemala, thank you AIESEC, and thank you to everyone else down here, it has been an amazing experience and I know I will return to Guatemala in my future.

Paz y Amor,

Jesse

sonRisas, Xela, and Pacaya round 2

Hey everyone, I hope you’re all doing well. Since my last post everything has been going great here in Guatemala, and the time is flying. On Friday, July 24^th we took another day trip to the beach (Puerto San José) and hung out and played some soccer, another great day trip. On Saturday the 25^th I worked with sonRisas and met with all the kids again to do activities, an art workshop and brought them lunch.

On Sunday the 26^th through Tuesday the 28^th I took a trip with the other intern Karie to the city of Quetzaltenango (Xela). The trip was really amazing! The city is about 300,000 people and has a feel of a much smaller city; maybe I’m just used to Guatemala City. During our days there we explored the city, walking around for hours to different markets and parts of the city, ate at great restaurants, and hung out with friends. While we were in the city we stayed with a friend of sonRisas, but also had three other friends in the city and hung out and it was really great to have so many people want meet up and show us their city. Throughout the week I worked on my projects for sonRisas and have made huge progress and almost finished a lot of my work. I completed a medical manual, medical ID cards, medical information sheets and continued to contact people for donations of medicine and clothing for the medical day.

Last weekend was full of activities on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday I worked with sonRisas and the kids again and we held a painting workshop for them, which was a great time. After sonRisas Karie and I went to Antigua to join the rest of AIESEC in a Global Village. The Global Village event was planned by AIESEC and is where there are tables for each country in the street and people can walk among the stands and learn about all the countries…it’s a great event. On Sunday we had a fundraising for sonRisas in the morning and in the afternoon I got to hike up the volcano Pacaya again. The hike up the volcano was amazing…we went up in the afternoon and ended up descending in the dark, but we went with a few guys that were graduates of AIESEC and they now have their own adventure expedition business, so they were really well equipped and knew how to be safe and come down in the dark, which was really an amazing experience.

This week I should be leaving for Tikal on Tuesday until Friday and can’t wait…it should be amazing. Tikal is one of the largest and best preserved Mayan ruins in the world and it’s inside of a jungle, so the experience should be amazing. My remaining work here in Guatemala will primarily consist of organizing things for the Jornada Médica (medical day) for sonRisas on the 9^th of August. I’m still contacting people in hope of receiving more volunteers and donations of food, clothes and medicine to give to the kids.

My time here is coming to and end and I’m sure its going to fly by. My last time here should be amazing and really a great conclusion to an amazing time here. I get to go to an amazing destination (Tikal) for a few days, which is easily on my list of top places I want to travel in the world (amazing mix of history, architecture, and culture), as well as taking part in the Jornada Médica which will really be a culmination of my work down here and I hope will be extremely rewarding for all the kids as well as myself. After all those events I’ll only have a few days left down here to hang out with friends, wrap up my work, and say goodbye to everyone.

I’ll write again after my Tikal adventure and Jornada Médica,

Paz y Amor,

Jesse

Good times in Guate

What’s everyone, I hope everyone is doing well. These latest days here in Guatemala have easily been some my best here and has really been great, especially last weekend. Last Friday I got invited to go to a concert of a Guatemalan rock band and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity, figuring I wouldn’t get this chance often...little did I know that the band was one of the most popular and successful bands from Guatemala. The band is called El Tambor de la Tribu, and they were having an anniversary show for their 7^th year together, so they decided to hold the concert in a small bar that they used to perform at before they were popular. I got invited by the aunt of Rodrigo who is family friends with the cousin of the lead singer (yeah that’s probably a bit confusing to read…sorry), but the show was great and it was really fun to be in a small bar, with a small amount of people, listening to a great band, and making new friends.

On Saturday morning I got to go to the General Cemetery and work with the kids of sonRisas!!! It was great to work with them and meet them all for a second time. Saturday was really special because we invited other AIESEC interns to come to the cemetery and work with the kids and give a presentation about their countries. (There are AIESEC interns working for other businesses in Guatemala from all around the world.) So on Saturday we had Guto and Paula present about Brazil, Ariel present about Argentina, Fiorela present about Peru, Pieter present about Holland, and Karie and I presented about the United States. The kids really liked the presentations and it was great to bring in other volunteers and get them involved in SonRisas. (Check out the video on facebook if you have it, Celeste made it and I'm tagged in it...it's amazing) I think they enjoyed it and hopefully in the future some of them will come back on Saturdays and work with the kids again. On Saturday afternoon the other AIESEC interns and I went back one of their apartments and hung out and cooked some food. It was a really fun afternoon hanging out with people from all over the world in a really relaxed setting, just getting to know everyone better and making MORE new friends.

On Sunday I went to Antigua with Rodrigo and his family and hung out most of the day at his aunt and uncle’s house which is in a small town on the outskirts of Antigua. During the day we all hung out and played cards and they grilled out and we had some really great food. Then in the early evening Rodrigo, his girlfriend Melissa, a few of his cousins and I drove into Antigua and walked around for a bit before heading back, picking everyone up at the house and heading home to Guatemala city. The weekend was a really great time and thanks to everyone who made it possible!!!

All of this week has also been going really well. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I’ve been working on sonRisas work, medical ID cards, a health manual, and other medical documents, as well as working with some of the other AIESEC interns to hopefully get sponsorship from a pharmaceutical company for our up coming medical day in August, where we will have doctors, dentists, and optometrists giving check up for all the kids and their families, as well as handing out vitamins and medicine. The medical day is called “Jornada Medica” and sonRisas holds it once a year with the help of another organization called Manos de Amor, and it’s a really huge deal. This year I’m helping plan it and hopefully I’ll be able to get AIESEC to participate and get donations and volunteers to help with the day.

I’ll write again soon when I have more news and updates from Guatemala. Take care.

Paz y Amor,

Jesse

Up to date...finally

So I think all the other posts I just made will catch me up to do date on my trips, highs, lows, and everything in between in the last month. This last week has continued to go very well and I’m happy to say that being positive is VERY easy lately and my previous struggles have taken a back seat to having a great time here. My work with SonRisas has really turned around since the 1^st of July and we had another meeting last week where at the end of the meeting we discussed our progress with each job and received instant feedback and recommendations. It has made me so happy that our concerns were listened to, both sides are from it benefiting, and I’m overall extremely happy with the outcome.

This last weekend we were supposed to meet for the first time on Saturday with SonRisas to do activities, games, and lessons with all the children but unfortunately it was canceled due to a serious problem that came up with one of the main contributors and collaborators of SonRisas who always comes to work with the children. This was once again something very frustrating, but again it was out of my control so I had to accept it, move on, and contribute to the organization in other ways.

When I step back and take a look at my trip so far I can see a lot of ups and downs but I can label it all a learning experience. Before I came down here I was expecting to learn how an NGO functions and hopefully learn many ways to contribute and help the organization grow. I have learned a lot about SonRisas, but so far I think I have learned more about how to cope with unexpected environments and how to make them positive. Still, I have helped, contributed to, and learned about SonRisas while being here for my first five weeks, but I think that I have learned more about how to assert myself to make my situation positive, enjoyable, and productive. I still have over four weeks here in Guatemala and I am positive that I will be able to contribute to SonRisas, as well as continuing my personal growth.

The good news keeps coming from Guate,

Jesse

The Changing of the Tides

So after the rough week, and that pretty heavy post/email, the other intern, Karie, and I decided we had to do something to make sure that we were not counting down the weeks left, and instead making the best of our situation. We started by sending a professional, yet very direct email to SonRisas telling them that we felt that our current work was not taking advantage of our skills and we hoped to discuss and change our work. They responded to this very positively and said we would all discuss it at the next meeting, July 1^st. Before this meeting Karie and I got together and brainstormed alternative jobs and constructive criticism to give the organization to help us and future interns. At the meeting things went over great and we discussed, altered, and created jobs for Karie and I do to for our remaining time here. Some of my new jobs included revising their English version of web page content (a web page that will be completed soon), creating a Wikipedia page for SonRisas, and making possible connections with organizations in the USA who can help and donate to the cause in Guatemala. These jobs were added to my existing jobs of helping plan a medical day in August for the children and their families where there are doctors, dentists, and optometrists for free, as well as getting more volunteers for SonRisas and creating a master database of past collaborators that we can utilize in the future. It was really a great feeling to work together with the organization to change our work so Karie and I felt like we were contributing and for SonRisas to take better advantage of our time here.

In addition to these changes, Saturday the 4^th and Sunday the 5^th were both days spent with SonRisas doing important activities for the organization. On Saturday the 4^th we held a garage sale together with Little Lambs, an international orphanage. Karie and I both worked at the garage sale and it was important because we raised funds for SonRisas as well as felt as if we were doing a physical action that was helping the organization grow and gain vital resources. On Sunday the 5^th was “Un día con SonRisas” (a day with SonRisas), which I had been planning since my first week in Guatemala. I had worked together with some AIESECers and Karie to plan a day when we the members of SonRisas and AIESEC could bring the 50 kids of SonRisas and their parents (if they could come), to the zoo, and obtain free transportation, entrance, and a lunch at the zoo. The day went absolutely amazing; it was our first time meeting the kids and they were ecstatic to meet us, and get to go to the zoo and see all the sites. The kids were extremely thankful for the opportunity and I was thankful for the help from everyone who helped it all come together. It was a great weekend and a definite turning point in my trip and work experience here in Guatemala.

Also the 4^th was…well the 4^th of July and I realized that it was the first time in my life I had not shared with friends and family in the USA, and the first time I had never seen a firework for the 4^th. That being said, Karie and I were lucky enough to be invited to a friend’s house, Marisa, for some grilling and truly American cuisine, so that we would not be homesick on our nations independence day. We made an amazing meal of grilled BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, and made mac n’ cheese, and although it seems almost comical, it was really great to joke around and eat some home cooked food to celebrate the 4^th.

Things have turned around for the best recently and I'm glad I can write that,

Jesse

Rough week

As my previous posts suggest, I have had the fortune to experiencing some amazing day trips around Guatemala, but in between these trips I found myself having some rough times during the week. During the last week of June, which would have been my fourth week here in Guatemala, I had a particularly rough time when many of my frustrations peaked and forced me to consider my situation and take some action.

During this week I felt that many of my frustrations could not be suppressed or ignored anymore. During this time I was especially feeling frustration with the job I was doing down here and how my previous hopes and expectations of my job were different from actuality. Before I came down to Guatemala I was under the impression that I would be working for an established NGO, which I assumed meant they had an office and full time employees which I would be in contact with and working with daily. The reality is that I work at the university here and work for the group SonRisas, which I recently found out is not technically an NGO. This fact does not bother me because they are working hard to become an official NGO, but they do not have an office and the members of SonRisas work on the project after their other full time jobs. On top of all of this my contact with them consists of emails throughout the week and a two hour meeting every Wednesday night. That being said, they are very passionate about the cause and devote as much time as they can to progressing the SonRisas organization. I was also struggling with the work they had us doing, which was often based around getting contributors and donations for the organization. I had been working on these tasks some, but the other intern Karie was devoting most of her time to these causes and having very little success. We did not think we were the right people to do this type of work because there is still a language barrier, especially on the phone, and we also did not know how to approach people for donations in a foreign culture, whether you have to be very open and kind, or you have to put extreme pressure with repetitive emails and phone calls. I kept thinking that in the USA if someone with a foreign accent called your business asking for a monthly donation of money, food, or goods, would you be open to helping them?…probably not too likely.

Possibly the most frustrating aspect of all was when I signed up to do this internship I was under the impression that I would be working with SonRisas and meeting with them every Saturday to do activities and work with underprivileged kids in a certain poor zone of the city. In the last week of June it had been four weeks, almost half my time in Guatemala, and I had not met the kids yet! This lack of Saturdays with the children had happened due to a brief break by SonRisas followed by a notice from the ministry of health telling us not to having these meetings with the underprivileged children because they did not want the swine flu spreading among young kids. These things were out of my control and I knew that, but it was still hard to accept. All I could do was look forward to Sunday, June 5^th when I had planned a day at the zoo with SonRisas, AIESEC, and all the children.

On top of all these challenges and struggles with my work, I felt like I was being bottled up and couldn’t explore the city and discover things for myself. The main reason for this was safety, and it really is a huge concern in Guatemala City. It has been so much different living down here than in the Midwest or in Spain because I can do anything I want in the city and discover all parts of it at my leisure. I love finding a favorite coffee shop or bar to hang out in and get some alone time. And I also love everything outdoors: hiking, biking, running, walking, camping, etc. and the reality is that walking places and taking the buses in Guatemala City is unsafe and is NOT advisable. This is a huge shock for my lifestyle and another hurdle I must overcome and accept.

Through all of this, and all of my struggles, I just kept telling myself that I am EXTREMELY fortunate to be in my situation. I am living in a different country, experiencing a new culture, practicing my Spanish, and making friends in foreign countries…those things really amazing to think about. I consider myself an optimistic person with a very positive outlook on life, and during my struggles I had to keep telling myself how lucky I am to be in this situation and that I have to make the best of it and embrace the good in it. I had to see it all as a learning experience and how this was helping me learn how to cope with a hard time and how I was going to have to turn it around to enjoy it.

Jesse

Day trips: Antigua, Amátitlan, Puerto San Jose, And Pacaya

It’s been a long time since my last post so I’ve decided to write several posts to catch up to date. I have been really fortunate in my time in Guatemala, and have been able to take day trips almost every weekend and experience new sights and cities with every new trip.

On Friday June 20^th I went on an overnight trip to Antigua, which used to be the old capital city until the 1800’s, so there are tons of old buildings, architecture and history from colonial Spanish times…which I’m a huge nerd about and love seeing it all. We stayed over night at the aunt and uncle’s house of Rodrigo (the student I’m staying with) and it was on the outskirts of town and they owned a small coffee farm. It was amazing to walk out of their door and be surrounded by coffee, volcanoes, and misty rolling hills. The trip was great overall, on Friday night we got some cheap, delicious food and then went and danced for a while at a discoteca. Then Saturday we got up, admired the spectacular views of the country side, then went into town and toured the original cathedral (which is mostly ruins now), walked around the town, and toured an old convent that is now a museum, which was super cool. We got back to Guatemala City around 1ish in Saturday and it was a great trip overall. I got to see another different aspect of Guatemala and experience a small town feeling. Antigua is a very tourist oriented city, which I normally try to avoid, but it was still a great to see and learn about some of the country’s history.

The next weekend we took another day trip on Sunday the 28^th to a nearby location, Lake Amátitlan. This is another spectacular lake of Guatemala and is only about 30-45 minute drive from Guatemala City. Unfortunately the lake has been subject to waste disposal in the past and has been heavily polluted. Efforts are currently underway to clean the lake, but it is a long process and the water is still unsafe. Even though Lake Amátitlan is polluted it is still amazingly beautiful. When we were at the lake we rented a row boat and paddled around for an hour, then we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain to overlook the city of Amátitlan and the lake. After most of the day at the lake we drove to the coast and Puerto (port) San Jose. We arrived at the beach just in time to relax and walk for a few hours watching the sunset. After the sunset we drove back to Guatemala City after a great day of experiencing the beautiful natural beauty of Guatemala.

On Tuesday the 30^th we had off of work and the university had off of school due to a national holiday, so we took a trip to the local and active volcano Pacaya. We hiked the trails up to the top (or close to the top) of the volcano and it was a great outdoor adventure. Somehow along the way up Karie, Rodrigo and I took a wrong turn when we got separated from Celeste and Melissa, who rented horses, and ended up having to make our own path up the mountain until we could finally reunite with them two hours later. It was a really great time and another great trip experiencing the phenomenal natural beauty of the country.

More to come soon...

Jesse