My Homies

My volunteer teammates consist of 2 women, including me and 2 men. They are a blast to be with, I feel very lucky that I have these folks on this trip. We make each other laugh so much!

My house-mate is Leah and she works at the home office in Boulder, CO. She is in her early 30's and lives in Broomfield with her husband. We share similar interests and are both picky about our food in the same ways, which is great for our house madre Maria. Leah likes to hike and she speaks pretty good Spanish. We get along really well.

The guys stay at a different home-stay and are Jeremiah and Michael. Jeremiah is in his late 20's and from New Mexico. He is very much a "new ager" hippy type with some absolutely CRAZY stories. He made his way to Guatemala by landing in Costa Rica first and taking the "chicken bus" to Guatemala. (This is the local version of the Greyhound bus, but locals really do bring on chickens and all sorts of goods and livestock.) He is not going to return home after this trip, he is going to continue to travel through Central America for a couple more weeks with no plan, just a notebook with names of people that he's met along the way that he will try to stay with. He has a beard and really long hair, so he looks like Jesus, yes, Jesus. The kids at the school call him Jesus and want to see his scars on his hands from the nails in the cross. He was in a motorcycle accident and broke his arm and wrist so he actually has some scars, and the kids are in AWE of him. He loves to cook and wants to study Ayurvedic medicine in India.

Michael is from the Bronx and works in one of our New York stores. He is Puerto Rican and speaks Spanish fluently so he does all the bargaining and communicating for us. While we are all learning Spanish, he is learning Kaqchikel, which is the indigenous language spoken here. He is the Panajachel bachelor, we tease him about that because all the local women want him as their husband. He has a big heart and will often buy a plate of food for a little kid on the street who then goes and brings back 3 of their friends and then he has to walk away from the food stand or he would be buying the entire city some food. He pointed out that they don't want money, they are just hungry. He has a beautiful 3 1/2 year old daughter and is in his mid 40's. His mantra is "don't hate the player, hate the game" and we about roll on the ground laughing, it's such a great act with his body language and facial and voice expressions. LOL. He has the older kids at the school and they love him, he is a great role model for them. I think he wants to stay in Guatemala with the kids, he is loving this experience so much.

The real heroes are the GVI (Global Vision International) group. Alton is the director, he is from up state New York, and was a high school Spanish teacher at one time. He has done some extensive traveling throughout Central and Latin America. He has been on this project for about 2 years. He initially set up the project by going to the village of Pena Blanca and gaining their trust. He is so passionate about the kids, getting them some decent education and is trying to get them some good nutrition as well. Tracey and Shonah are both from England and have been here over a year. They teach 1st and 2nd grade and are volunteers. They are angels. I don't know how they continue to do this day in and day out. There is no money in it and they live in just very very basic living conditions.

Everyone is so great out here.