Early bird gets the worm (Team 2)

12:45 a.m., bloodshot eyes, a nap-ridden Jon, and a group excited to take on a life-changing experience. Departing in a bus to Buffalo, some of us decided to cuddle up as we traveled with the other Guatemala group and the Merida group.

2 hour bus ride, 3 hour flight to Miami, and Kishan and Jon barely making it in time to board our final flight to Guatemala City due to their hunt for a Wendy's in the airport in their two hour layover. Unfortunately, this flight also led to the one and only casualty of the trip, Meghan's beloved neck-pillow. But all losses aside, we finally arrived in Guatemala City around 2 p.m. as Clara braved her first flights! Clara and Ariel supported each other on the flight, and we successfully eased through customs with no issues. At the tail end of this flight, we were finally reunited with Father Michael whose presence we missed throughout the middle of the journey. We took another three hour van ride through Guatemala where we saw the beauty of the country. Although we were shaken by the poverty we saw, we appreciated and discussed the colorful nature of the Central American culture and the breathtaking views. Our team needed to have their trust in our driver knowing that he knew what he was doing as we listened to some Spanish music until we finally hit a stretch of singing along to some hit American pop songs together. Hailey told us throughout the trip the stuff she remembered and her past experiences while answering our questions.

Arriving at the hotel, we had dinner and our first full group reflection in Guatemala. Excited and blessed to see the views that we saw and going through our orientation. Welcomed by Fabio, our half-German, half-Italian guide that knows basically any English you ask and we met the rest of the long-term volunteers. Tomorrow we are ready to go on our boat tour to continue to see the beauty of the country and our community while looking forward to immersing ourselves into the culture. We are excited to be in the solidarity of our community partner. Our journals are ready (Grace has two of them), our minds ready to learn, and our hearts thirsting to love and be loved for the week! Stay tuned as we continue to meet our community and gather our experiences.

Here are some pictures from our journeys, we hope you enjoy and see you tomorrow! Stay cute;)