Boat Day (Team 2)

¡Hola los amigos y familia de Los Estados Unidos!

Today was our first full day in Guatemala!  We started off our day having breakfast at the San Lucas Mission.  After breakfast we began our “tourism” day.  

We took a boat tour to two different cities where we admired the beautiful scenery.  Our first stop was San Antonio, where we learned how the community makes pottery.  We had the opportunity to support the local business and buy coffee mugs, crosses, bowls, owls, and much more! Afterwards, we visited a textile shop.  While there, the ladies gave us a demonstration on how they make dyes for their cloths and how the clothing and accessories are made.  Some students purchased some authentic Guatemalan clothing. All of the products were beautiful and the time and dedication that went into each craft was unlike anything a lot of us had ever seen before. 

Our next stop was to Santiago where we started our stay visiting a memorial for Father Rother. His story inspired all of us because of his compassion and dedication to the Guatemalan people. He touched the lives of many, and is still remembered fondly for his love. Later on, we had lunch at a nice little restaurant.  We also had the opportunity to visit the markets and vendors, and interact with many of the Guatemalan people.

We ended our evening attending mass at 5 o’clock. It was an amazing experience for all of our members with different faith backgrounds to take part in one of the central aspects of Guatemalan culture.

After the end of the day, we had our dinner and started playing card games. Let’s just say, Jon takes his card games seriously. As we’re writing this blog, the group is bonding and having our “late knight conversations.” 

We are prepared to take on our first day of service tomorrow and make the most of each opportunity!

Beauty Within and Around (Team 1)

Today was filled with fun adventure and exploring the culture of the Guatemalan people. We woke up, had a short reflection before our breakfast at 8, took our turn doing dishes, and then we were on our way! The first thing on our agenda was our boat tour. We boarded our boat, Crystal, and were given a breathtaking tour around the lake. We saw various styles of houses, limitless mountains, and even a volcano. Our first stop, was at the town of San Antonio. While admiring the town for its beauty, we were all given a tour of a ceramic and pottery factory. They taught us how they make their pottery from scratch and we got to see many of their works after. We then were brought to a weaving store, where we were taught how they gather natural materials to make their products and how much time and effort goes into what they do. They showed us how they pick the seeds out of the cotton plant, separate the material, and dye it. All the dye is made from natural materials. The cotton only needs to be dyed for a maximum of twenty minutes and the color can be made deeper based on the temperature of the water. After that, we boarded the Crystal again to be brought next to the town of Santiago. Father Kesicki gave us some information on the town and the religious importance of one of the churches that we got to visit. A priest, originally from Oklahoma, was assassinated in this city years ago. The priest, Fr. Stanley Rother, has a relic of his heart contained in a church in the town. While exploring the town, we were truly immersed in the culture. We shopped til we dropped and got to taste some yummy food (especially the guacamole) at a local restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we boarded our boat and were back to San Lucas in about fifteen minutes. Shortly after, we got to attend mass in which Father Kesicki was the celebrant. It was so powerful and uplifting to see how much faith the Guatemalan people have. The church was filled and people were literally out the door and on the streets. Once mass concluded, the local priest took over and transferred into adoration. Adoration following mass was a special occasion that only occurs the Sunday before lent. The priest walked down the isle with the monstrance and people would walk out from their seats to throw flowers on it, touch it, or kiss it. After mass and adoration, we had a delicious dinner and then we were off to our reflection! We talked about the importance of knowing the true effect of our work, entering into a spirit of solidarity, and injustices in poverty. Today was such an amazing day, we just cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings us!

New Horizons (Team 1)

The wait is finally over! Our group met at 1am this morning to depart for the Buffalo airport. We got through security without a hitch. While we waited for the first flight, we had an intense conversation about the Jonas Brothers getting back together. Our faculty accompanier Chad took a siesta during all of this. Our first flight from Buffalo to Miami left at 6:15am. While some of the group was anxious for flying, all agreed that it was a positive experience. From there, we had a layover in Miami and departed for Guatemala City at 12:13pm. After we arrived in the airport, we had a 3 hour drive to the San Lucas Mission. On the drive, we saw many vendors selling merchandise on the road. The drive also included curvy roads and some driving maneuvers that were different than anything we had ever experienced before. The culture in Guatemala is so unique. Once we arrived at the mission, we met some of the long-term volunteers and got settled into our rooms. We spent some time looking at the beautiful views from our hotel, which oversees mountains and a lake. Then shortly after, we had a delicious home cooked meal for dinner. Every single person in our group ate the food that was prepared, even though we had some fears! The night concluded with a reflection on our full day of travel, our first noticings, and all that we are looking forward to. It was a long day but it was all worth it in the end. We’re all excited to see what this week holds and can’t wait to catch up on our sleep tonight!

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;)

Meet Guatemala Team 1! (Yoss & Justin)

Hello! We are one of two groups traveling to Guatemala as part of the University's alternative break service trip (ABST) program! We would like to introduce our group members:

Sarah Vicary is a current sophomore psychology major at Gannon. She chose Guatemala because she has always wanted to travel there. Sarah also had an exchange student from Guatemala tell her a lot about the country. Sarah is excited to immerse herself into the culture of the people and experience everything she possibly can. Something that is unique to her is that this will be her second service trip, as she traveled to Haiti in the summer of 2017 and is super excited to do more work in Guatemala.

Bailey Ross is a freshman physician assistant major. So far, she has enjoyed getting to grow closer to other group members. At Gannon, she is involved in GUSPAS and intermural sports. Bailey is excited to better understand Guatemalan culture and help in anyway she can. Bailey loves traveling and has even been to Cuba.

Madison (Madi) Wall is a freshman nursing student. She chose Guatemala to experience a new culture, learn more about herself, and add a new perspective to her worldview. While she is excited to use her abilities to aid others, Madi is a little nervous to try new foods. An interesting fact about Madi is that she used to be a synchronized swimmer.

Olivia White is also a freshman nursing major. She is excited to go on the trip to Guatemala to explore the world and to work alongside new people. Olivia has never traveled internationally, so she is both nervous and excited for what she anticipates being an incredible experience. While she is not afraid of airplanes, Olivia does have a phobia of blimps.

McKenna Haskins is one of the faculty accompaniers for our group. She is currently a graduate student in the Master’s of Sport and Exercise Science program. She is also working as a graduate assistant in the wellness department. She is excited to learn about a new culture and explore a new country. McKenna is also enjoying learning Spanish with the group. Interestingly enough, she was a four-year athlete in her undergraduate at Gannon and was the Women’s swim team captain.

Chad Indorf is the other faculty accompanier for our group. Chad currently serves as the Assistant Director of Intramurals and Sports Clubs at the Gannon recreation and wellness center. He has been an accompanier for the ABST domestic Habitat for Humanity trip and for the Australia TRAVEL trip. Chad is looking forward to continuing to build relationships with the group and share in this common experience.

Yoss Eisenbaum is one of the student leaders for the trip and a sophomore nursing major at Gannon. In addition to this, she is also the VP of administration for the Alpha Gamma Delta social sorority. In her free time, she loves to listen to music and hang out with friends. Yoss was born in Guatemala and adopted by a family in the United States. She has traveled a lot in the past few years and cannot wait to go back to her home country.

Justin Johnson is the other student leader for the Guatemala group. He is currently a sophomore social work and theology double major. On campus, Justin also serves as a resident assistant and as the VP of technology for the student government association. He is excited to travel to another country and encounter the people. Justin is passionate about social justice issues and values meaningful reflection. A unique talent of Justin’s is that he can put both his legs behind his head.

We are so excited for you all to share in this experience with us! Goodbye for now!

Sincerely,

Guatemala Team 1

Welcome from Guatemala Group 2 Leaders!

Hello friends, partners, family, and all those in between, welcome to our Guatemala ABST blogspot! Our names are Hailey Wehner and Kishan Patel and we will be leading group two of the Guatemala ABSTs.

We will have two groups returning to San Lucas Toliman this year and are eager to invite you all into our journey. This year our group will have 4 participants, 2 leaders, and 2 accompaniers as we continue to know ourselves better, develop lifelong relationships, and make lasting memories throughout our experience. As one of the most popular ABST experiences, we are ecstatic to live the mission of the ABST program and continue the legacy.

Continuing throughout the course of this semester, we hope to invite you into our experience and look forward to sharing our story and the impacts that this beloved journey will provide us. Thank you for taking your time to read and we’re excited to share more!