Recap: Day 2

Monday we woke up early. This was the first of a week of early waking up, but it was totally worth it. At 6 AM the song of birds from all different kinds start mixing with the music of some seminary students that were practising marimba. It was an eclectic morning with breakfast at 7 AM. We had pancakes, eggs, fruits and coffee.  

After that, we proceeded to load up the bus and hit the road for Totonicapan. It was a 3 hour trip into the Guatemalan mountains with nice scenery and curvy roads. We did a pit stop to but some chips and an hour later we arrived at our hotel. 

The hotel was located in a valley 20 minutes from Chivarreto, the community where the clinics were going to be held. We had lunch and then went to Chivarreto to set up everything and get started.

The local pastor welcomed us and introduced us to the community. Then we start setting up the pharmacy, clinics, triage station, and eye treatment station. We left around 7 PM back to the hotel were we got dinner and proceed to check internet. Everybody was excited about having wifi at the hotel, and the first night was mainly using it.

Recap: Day 1

Sunday march 10th began our journey to the medical mission trip at Totonicapan in Guatemala.

Our flight was leaving at 3:30 pm CST from Dallas/Forth Worth and several members of the team were already in Dallas since Friday, so only about 15 people had to travel from Waco that same day.

It was a rough night. That very Sunday was spring ahead so we had already one hour less of sleep. Surprisingly, there was almost no traffic on the highway, so we made it on time accordingly with the schedule: be at the airport 2 hours prior to take off. 

There was an issue though: we where not the only ones traveling for spring break so the parking at the airport was full. Some of us had to leave our cars in external parking lots or in the more expensive parking inside DFW. After parking and running back to the terminal, the whole team made it through airport security just on time to board the plane. Luckily enough we still had time to buy food and have lunch before leaving.

The first flight was good. We also got a meal on the plane which helped us to get to San Salvador. After almost 3 hours we landed in San Salvador and waited for about 1 hour to get into our next flight to Guatemala City. This was only a 30 minute flight and then we arrived in Guatemala at 8:00 PM local time (GMT -6).

After waiting a bit for our contacts in lieu, we went to have dinner at Pollo Campero, where we all had pizza.

After the long journey, we proceed to the place where we were spending the night, a baptist retreat house on the north west side of the city. After checking in we all went to sleep expecting the beginning of our missions trip adventure.

Thursday

Yesterday and today have been pretty busy days at the clinics. Wednesday we had over 65 people and today over 50. The team was splitting between taking blood pressure and temperature, being with the doctors, working at the pharmacy and playing with children.

People are really friendly, and children love all the games that we do. Some of the activities are playing soccer, singing songs, face painting, telling stories, and the famous 'pato pato ganso' (duck duck goose).

After that we go back to the hotel around 7:30pm to have dinner and have a little discussion about the day.

Bus trip and first day of work

We left Guatemala city at 8am and hit the road for  San Cristobal Totonicapan. The ride was great, we took a bus just for us and went to a pretty nice scenery. The road was surrounded with lots of crops and mountains, which makes it a really pleasant ride.

Although, it was a 3 hour trip, so many suffered the few hours of sleep of the past days. We took a small stop and then got to our hotel. It is a very nice place with hot water and internet!

After having lunch we went to Chivarreto, the community where we are dong the medical aid. It is a small community with really friendly locals. Today was mainly setting up the pharmacy, and the clinics and then playing games and soccer with local kids.

A long trip but finally there

We left DFW at 3:24 CST. We had a nice 3 hour flight until we got to San Salvador, then at 7:05CT we took off for Guatemala. After 30min we landed at La Aurora International airport in Guatemala city.

Right now we are enjoying delicious pizza for dinner and then going to our hotel in tyhe capital city for then go to Totonicapan tomorrow morning.

On our way there

The while team made it safely to DFW, now we are on the aircraft waiting to departure.

What's Guatemala?

It is a country in Central America (it is not in South America!). Some locals might get upset if you say it is on South America, so be careful when talking to a Guatemalan or chapin (cha-pin). 

The official language is Spanish, but there are 21 different languages spoken in the country! Most of them are of Mayan origin and despite they are not official languages, for many communities those are the main everyday language. This fact makes Guatemala to be a rich country in cultural diversity. 

It is also seen in the colorful costumes of these ethnic groups. Each group has a different color pattern  which distinguish them from other groups. Everything is hand made and it takes a couple of months to elaborate one. Usually it is expensive, something around $100 and $200. 

Another thing that you will hear a lot when visiting Guatemala is the word Queztal (ketz-al). It is the national bird and the name of the local currency. At the moment the exchange rate is Q7.83=$1.00

Guatemala is called The Everlasting Spring Country, as it is between 65F-80F all year long. The region of Queztaltenango (also called Xela) is located in the mountainous region, so it is usually a bit colder than the rest of the country, but temperatures won't get colder than 50F.