Guatemala: Sunday and Monday Recap

It is almost dinner time Monday and I find myself with a little free time and decent internet to write a quick update. (sorry, no photos, check instagram for those. Usernames: hlwick, habitatgvl, habitatgvlrestore)

Sunday was a great day. We started the day with a delicious breakfast and some of that fantastic Guate coffee. We then loaded up and hit the road to head to Lake Atitlan.

Lake Atitlan was glorious just as I remembered it. We did most of the same thing we did last year, which was just what we wanted. We took a boat across, went to the weaving cooperative, and had lunch at the same place. This time though we did things with a little haste to make sure we got to Xela in time. We even got to meet Fredy's sweet wife, Chica, and his son, little Fredy. Fredy spends weeks at a time away from his family to serve Habitat and we are glad to fit in a stop where he can get a quick visit too. The weaving coop was a favorite as usual, and I was even out-shopped a little by others on the team this year! I could spend a whole lot of money there. The items are just so beautiful.

After touring around a little we loaded the boat, crossed the lake, headed back to the minibus and hit the road for Xela.

After about 2 hours of another beautiful stretch of scenery, we arrived. Our hotel is super nice! We have hot water and everything : )

We settled in a little and then headed out to dinner for some delicious Indian food!

After dinner we all hit the hay as we were a little road weary and wanted to be ready for our first day on the build site.

Morning came quickly, but with better sleep than the night before without the noise of our previous hotel's guests.

Breakfast was again great, accompanied by coffee and fresh juice of course.

Then we were off to the build site. It was about a half hour away.

We started the day meeting the local affiliate staff and the Garcia family who will be the owners of the home.

The day was spend cutting and bending rebar and cutting and bending more rebar. Some others shoveled dirt and laid some block. Lunch was chicken and vegetables and delicious pineapple juice made by a local family.

In the afternoon we had cloud cover that was much appreciated! It also came with some very breezy moments that created a few dust devils or as Fredy called them, remolino.

We finished up what we could of the rebar for the day and headed back to the hotel.

Showers were had with much dirt to wash off.

After showers and clean up, some went for ice cream, some went to explore, and soon we will all head to dinner. Tomorrow should look a lot the same with a little more concrete mixing and pouring, but I am sure it will have plenty of excitements of its own.

Hasta luego!