A visit to UPAVIM...
Karen’s photos 2
Category Archives: Guatemala 2011
Karen’s photos 1
Patrick as he first arrived in the plaza in Guatemala City.
After arriving a day later than we expected, Patrick and I were picked up at the airport by our two gracious drivers. We missed having the support of the group around us, but we felt safe as we were driven to the center of Guatemala City to meet up with everyone else. Because we arrived when the group was in the middle of learning about the Peace Accords, we needed to wait for them to be done. This allowed us a chance to explore Central Plaza, which the group had seen the previous afternoon. Patrick immediately bonded with one of the local merchants and bought a colorful hat to relieve the heat of the tropical day. It was really great to be reunited with everyone after our unexpected separation!
-ke (Karen Evenson)
Day 2 (Part 1) – Evening Reflections
Good evening, dear reader! This entry will be dedicated to my reflections I had today; with three speakers to write about (and three times the amount of notes I took yesterday), I’m afraid I just don’t have the energy to get it all written before bed tonight. But I wanted to give you something, and we have a 4-hour van ride tomorrow, so I will hope to write of today’s speakers at that time. If there is an internet connection at our stay in Quetzaltenango, I will post in the evening, but if not, I will have to wait.
I am discovering that I am really glad I brought earplugs for this trip. It’s not that I particularly enjoy the sensation of a pseudo-head cold, and it’s not that I don’t want to hear what my companions in the hallway are laughing about. (I’m actually pretty sure I’d love to be in the middle of whatever is sparking their jovial mood.)
It’s just that when you’re on a trip like this one, there is very little personal space or personal time. The earplugs, while not exactly comfortable, give me the sensation that I’m Continue reading
Day 1 (Part 2) – Photos
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- A storefront in Guatamala City. “Estrella” means “star,” and ironically is also the name of the outdoor tent prison in the Arizona desert.
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- Our luggage getting unloaded!
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- Patsy under the hanging flowers.
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- Tumbergin
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- Cyndi and Mary sharing a bonding moment in the garden
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- In this manually operated open-air elevator, Ann waves as Professor Chris looks out from the fourth story.
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- Our group gathers for brief instruction in the Central Plaza in Guatemala City.
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- Mary and Kris Ann walk down the side hall of the Catholic cathedral next to the Central Plaza.
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- Professor Chris pauses a moment to touch the names of the martyrs engraved in the pillars outside the cathedral.
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- We sit in a circle to discuss Guatemala’s history and future with our guest speaker, Victor.
Day 1 (Part 2) – A Small Understanding
I listened to this song repeatedly on the flight down here:
“Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for…. Imagine all the people, living life in peace…. Imagine no possession, I wonder if you can, no need for greed, nor hunger: a brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people, sharing all the world. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you join us, and the world will live as one.” -John Lennon, Imagine
Nineteen hours since we all gathered at the airport at 4:00 this morning, and we’re in bed! I wanted to update you, dear reader, while I could, since it looks like our schedule tomorrow is busy, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to post.
Upon landing in Guatemala City, we made it through immigration and customs and met our guide, Fidel. It is through his careful planning that we have the meaningful itinerary that we do. He is a gentle man of intelligence and compassion, and he earned his Master of Divinity degree in the Twin Cities at Continue reading
Day 1 (Part 1) – Photos
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- Justin on the express train at the Atlanta airport. Our connecting flight was already boarding when we landed, so the train was appreciated!
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- David and Mary on our flight to Guatemala City. (This was the third take. Hard to stop those two from making funny faces!)
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- Patsy explains her reasoning for carrying hand sanitizer at all times.
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- And we’ve arrived in Guatemala City! Professor Chris and Don greet our guide Fidel.
Day 1 (Part 1) – Departures
Dear reader,
I am happy to report that we all made it to the Minneapolis/Saint Paul airport with enough time for us to make it to the gate before our seats were called. There was a moment of confusion at security when we realized Aidan and Norda had been given identical boarding passes—both of which were in Aidan’s name! But that got cleared up, and we were on our way.
When we landed in Atlanta, Georgia, our connecting flight to Guatemala City was already boarding, so we threaded our way through the immense airport in twos and threes and squeaked in at the end of the boarding time. We were greeted in Spanish by our pilot, and the murmured apologies as we bumped our way towards our seats were sometimes in Spanish and sometimes not. It was the beginning of leaving the Continue reading
Getting Ready for Liftoff
Greetings, dear reader!
It is with great excitement that I write to let you know we are leaving for Guatemala this morning! We will all (hopefully) stumble into the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport at 4:00am sharp. We have a layover for an hour in Atlanta, Georgia, and then it’s straight to Guatemala City. We will touch down right before lunch!
Once we are in Guatamala City, we will have a tour of the Central Plaza and get a brief history of Guatemala, as well as an update on what the current situation is like. It looks like we have a lot to do before we sleep tonight!
I do not know what our internet situation will be like; I am guessing it will vary from day to day, as we will not be spending more than two nights in any one place. However, I will do my best to write, and I will post as often as I am able in order to keep you informed of our progress and our bumps in the road, our adventures and our heartache.
Thank you for following along with us on our journey! Please leave comments frequently—we love to know who is reading, and what your thoughts are.
-lm
Going to Guatemala!
Greetings, dear reader!
It has been a while since you last heard from us, but we are getting ready for our next trip—this time to Guatemala! We will be leaving Minnesota on Monday, May 23 and returning on Wednesday, June 1. It looks like we have 15 people on this trip, and once again our fearless leader is Professor Chris.
There’s not much more to report at this point, but we’re very excited to be going! As with our previous trips to El Salvador and Chiapas, Mexico, we invite you to travel with us in spirit. I will once again be your faithful reporter, and if my wonderful traveling companions decide they would like to contribute to this blog, you will be hearing from them, too.
But no matter who is doing the writing, we all love to get comments from our dear readers! We take time in the evenings to read them as a group, and it’s like getting letters from friends and family back home while we are very far away. We also love to know that you are following along with what we’ve been up to on our travels!
So please consider forwarding the link to this blog to people that you think would enjoy following our journey together. If you would like email updates when we post, then you can subscribe by email; the link is at the top of the column to the right.
Looking forward to seeing where we go from here!
-lm (Leslie Mills)
