Our blog is going to have 11 posts in a short period of time: one for each day of our Guatemala adventure. And while I took 2,605 pictures + videos...I am going to limit myself to only 10 pictures per post :) If you would like to see more, I will be creating a Picasa Web Album or in the mean time- visit my Facebook.
Here's a little background about the purpose of our trip: I am the founder/director of the student-run PR firm, True Blue PR. One of our clients was Jesse Dredge and his organization 9-1-1 Guatema
la (click link to visit their website). They partnered with the USU chapter of the Charity Anywhere Foundation who has a lot of experience with non-profit missions. We spent months planning events and ways to fundraise money to donate an ambulance to the rural hospital of La Tinta, Guatemala. We also prepared classes to teach to the villages and organized a few other service projects with connections Jesse and his friend, Paul have. Jesse and Paul drove the ambulance from Idaho to Guatemala- with a few setbacks when crossing borders, paying taxes, paying bribes, etc. but ultimately made it safely: with an am
bulance filled with school kits, hygiene kits, baby kits, toys and medical supplies to donate. I wanted to go on this trip because it has always been a life goal and dream of mine to serve people in a third-world country. I was also very involved in this project so I wanted to see the results of our efforts. Chris wanted to come for service and to teach medical classes to the mothers of the villages. We invited his brother, Kyle, who had just gotten back from his mission in Guatemala. It was wonderful to have him as a translator and guide to get around the country. We also invited Christopher's friend David, who invited his friend Katie. There were 14 volunteers total who traveled down to help, although many Guatemalan people helped us along the way. It was an amazing experience filled with many memories that we never want to forget.
Our journey be
gan with a train ride from Connecticut to Grand Central Station in New York City. Then we hopped on the subway which took us to the Airtran which finally took us to JFK Airport. On the subway, a creepy Dominican guy tried to get me to go to a bar with him... which was awkward because I didn't have my wedding ring on since we were traveling to a third world country -- and I kept having flashbacks from the kidnappers in the movie "Taken," who this guy very closely resembled.
Anyways, our flight from NYC to Mexico City and Mexico to Guatemala City were great! Despite getting my bug spray and toothpaste seized- customs, immigration and international travel was a rather uneventful experience. Mexicana had meals on both of our flights and they gave us small pillows
which we kept, and they came in handy as
we backpacked around. The flights also had an episode of the Big Bang Theory, which was hilarious- as always.
When we arrived in Guatemala, Jesse, our project leader picked us up at the airport in a big microbus/van. We drove through the city, which surprisingly had a lot more American businesses and stores than I expected. McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Dominos, Chiles, Nike, Texico, Shell (to name a few). When we stopped, the boys had to go to the bathroom so Kyle informed them it was customary to pee on the walls of buil
dings (so of course...they did). Then we continued our journey down to the city: Antigua. When we arrived, we walked around the center of the town. Kyle found a mission friend of his who needed a blessing. Christopher went with him, while David, Katie and I hung out in the city. We traded our American dollars for quetzals, took pictures and checked out the little shops. Then we all met bac
k up and Jesse drove us to where we would be sleeping. A friend allowed us to stay in their really nice apartment. It was decorated and had really nice beds. Our bathroom was great and even though it had a cold shower, I was just grateful to shower. It felt so wonderful to be clean after traveling for so long. That night, we ate at our 1st local place. It seemed pretty sketchy and unclean, but the food tasted good. It was a type of soup with meat and potatoes. Then Chris was still hungry so he ordered eggs & potatoes. It was SUPER cheap... only $2 a pl
ate. Our first day in Guatemala was exciting because everything was new and different. The scenery and architecture were beautiful- it was a lot 
to take in. So we set our alarms for 5 a.m. and went to sleep.
FYI:
Currency:
MEXICO: 12.45 pesos= $1
GUATEMALA: 7.45 quetzals =$1
Languages Spoken:
Spanish and Mayan-Quichean (pronounced Ket-Chi)
Spanish we knew before the trip: (+please don't judge my spelling haha)
Hola, como esta? Moi bien, y tu?
Gracias
Danate
Por favor
And possibly a few other phrases... but honestly- we were pretty helpless and very grateful for Kyle.
Here's a little background about the purpose of our trip: I am the founder/director of the student-run PR firm, True Blue PR. One of our clients was Jesse Dredge and his organization 9-1-1 Guatema
la (click link to visit their website). They partnered with the USU chapter of the Charity Anywhere Foundation who has a lot of experience with non-profit missions. We spent months planning events and ways to fundraise money to donate an ambulance to the rural hospital of La Tinta, Guatemala. We also prepared classes to teach to the villages and organized a few other service projects with connections Jesse and his friend, Paul have. Jesse and Paul drove the ambulance from Idaho to Guatemala- with a few setbacks when crossing borders, paying taxes, paying bribes, etc. but ultimately made it safely: with an am
bulance filled with school kits, hygiene kits, baby kits, toys and medical supplies to donate. I wanted to go on this trip because it has always been a life goal and dream of mine to serve people in a third-world country. I was also very involved in this project so I wanted to see the results of our efforts. Chris wanted to come for service and to teach medical classes to the mothers of the villages. We invited his brother, Kyle, who had just gotten back from his mission in Guatemala. It was wonderful to have him as a translator and guide to get around the country. We also invited Christopher's friend David, who invited his friend Katie. There were 14 volunteers total who traveled down to help, although many Guatemalan people helped us along the way. It was an amazing experience filled with many memories that we never want to forget.Our journey be
gan with a train ride from Connecticut to Grand Central Station in New York City. Then we hopped on the subway which took us to the Airtran which finally took us to JFK Airport. On the subway, a creepy Dominican guy tried to get me to go to a bar with him... which was awkward because I didn't have my wedding ring on since we were traveling to a third world country -- and I kept having flashbacks from the kidnappers in the movie "Taken," who this guy very closely resembled.Anyways, our flight from NYC to Mexico City and Mexico to Guatemala City were great! Despite getting my bug spray and toothpaste seized- customs, immigration and international travel was a rather uneventful experience. Mexicana had meals on both of our flights and they gave us small pillows
which we kept, and they came in handy as
we backpacked around. The flights also had an episode of the Big Bang Theory, which was hilarious- as always.When we arrived in Guatemala, Jesse, our project leader picked us up at the airport in a big microbus/van. We drove through the city, which surprisingly had a lot more American businesses and stores than I expected. McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Dominos, Chiles, Nike, Texico, Shell (to name a few). When we stopped, the boys had to go to the bathroom so Kyle informed them it was customary to pee on the walls of buil
dings (so of course...they did). Then we continued our journey down to the city: Antigua. When we arrived, we walked around the center of the town. Kyle found a mission friend of his who needed a blessing. Christopher went with him, while David, Katie and I hung out in the city. We traded our American dollars for quetzals, took pictures and checked out the little shops. Then we all met bac
k up and Jesse drove us to where we would be sleeping. A friend allowed us to stay in their really nice apartment. It was decorated and had really nice beds. Our bathroom was great and even though it had a cold shower, I was just grateful to shower. It felt so wonderful to be clean after traveling for so long. That night, we ate at our 1st local place. It seemed pretty sketchy and unclean, but the food tasted good. It was a type of soup with meat and potatoes. Then Chris was still hungry so he ordered eggs & potatoes. It was SUPER cheap... only $2 a pl
ate. Our first day in Guatemala was exciting because everything was new and different. The scenery and architecture were beautiful- it was a lot 
to take in. So we set our alarms for 5 a.m. and went to sleep.
FYI:
Currency:
MEXICO: 12.45 pesos= $1
GUATEMALA: 7.45 quetzals =$1
Languages Spoken:
Spanish and Mayan-Quichean (pronounced Ket-Chi)
Spanish we knew before the trip: (+please don't judge my spelling haha)
Hola, como esta? Moi bien, y tu?
Gracias
Danate
Por favor
And possibly a few other phrases... but honestly- we were pretty helpless and very grateful for Kyle.
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