Keeping in Touch

Hospital Pictures

2008-08-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

Here are few pictures of our last week working on the hospital.

Sorry its been so long

2008-08-23T17:06:00.001-07:00

We know it has been a LONG while since we have posted a blog, but it has been an amazing two weeks. Two weeks ago we took a week long trip to Xela (Quetzaltenago) and went on a whirlwind tour of six coffee fincas (farms). It was a very eye opening experience for us, and we could write a book about our experiences. We did learn a lot about how coffee goes from the farms to us and we will now appreciate our delicious cup even more. We will of course tell you much much more in person.
This past week we have been moving very fast on the hospital in Uspantan. Don Amato built us an amazing structure to put the two tanks on at the hospital. Only one problem that is was two big to fit in the first truck they got, and the second truck just barely made it thru the streets (we only hit one truck and one man). The install at the hospital has gone well and will be done just in time.

This is a picture of riding in the back of a pick-up truck on our way back to Uspantan.

We have a pretty busy last couple of weeks planned, so this may or may not be the last blog. On Thursday we plan to leave Uspantan (we are very sad to leave) and go back to Xela for the weekend. We will follow up with a few contacts from the farms and get ready because we are enrolled in the Escula de La Montana. A spanish language school located on a coffee finca about an hour outside of Xela. This will definatly put us pretty far away from any computer for the week. For the last 3 days of the trip we are going to venture down to the coast to see the volcanic beaches on pacific coast. So if this is the last time we post a blog its not because we don´t want to, but we can´t.

Miss you all and we will be home in just three weeks

Hearing Dona Maria´s Story

2008-08-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Time is really flying by for us in Uspantan, the past week has been a whirlwind couple of days. Last wednesday, Laura offered to take us to La Chimel for the day to visit Dona Maria and a great little hike in the mountians with a great mirador (view) and an awesome rope swing. So 11 of us pile into a 8 passenger suv and go for an hour and half bumpy ride through the mountians.

The view was breathtaking and we all spent over an hour swing high into the treetops, with the boys and laura trying to outdo each others tricks. The most amazing part was lunch at Dona Maria´s house, where Laura asked her to tell her story of what happened to her, her family, and village during the civil conflict which just ended in 1994, and had lasted over 10 years and involved a scorch and burn operation that destroyed most of the villages in the mountains where most of the Mayans live. Her story was incredible story of struggle and hope for a new beginning. Her village was forced to live in the mountians for months on whatever they could find. While her and her father had been taken by the army into prison, so many bad things happened to her its hard to retail and give it any justice. It was very moving and made me want to learn a lot more about the history of Guatemala and it people during the civil conflict. The after noon will be one of my favorite memories of Uspantan.

We also found this flower called Flor de un dia (flower of one day) which only blooms one day!

Then just yesterday was michael´s birthday in which we surprised with a pinata and fireworks on the futbol field. It was a blast to see him blindfolded and swing at a little paper penguin. I think he enjoyed his Guatemalan birthday even though he says he doesn´t like a lot of attention and stuff.

Kane comes in three days and plan to start the travels around to all the coffee farms, and unfortunalty the hospital has been pushed back again but we will eventually get to start that. We are having some difficulties getting materials in town to build the platforms we need for the water tanks. There is plenty of time to finish though and none of our plans are set in stone.

Miss you all
much love marla and aaron

Pictures Coming Soon

2008-07-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

I should preface this entry with letting you know that this is Aaron writing this, and I haven’t been keeping up with what Marla has already told you all, so there may some things that are repeated.
Since the departure of Felix and Laura we’ve all been settling into a rhythm of life here in Uspantan that is starting to feel comfortable. Our mornings consist of rolling out of bed at around 7am putting on a pot of coffee and sitting down with a book (there has been a lot of good reading on this trip). At eight we meet Don Avolino, the building manager, for water purification and our Spanish/ English tutoring sessions.
Don Avolino has agreed to teach us Spanish in return for us teaching him English, which has been a very fruitful exchange for everyone. Each day for about two hours while purifying the four tinacos (tanks) we trade words through hand signals and looking them up in the dictionary. Our Spanish vocabulary grows as Don Avolino’s English grows, he asked us if we would like him to teach us Quiche as well, but we said we think we can only handle one language at a time, not to mention when he starts to speak Quiche all understanding goes out the window.
After we are through purifying all the water with Don Avolino, our day consists of yoga, hiking, playing soccer/Frisbee with the kids at the field, cards, cooking, going to the Mercado, more reading, researching coffee farms, hanging out with new friends, and planning our next moves.
We’ve had the privilege of meeting some very interesting and helpful people in the past week. The first is Don Bagote aka Glen, he’s doing his Doctoral research on Latin American politics, and is currently traveling around through Guatemala, conducting interviews with as many people as are willing to sit down with him. He’s been a great help to us in informing us of the past and present political situations in Guatemala, and having traveled extensively through Guatemala, he’s also been helpful in telling us interesting places we may want to visit.
The other person that has been a true Godsend is Laura, a Peace Corp. Volunteer, she is currently working with the city of Uspantan trying to build some sort of tourist revenue for the city. Seeing that Guatemala is such a beautiful country she is trying to market the city to outdoor adventurers, which just so happens to be something that all of us are very much into, so we’ve all offered ourselves up as guinea pigs for anything that she is working on. She has also been a huge help in pointing us in the direction of several coffee co-ops and farms, and seeing that she works in tourism she knows the chicken bus system backwards and forward, which is a huge help.
The water purification system at the hospital is currently put on hold until we get the platform built that the tinacos will sit on to gravity feed the kitchen. The platform should be complete by August 10th, it is being made from steal so that it will last, but it also is taking longer than we anticipated. The maintenance/engineer guy at the hospital, Marcio, is one of the most intelligent guys that I’ve met and has been studying the water purifier manual for the past two weeks, and I am confident that he will have little problem with running the system.
So that’s pretty much it, life is good right now and I feel good about where we are. Each day brings a new challenge and adventure that stretches us a little, allowing us to grow and learn.
PS I hope that not too much of this post is a repeat, but I felt it necessary to write at least one while in Guatemala.

Practicing our Espanol

2008-07-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great time working with Don Obilino, he has said that if we teach him english he will teach us Spanish. The past couple days we get meet him on the roof at 8 to purify the water and learn as many words as we can remember. It is slow going but a little at a time. It is also really fun getting to know him better.

Felix and Laura left a couple days ago and we all got together and made them and their family dinner, it was really neat to be able to thank them and their family for taking such good care of us. Their family lives across the street from us and told us that if we needed anything that they would be happy to help. It is really nice to have them always there if we need help.

miss you all

much love marla and aaron

On the Road to Clean Water

2008-07-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

We have now offically settled into our short time home in Guatemala. The idea of eating beans and corn tortillas at every meal is no longer so bad and we look forward to the variations we can give to that dish with the local vegtables we buy.

This past week we have been working on the water at the apartments, which with only a few snags will be done very shortly. Besides the slight smell of chlorine in the water is just fine to drink. All that is left on that part of the project is to train the maintence man, Don Obilino how to operate the system when we leave. We will be working with throughout the time we are here to assure that he is confident.

The planning for the hospital system is just beginning, with Aaron and Micheal in charge of that. The work should start probably beginning next week.

We have started to get up early before breakfast and taking hikes into the mountains surrounding the city. It is such a great way to wake up and start your day, it has really been helping me to get energized for the day. Since for the past week we have felt sort of groggy which they say is because we not used to the altitude yet. But everyday we feel a little better. The views from the hikes are amazing, we took the group photo from the first hike we took.

Much Love and miss you all

Aaron and Marla

Settling into our new home

2008-07-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have settled into our new home for the next two months and we love it. The town of San Miguel Uspantan is really nice. It is small but has everything we might need. Including a local makrket that is open everyday, where we can buy fresh vegtables, all household needs, snacks and even clothes. We started working on the first water purification system yesterday for the large apartment complex that Felix owns. The apartment building is like a MC Escher painting and makes you feel like you are living in a maze with awesome roof views and a courtyard with a lemon tree.

We went to a small local church where we got to meet all the members and the boys even played soccer with them twice. The kids are adorable and really good at soccer, it was a lot of fun to watch all our boys play with the little tiny children.

All the people in town are very nice and curious about us here, and Felix´s family is amazing!! They have made us breakfast and lunch everyday. Usually eggs, black beans, and tortillas for breakfast and some awesome dish for dinner. We hope to learn how to make tortilla sometime while we are here.

We miss everyone!!
much love marla and aaron

Estamos in Guatemala!

2008-07-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

With no trouble and just a long day traveling we made it to Guatemala City, Guatemala. Felix and Laura have really been taking care of us, we all even have our own blow up mattress. Yesterday we went to Antigua and enjoyed walking around the beautiful city. There were so many wonderful colors everywhere. Other then practicing our espanol we have spent a good deal of time playing a new card game we learned called Muggins. Just imagine speed with 8 people, we all really enjoy it. At the house we are staying at there is a wonderful terrace that over looks Guatemala City and is a breathtaking view at night.

July 4th Weekend/ Beginning of Guatemala trip

2008-07-07T18:01:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Guatemala started with a detour. We took everyone going to Guatemala to Saluda, North Carolina for the Graham's 60th wedding anniversary and Coon Dog Day. Aaron's family so graciously took us in and fed us the whole time we were there. The four days there were spent hanging out on the porch, playing horseshoes, Coon Dog Day parade, and hanging out with family. It was a really relaxing and fun time before we fly to Guatemala from Orlando.

There are five other people going to Guatemala with us. We plan to stay for two months and hopefully we will be able keep us this blog so all can keep up with our progress in San Miguel, Uspantan.

Last Stop Morocco

2008-05-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots of sun, one of the things that Morocco had to offer, as well as a million "free" guides. We made it to southern Spain and hopped on a ferry and two hours later we were in Africa, well Morocco. The minute that we step foot in Morocco we knew that it was totally different from anywhere we'd been in Europe, it wasn't exactly developing world, but it wasn't exactly developed either.
Upon exiting the ferry we were bombarded by "guides" that could tell us anything and everything we wanted to know, even if you insisted that you didn't want or need their help. All of this help that they were offering was not free of course, but rather you were asked to give whatever amount you thought fair, and if it is not enough they will be sure to let you know. On the first day we decided to let one of these "guides" find us a hotel, take us around town, and show us a place to eat. He took us all over Tanger, and showed us some amazing sites, including Jimi Hendrix's house, some famous writers house, and the building that Matt Damon jump off of in the Bourne Ultimatum. At the end of the day we gave him the equivalent of about 15 euros, and he was happy and so were we.
The next stop on our whirl wind tour of Morocco was Chefchauoen, nestled in the Riff mountains, this was a beautiful city. It is a very small city of houses that are all painted white and blue, it was a very peaceful place to be. The second day we were there we decided to hike to the top of the mountain that towers over the city, 1616 m up. It was a great hike where we passed a couple local farms with gorgeous views. We only made 1400 m up because it was so hot and sunny that after three hours climbing up we decided to turn back. Plus we could feel our skin scorching. We only spent two days in this little town but wished we could have stayed longer.
For the last two days in Morocco we went to a beach town, Asilah on the North Atlantic
coast. On the bus ride to Asilah we were helped onto the right bus by a guy that just happened to have an uncle in Asilah that owned a couple of guest houses there and he told us that he'd give him a call and have him meet us at the bus stop. Sure enough when we arrived in Asilah his uncle was waiting for us at the bus stop, he took us to one of his guest houses that was occupied by a woman and her three children. For about 40 euros a night we got a room and had breakfast and dinner with the women and her children every day, on the last day she cooked authentic couscous that took her eight hours to prepare.
Asilah is known for it's beaches, and this is what occupied most of our time while we were there, every day we became beach bums and enjoyed every minute of it. In the evenings we sat on the roof of the house that we were staying in and watched the sun set on the Atlantic, and each day they were amazing, with different shades of blue, yellow, and pink.

P.S.We are currently in Madrid on our way to a bullfight!!!!

Barcelona, Spain

2008-05-01T13:53:00.001-07:00

We definitly ate well in Barcelona.
Luckily we found a really cool couple to Couchsurf with. She is from Barcelona and he is Italian and both nights he made us amazing pasta dishes from scratch, much better then we ever had in italy. Also one afternoon we found a really neat place close to the beach that had really cood hummus and Sangria which we had a whole pitcher and then took the beach for a nice siesta.

There was alot of modern architure by Gaudi a spanich architect from the 1900's who really like mosaics. He designed a church the Sacred family that the city of Barcelona has been building since 1882 and no one really knows when it will be finished they think 2020. Aaron and I just argued which spire was the tallest. He also designed this really cool park that reminded us of the city musuem (in st. louis). The whole park was filled with really neat stone, columns and paths some of buildings were dr. suess looking, it did have a really nice view of the city.

Barcelona was a very relaxing and cool city were we both felt real comfortable and relaxed just being there.

Venice, Florence, & Rome

2008-05-01T13:24:00.001-07:00

First in Italy we went to Venice where we walked the canals for two days and went to Murano on the third day. We really enjoyed St. Marks Square where we fed the pigeons and all the cheap, really good, local wine that you could get a liter for 2 euros and they would just fill up old water bottles.

Next we went to Florence where all the views are beautiful and our hostel had an amazing roof terrace. The Duomo, one of the largest cathedrals in the world was very impressive and of course the David was awesome too, even though this is only a copy its a pretty good one.

Then comes the big city where we spent a very lovely weekend with Dad and Lindy. Rome was incredible beautiful and extremely packed all at the same time. We threw coins in Trevi Fountain, we walked down the spanish steps, we ate gelato in front of the pantheon, we went to the sistine chapel and saw all ancient stuff (which may have been my favorite part besides the ice cream-marla). It was a very busy two days that we had a lot of fun and got really tired.

The Julian Alps

2008-04-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

After a brief tour through Croatia, we landed in one of the most beautiful places on the earth, Slovenia. At first it looked a lot like the Appalachian Mountains, but then the mountains just kept getting larger, and we quickly realized Julius Cesar decided to name these alps after himself, the Julian Alps.

We stayed three nights in the town of Bled, the town situated on a lake, with a church in the center of the lake built on a small island. There is no bridge to get over to the church, you can only get there by boat, or if you've mastered the whole walking on water thing. The first day that we were in bled it rained, we could tell that we were in an amazing place, but it wasn't until the second day that we were really able to enjoy ourselves.

The second day we took a bus to Bohinj which is where most of the pictures on this post are from. We hiked all day in the mountains, seeing one magnifacent thing after the other. Half way through the day I (Aaron) decided that I'll probably never the chance again to bathe in an alpine waterfall, so I took a very cold, quick shower in one of the waterfalls that we came to. For the sake of the children that may be looking at this post we have decided not to show these pictures, but the picture of me with the wet hair will soon be seen in Irish Spring's advertisement for their new scent Alpine Fresh.

Pecs & Keszthely

2008-04-17T04:58:00.001-07:00

We spent two days in Keszthely, Hungary a small town on the Lake Balaton. We rented bikes and biked on the trails around the lake. We found a bird sanctuary and walked this very small handmade bridge through the marsh but only saw one bird. It was a very nice quiet town.

Before that we stayed in Pecs, Hungary at a house with an apartment that looked and smelled like it was owned by an eccentric old lady with lots and lots of dogs (but they were nice) We spent a lot of time here on the patio drinking wine and playing card games. The town was very pretty with lots and lots of little shops and bookstores to roam through. We also came across an old fortress wall that had a statue of what we could only determine was a centaurion (man/horse/lion).
The smaller towns in Hungary were very relaxing and beautiful and a lot of fun to stay but we are ready to see some other things like the Julian Alps.

2008-04-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

Well we sure didn't go hungry in Hungary (I'm sorry I'm hitting myself in the face for that one.). Anyway the first day we spent in Hungary was in Sopron, we didn't really see much of it, it was merely a pit stop on the way to Budapest, I will say though that the Pizza Forum very nice.
Budapest was beautiful, busy, but beautiful, a city that is the sister city to Vienna how could it not be. We stayed at the Red Bus hostel which was right in the middle of Pest. We walked all over the city just taking in all the scultures and beautiful architecture, poking our heads into any building that would let us. Later in the day we went caving, yes there are real cave all under Buda, and for a small fee they'll give you a guide and let you go all through the caves. Budapest is where we had our first taste of Hungarian wine; tasty.
Then we decided to go to Eger, sort of on a whim, but a brilliant idea by Aaron. The only thing we read about it was that it was known for its red wine especially one called Bull's Blood and it had a castle. When we arrived we once again wondered around looking for a place to stay and found a sign that said Zimmer Room (free room) and magically found one of the best places we have said at. Not only was it cheap but was owned by this adorable couple who have probably been married for over 60 years. The room was decorated with a beautiful garden view mural and they invited us down for coffee the next day. We were very happy to be staying with them.
In Eger we walked to the Valley of Beautiful women that is known for having over 200 wine cellers where we could just walk around and go into each of them and taste different Hungarian wines including the Bull's blood. Also for dinner aaron tried a Devils Doughnut which is supposed to be Hungarian, it was pretty tasty. ( it was at the resturant with the Hawk)
The second day we visited the castle and then the Mineret which is supposed to be the northern most sign of the Turkish invasion. Aaron climbed the very skinny 97 steps to the top.
Now we are back in Budapest for one night planning where to go to next.

Hallstatt...AMAZING

2008-04-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Alps
Well we made it to Hallstat, Austria, and it is one of the most beautifull places that we've been thus far. The town is situated on a huge lake nestled in the Alps. All we've been doing for the past few days is hiking all through the mountains, stopping occasionally for some of the most breathtaking views either of us have ever seen. Today as we were hiking we saw an alpine squirrel (slightly smaller and darker, with larger ears), two mountain goats, and we followed snow tracks of some sort of large cat.
Yesterday I (Aaron) decided that it might be fun if I were to take a quick dip in a glacier pool, OK actually I was trying to get down as close as I could to the glacier pool, the whole time with Marla saying I don't think you should be doing this, and I slip and fell in it with all of my clothes on; needless to say it was a very wet mile and a half back to the hotel.
If either of us ever learn German, this is where we will end up.

Augsberg, Germany

2008-04-02T06:09:00.001-07:00

Augsber, Germany is a smaller city outside of munich, but still in Bavaria. We couchsurfed for two days here and walked our little feet off, going the long way to everywhere (not really on purpose) But we did get to see the Fuggeri (picture of street) which is the oldest social settlement still around. It was started in 1521 and is free (or like 10 euros a year) for the residents to stay. they just have to be poor, native from Augsberg and Catholic. Also we went to a festival, like Octoberfest but smaller and Aaron drank a liter of beer. It was a very large glass mug.

The other picture is of a really cool building in Berlin where we just spent 4 hours walking around before we caught the night train to Augsberg.

Lubeck, Germany

2008-03-31T01:08:00.001-07:00

The two towers are what greets you as you walk across the river into Lubeck and island surrounded by the river. It is full of seven churches and beautiful architecture. Only one the churches wasn't bombed during the war. our favorite church was St. Marian, the next two pictures.

What was really amazing was the story of the bells. The Churches steeples caught on fire and from the heat the bells started ringing and then they crashed down to the ground. The people of lubeck left the shattered bells where they fell as a reminder.

We really liked lubeck and stayed in the rucksack hotel run by a very nice lady originally from historia, we stayed in the honeymoon suite.

In Brugge

2008-03-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

These are two pictures from Brugge. The one is the local pub we went to on the first night in Brugge. The second night we couchsurfed with Dieter a very nice belgium guy. he showed us around and let us ride his bikes around the city. The picture on the right is one I took on our canel tour of the city. Also we took a tour of the local brewery Half moon, that makes brug zot. We really like brugge, very pretty. Tonight we are off for the night train to hamburg, to spend the next couple days traveling though germany. We really have had a good time in Brugge.

The First Week

2008-03-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

We left out March 19th, which continues to be a cursed day to begin trips. Where our flight from cincinnati was delayed and we missed our flight to England. We got stuck in the suburb of Chicago, at the Sheraton, a hotel that is surrounded by 5 other hotels. Even worse we had to pay for internet use and it worked everywhere in the hotel except our room 418, go figure. The next day got better when we met Simon and very nice british guy that helped to pass the time. Also we got bumped up to first class just for being nice to the people that get yelled at everyday.

After reaching London our gracious hosts Dad and Lindy were awesome. We saw Stonehenge, took a nap and went to a local supermarket. It is easter weekend here so everyone is off work.

The next two days we went to downtown london and saw all the typical tourist stuff plus the Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum. To top is all off, it was snowing. Not a usual thing to happen in London, guess we are just lucky that way.

Off to the Netherlands tomorrow.