Overview of My time in Guatemala!!

So my travels in Guatemala started off with just under a week in Guatemala City.
Here I volunteered for a few days and visited some of the partner programs that we work with in Guatemala City, such as elderly homes, a soup kitchen and clinics.



This was the chapel we re-painted before


and the courtyard


Coming soon - the after pictures!

I then spent Friday night in Antigua.


At a very posh hotel


It was then on to Panjachal and to visit Lake Atitlan - the most beautiful lake in the world.






Then on Sunday Morning we went to Chichicastenengo, to visit one of the largest markets in Central America





It was then a 4 hour bus ride to Quezaltenango.


I stayed there for 2 nights at our program there, visited a few placements and some areas of interest that the volunteers visit and it was a 6 hour bus ride back to Guatemala City to fly home on the Wednesday!

Guatemala!

So I arrived in Guatemala City on Saturday, the whole experience was so different from my Brazil program. Obviously the main difference was this was staff travel, I knew the organization and knew pretty much what to expect. With Brazil I was so nervous when I had my expectations talk and nearly cried and decided not to go.

With this I trip I had hardly any time to prepare because I had been so busy with work and really had not thought about it much.

When I had picked up my bag and gone through immigration, I walked through the doors and there were hundreds of people with their faces pressed up against the glass looking for people. Again I was not nervous or worried, I saw the CCS sign and it took about another 15 minutes for me to make my way through the crows to it!!

There are 9 of us in the house and they are all lovely and we are getting on really well.



The placement I am at it a home where there are a couple of mother and daughters, a mother and a son, a writer and a painter that lives there, as they have no where else to stay. We are painting the chapel and the courtyard and also doing crafts with them.



So just a quick update really to let you know I am safe and well!