Trip to a Coffee and Macadamia Nut Farm

On our hike outside the plantation –

Our last weekend trip before my week trip back to Houston (I’ll be back next Saturday) was to an organic, cooperatively owned farm called “Nueva Alianza.” It was a nice, tranquil weekend near the coast of Guatemala where we got to drink coffee, play games, and learn about the history of this plantation.

We arrived at the plantation Saturday afternoon in time to enjoy a yummy white bean and rice lunch. We then got to tour the surrounding area on an easy hike where a guide described to us a lot of the plants that the community had used in the past for both food and natural medicine, especially when they were struggling without pay from their owner in the late 1990s. It was interesting to see and hear about plants like the “Flor de Campaña” (Flower of a tent) that they used for insomnia and other leaves that they would use to clean their intestines or stop hunger for a couple of days. Natural medicine like this is very common in a lot of Latin American countries including Guatemala, and I always like to learn more about the plants and herbs people believe in and still use.

“Flor de Campaña”


Macadamia nuts! - the green ones are at an earlier stage and the brown shelled ones are at a later stage in ripeness


We also learned about the general history of the plantation along with their ways of making coffee, purifying water and oil from the surrounding community, and preparing macadamia nuts to sell. Otherwise, we just took it easy lounging on the patio overlooking the jungle.

The view from the patio!



On Sunday morning we took another short hike to visit a pretty waterfall where practically the whole group climbed a few rocks to take in the view and of course, take some pictures. Overall, it was a fun, relaxing weekend.

Cross-country Hike from Xela to Lago Atitlan

Me on top of the cliff "La Nariz" (means, "The Nose") overlooking Lake Atitlan the last day -


My second big hike here in Guatemala was an amazing experience. Walking through forests, villages, over mountains, and finally to the sacred Lake Atitlan, I got to see so much more of the country. I did this hike with the nonprofit hike group, "Quetzaltrekkers" again and it was just as good of an experience as my last two day hike with them up the volcano "Tajamulco."

However,this hike was much more of an endurance run. We were on our feet almost all day Saturday and Sunday, and it was tough, my feet are covered in blisters now, but like the hike in Tajamulco, it was an amazing challenge (especially at the end!). I loved seeing the post-card like scenes from the top of the mountains and it was a great experience to see the rural villages. The kids would just sit on the side of their houses and wave to our group...so cute!

Description of the hike - http://www.quetzaltrekkers.com/guatlake.html



As is traditional with "Quetzaltrekker" hikes, there were two Guatemalan kids with us on the hike. For this hike, two 13-year-old boys named Henry and Alvaro. The "Quetzaltrekkers" organization supports a clinic, a school, and a shelter here in Xela with their funds, and they also bring along 1-2 kids on all their hikes. Henry and Alvaro were definitely hyperactive, but great kids! It was fun to get to know them. Unfortunately I found out that Henry was abused as a child and ran away to live in the shelter (after living with a couple other families on the way), and now even at age 13, he wants to be a hike guide someday. He was always in the front of our line, telling us things about the hike. :)






The last day of the hike Monday was a lot of fun (and thankfully much shorter). As a highlight to the trip, we got up at 4 am and climbed a cliff for 20 minutes to watch the sunrise over the sacred Lake Atitlan. It was gorgeous and then we ate some yummy oatmeal on top of the mountain. We then went down the mountain to the lake and got to swim before heading home in a bus. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to do this hike. I don't know if I'll have time to hike much more b/c I'll be traveling a lot next month (to El Salvador and Oaxaca Mexico with the group), but I'm looking forward to hiking the volcano, Santa Maria with my group as well. Now to bed, because I'm exhausted, but miss you all! <3

The view of the lake before the sun came up Monday morning -


Henry and Alvaro curled up in a sleeping bag watching the sunrise -






Coffee beans!



Swimming in the beach at Lake Atitlan...

Observing Consultations at a Rural Clinic – “Salud Y Paz”

Today, Tuesday, I got the chance to observe at a rural clinic outside the village of Camanchaj. At this point, I have gotten the chance to watch medical consults at a number of different clinics, and at each clinic I have learned so much about medicine and also noticed some interesting differences in the clinics. As I have mentioned before, the Guatemalan health system is technically public and free for citizens, but because of the lack of resources, the system, especially based in the large regional hospitals, is hardly sufficient. For this reason, these private, social clinics (Like Salud y Paz in Camanchaj and the ICA clinic I shadow in regularly) are a great resource for people with little money

Salud y Paz is very different from the ICA clinic however. It was started by a Texas Methodist pastor and now run by a committee of the national Methodist church of Guatemala. Salud y Paz charges for consults and medicines, but at a very discounted price while consults at ICA are totally free.

Salud y Paz also has a lot of resources that the ICA clinic (started by a Spanish school in the city of Quetzaltenango) does not. Luckily, they have a laboratory, surgical rooms (they don’t do surgeries regularly, but rather only every few months when teams of surgeons, usually foreign, visit for about a week. Last week a lot of my friends got the chance to observe hysterectomies, cyst removals and other related surgeries done by a team of Canadian surgeons), and a dental office. I found that the consults could be very thorough for patients with diabetes and other stomach/lung infections because of the lab/pharmacy resources they had right inside the same building. Patients could get their blood sugar checked the same day they had their appointment with their doctor.

The clinic definitely has its limits though, and many patients are forced to go to the regional hospital for surgeries, biopsies, and other serious organ complications. You can tell easily how hesitant most people are to go to the busy, disorganized hospitals. I can understand their hesitance because my friend Sharon told me that when she visited the regional hospital with her Guatemalan Mom who had a serious lung infection that the medical residents there barely spent time with patients and hastily wrote their medical notes on scraps of paper which they often lost moments after.

However, Salud y Paz really impressed me with the care they gave. I observed the medical consults of Dr. Freddy, who spent a good amount of time explaining to his patients the importance of diet and mental health to as many patients as possible. In a country where preventative medicine is rare and difficult to access, the work of Dr. Freddy is very special.

Entertaining kids in a rural community outside Huehuetenango and Other Celebrations

Our group in front of the mural on the school...


Our weekend trip during these past few days was a bit different. The group went to visit a rural community to play soccer, hit a piñata with some kids, and paint a mural on a recently constructed school. It was great experience to spend time with a different kind of community – they live in a very isolated area, they don’t have a lot of resources, and everyone was there was so friendly and warm. The kids were so well-behaved too! Eight of us from our group attempted to entertain about 20 kids for about a day, but with the kids’ enthusiasm and good behavior, it wasn’t too hard.

We arrived around lunch time on Saturday and were welcomed by a lot of the community. As soon as we arrived, we were served a tasty stew with a heaping stack of homemade corn tortillas for lunch. We were then introduced to all the kids in their small school which consisted of 3 rooms and then started to play soccer and volleyball. The kids had so much energy. They tired us out after three hours, and after eating an amazing veggie soup for dinner, the entire group passed out before 10 o’clock.




On Sunday, we finished painting the mural with the kids (see pictures). and let the kids take their shots at the fish-shaped piñata. I was so amazed that the kids did not pick up one piece of candy until every one had a turn – so well-behaved! After the piñata, we said our goodbye’s and headed back to Xela in the back of a pick-up truck.








This past week was also great and busy – I’m continuing shadowing with the doctor in the social clinic. Dr. Sim (I normally just call him Javier) is letting me participate in the interviews and the physical exams. I usually start the interviews with a casual “How can we help you?” to start it off. I ask the basic questions about the patient’s symptoms and other basics about the medicines they are taking etc. and when I can’t think of any more questions, Javier takes over. I’m learning more and more medical vocabulary every day and getting great practice before being a translator next year back in the States.

The rest of the past week was interesting as well, complete with a Hamantashin party (Jewish cookies) for the Jewish holiday of Purim and a Shabbat dinner on Friday night, both of which were prepared by my American friends here, Jessica and Maya along with help of some of the other students in my group. And on Thursday night, we headed to downtown Xela for karaoke for my friend, Hang’s, 23rd birthday. For Purim, we even acted out the Purim story. I played the role of the wise old Mordecai. It’s funny because 5 out of 11 of the students in my program are Jewish (just by chance)…which makes for some awesome foody occasions.

The purim party...Ricky as King Ahasuerus, Raquel as Queen Esther, and Miguel as our very own (very enthusiastic) Haman!



My first Guatemalan Shabbat dinner - Maya lighting the candles, the food!, and Hang blowing out her birthday candles...





Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you! ¡Hasta pronto!

Shadowing in a social clinic

This Monday, I started what will hopefully be a six-week experience shadowing a doctor in a free clinic. The office is funded by a Spanish school here in Xela, and is open to anyone in the mornings Monday-Friday. Dr. Javier Sim, the doctor who works there, seems really nice. I went for the first time Monday morning to observe his consults. Just listening to his interviews with patients was useful as I want to work as a translator in Houston next year. Being a translator will help me keep up my Spanish next year, and I’ve heard there’s a big need for translators too.

There were a lot of patients coming in Monday morning, many with stomach infections, serious colds, etc. The free clinic seems like a great idea, because without it, many Guatemalans in the area probably would not even see a doctor. However, there are definitely limits to the clinic. Javier told me that he only gets medicines (which are free to patients when possible) from the school once a month, so he does not always have resources to fill necessary prescriptions. Also, he does not have resources to do extensive tests. One older woman (in her 60s) came in complaining of severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and she had also lost a lot of weight. Javier did a physical exam and prescribed her an antibiotic. Afterwords, he told me that her chronic stomach issues and especially her extreme loss of weight can be indicative of a more serious immune disorder like HIV. So, I asked him if she needed a blood test to test for the diseases, but Javier did not even mention it to the woman because he knew she could not afford the expensive blood test. This consult was obviously a bit depressing, but I think that Javier does a lot of good for many people as well.

Javier also told me that he wants me to participate more. He asked me to read about general clinical examinations as homework, and eventually, he wants to conduct a few of these exams and some of the interviews. I’m nervous about actually interacting with the patients in Spanish, but I’m hopeful for a great experience over the next couple of months.

Weekend trip to Antigua and "Earth Lodge"

The group on Saturday at "Earth Lodge" outside of Antigua...

This past weekend, the group took a weekend trip to Antigua, the old colonial capital of Guatemala. The Spanish declared Antigua the capital in 1543 after a disastrous mudslide in the capital city before. In the early afternoon on Friday, we arrived in Antigua by bus and got the chance to wander and explore the city. We ate bagels for lunch in the central park with its fountains and beautiful trees (pictures included) and a cathedral in the background. Then, we walked around to see a few of the old churches and visited an old convent. The convent, named "La Capuchinas" was a convent built in 1736 and run by nuns from Madrid. Destroyed repeatedly by earthquakes it is now a museum reflecting religious colonial life. Also, the city had a lot of tourists (much more than Xela), but the air was fresh and seeing the beautiful buildings was nice.

Pictured below - Rachel and I in the central park, the old Capuchinas Convent in Antigua



On Saturday morning we drove out of the city to a hotel called, “Earth Lodge.” We spent the day doing easy hikes around the area, playing games like darts and “bananagrams,” and relaxing in hammocks. The hotel is a pretty cool place because it’s one of the few places that are environmentally friendly in Guatemala. Also, they donate a lot of their funds to help local kids get through school.

The view during the drive from Antigua to the Earth Lodge -


Pictured below, the sign welcoming us to Earth Lodge and a few of us on our little hike near the hotel

Teaching my first womens´ health class

The Guatemalan women of our weekly general health class on the first day...


Rachel, Judy, Sharon, and I preparing for our first class, making our (suggestion/question/comment) box!


One of my main community service projects here in Guatemala is teaching (along with three other girls from my group) a womens’ health class in Spanish every week. This past week was our first class on Thursday night, which was mainly an introduction – we will be deciding on what health topics we’ll teach based on what the ladies want to learn. We each introduced ourselves individually (name, where we’re from, and of course our favorite food!), and then the women introduced themselves. I’m looking forward to getting to know these women. They are all so positive about life, and they seemed so excited to learn, especially so they can bring the lessons they learn back to their families and neighborhoods.

After the introductions, we did a short trivia quiz about various health topics, and that got the conversation going. The ladies are not hesitant to make comments and ask questions, creating a great learning environment. They were already debating with us about the existence of a law that declares health as universal right in Guatemala (the law exists in the 96’ Peace Accords but it’s not enforced). In the last half hour of the class, we talked more about health topics for classes in the future. Our next classes will probably include nutrition (how to be nutritious in an economic way), infectious diseases, and cancer.