Guatemala :: Day 5

Today was such fantastic reiteration of why we are here. This trip is exploratory, meaning that the findings from our meetings and contacts and experiences will determine whether it becomes an annual commitment for the accounting department. Today was exploratory to say the least and had all of us FIRED. UP. 

Our Spanish teachers showed up for lessons at our hotel at 8am again, but Jason threw them a total curve ball and decided to take everyone + their teachers on a field trip through Antigua. We started in the grocery store, then moved to a pet store, then chatted with a woman who sold tacos on the street about her business operations. I think I learned more from these "real life" conversations on the street than I did in 7+ hours of sitting and studying Spanish. Andrea was, again, very patient, and tolerated my VERY slow speech and incorrect verbs. 

We happened upon an old church on our way that has been converted into a trade school and stopped to ask about the work they do. It was the strangest, most interesting paradox between beautiful ruins and industrial development. 

A classic jumping team pic

The MacGregor boys climbing the ruins

A team picture in front of the welding station 

And one more team picture using our salsa form we learned the night before 

Our destination was La Casa de Santa Domingo (I think?) and our whole motley crew arrived to load the truck that would take us to the top of the lookout. We strolled through the art gallery and looked out over the city from the top. Our poor teachers were SO out of their comfort zones but very patiently took our pictures and answered our questions. 

There was a lengthy conversation with the zip lining operators about the possibility of sending 19 people through the extreme adventure course in business casual, but the end result was sending poor Myra on a quest to find a zip lining appointment to match our very limited schedule. In a move that I am not proud of, we ended up cramming all Baylor students into one truck and leaving our translators to grab the next one to fix the time crunch we were in to get back to the hotel. Jason gave us a speed tour through the rest of Santa Domingo, which was BEAUTIFUL and there was chocolate. 

And some candles that the nuns hand dip, as one does. 

Our bus picked us up at Santa Domingo and rushed us back to our hotel for lunch. Our afternoon was spent at a coffee plantation talking to truly the most interesting man alive. Ricardo Mont (sp?) owns and operates Azotea, his family's centuries old coffee plantation and museum. He gave us a personal tour and explained the entire process of coffee harvesting, which was fascinating even to this non coffee drinker. By the time he finished the tour, we had learned about his unbelievable involvement with the surrounding community. For example, he has just started a school on his property where each of the children is sponsored by a player on the Premiere London futbol team. We walked away with some very high hopes and big dreams for what our partnership potential could look like based on his contacts. Oh also a lot of coffee. 

The whole squad rocking their Jolie Joie-designed shirts 😏

"Green coffee" - this is how the beans are shipped all over the world. Starbucks makes $50,000 on one 50lb. bag of coffee from the plantation. 

The boys enjoyed literally rolling in the coffee (with their faces covered in chocolate from the drinking chocolate we all sampled)

Never a shortage of ridiculous team poses with this crew. 

Dinner tonight was at Frida's, a Frida Kahlo themed restaurant close to the famously photographed arch in Antigua. It was incredible, probably the best Mexican food I will ever have. We moved from dinner to our "ghost tour" of the city, which was hilarious to say the least.

I was reminded today how grateful I am for a university that promotes using all this mumbo jumbo I've spent 5 years learning to brainstorm ways to make the world better for those who will never know or care what a t account is. There are so many world changers here in Guatemala, and to be part of a team that has poured resources and time into finding a way to help those people by using the skills of our profession is indescribable. It follows, then, how thankful I am for the people who have supported me on this trip and the previous one to Uganda. You, too, are changing lives by helping me obey the call to GO. I cannot thank you enough for allowing the Lord to use you as instruments and stewards. 

¡Muchas gracias!