¡Adios Antigua!

Buenos Dias a todos!

It is now the third day of our trip and we are preparing to leave Antigua and head to NSCI. Yesterday was an eventful but relaxing day. During breakfast at Patricia's, the travel team started to discuss each member's expectations for the trip - a discussion that continued through lunch and dinner.

Our ride to Antigua from Guatemala City ended up a little delayed, but at about 9:30 AM we were on our way to Antigua. Once we arrived at Antigua, we got dropped off at the hotel and went to check into our reservations. Unfortunately, the hostel lost our reservations, but after reading over our printed confirmations, admitted it was their fault and gave us 8 beds across three different rooms at a discounted rate. Next we went to pay the fee for our private van service, but when we arrived to the office, the employee told us that his keyboard was broken so it would take him a while to use just the mouse to find our reservation and create a receipt. The group decided to use the time to take a quick hike up to Cristo, a cliff above Antigua that overlooks the whole town and Fuego.

The team hiked up to Cristo, a cliff above Antigua, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Pictured, left to right: Austin Hall (freshman, Civil and Environmental Engineering), Samantha Hansen (junior, Mechanical Engineering), Ericka Paredes (sophomore, Civil and Environmental Engineering), Jaslin Singh (junior, Civil and Environmental Engineering), Neha Sikka (senior, Biomedical Engineering), Martin Liza (senior, Mechanical Engineering and Physics), Sandra Kutzing (professional engineer, CDM Smith), and David Tanzi (professional engineer, CDM Smith). 

The rest of the day was spent struggling with ATMs, visiting the chocolate museum, eating, and buying a ton of groceries to assist our host family with the cost of feeding us in NSCI. 

Dave asked each member during breakfast and lunch what their roles in the project have been and about their major and future life plans. During dinner he forced each member to name their short-term and long-term goals/expectations for the trip. It's clear that each travel team member is interested in learning about the community, helping them as much as possible, and making sure that EWB-USA Rutgers and the community are on the same page when we leave this trip.

We may not have wifi in NSCI, so good-bye until Wednesday, January 13th when we make a quick stop in Xela.

Adios until then. 

~Neha