Reviews of Guatemala

Because I have so much time and am so kind-hearted :-), I posted a review of Antigua and Lake Atitlan on the lonely planet forums. Here are links if you want to check them out:

Antigua:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/message.jspa?messageID=16186829#16186829

From Guatemala

Lake Atitlan:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=16186873&#16186873

fun stuff.

Ventures

Frank started two new websites / companies. One of them got written up (independently) today!
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/firstlinefiction-com-for-all-aspiring-short-novelists

The other one is TykeRider. They are just starting marketing for it, but its a great product so hopefully that won't be a tough task.

It's been fun talking about the sites and strategies. The whole exploit reconfirms my idea and hopes for achieving a happy work/life. Focusing on and redefining (1) who is your boss, what is your motivation, why are you doing your job? (easy questions to answer with your own company) (2) work schedule - flexible is amazingly freeing.

As for me, I start my mini consulting gig this week. Going well so far! I leave for VT Sept 27th.

Coffee Economics

I finished my paper on coffee (for the summer class I took at UCLA) - it ended up being about the economic sustainability of the industry. It was VERY interesting to do the research and write the paper. I talked to so many interesting, smart people, who have great perspective on broad issues, as well as getting to volunteer and become involved with some great organizations. (Maybe I should go to grad school?) I ended up focusing on the economic sustainabilty over the environmental impacts because it was just so obviously wrong. Here is my first paragraph:

Worldwide, coffee is the second largest export commodity after oil, valued at 60 billion dollars annually (PBS). Guatemala is among the top 10 players in this rich business. Not only important in the world market, coffee alternates with sugar as the top export in Guatemala; a key source of the country’s income. In 2005 the agricultural trifecta of coffee, sugar and fruit accounted for 1 billion dollars, or one third of Guatemala’s overall exports (ITC). This number is only a shadow of the total value of the market, realized once these raw materials are converted into end-products and sold to consumers.

Over half of Guatemalans work in the agriculture industry, many nurturing these cash crops. In the face of this wealth, how is it that Guatemala is one of the 10 poorest countries in Latin America, with over three quarters of its residents living below the poverty line (World Bank)? This paper will explore the economic sustainability of the coffee industry in Guatemala, examining the political and social roadblocks and the efforts to forge new paths.

You can read the rest here

And here is the photoessay

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

There and Back Again

I'm back. The first signs of culture shock:
- i keep saying hola, gracias and si (esp to waiters)
- feeling like the airplane toilet was a luxury - you can throw the TP in toilet and hot water comes out of the faucet!
- taking $80 out of the ATM and knowing it will only last me a day, maybe two. ouch.
- i can turn on the tap and DRINK the water!

Other than that, its not too hard to adjust to NY or the US. I have some really great things to look forward to:
- I am doing a short-term consulting project (paid!) gathering/documenting business requirements for new green energy startup. awesome! it only lasts two weeks in sept which is perfect.
- I "move" to VT on Sept 27th to work at Green Mountain Farm to School. I am working there for three months, well volunteering you may call it, getting a stipend and free housing. I am psyched to live in VT and somewhere rural for a bit, and am really excited about the organization and people there.
- Christina's bachelorette weekend is sept 17th! we are all hanging out in NY. Sarah is pregnant! And then going back to LA in Oct for christina's wedding and seeing my sister.
- My friend Dave form Australia (my Asia traveling partner) is coming to visit.

AND I arrived in NY in one of my favorite months. Looking forward to seeing all my friends, hanging out with Frank and enjoying as many restaurants and nights out as I can afford!

2 Weeks at Ijatz

It´s been a long two weeks on the farm, but interesting and full. Eng and I stayed in different homestays to challenge ourselves more - it turned out good but at the moment when we had to split up I wanted to change it! I walked up a long windy dirt path with Josephina, my new house mom, to the little concrete house where she lives, with her husband and 3 kids ages 8, 10, 12. It was a simple three room house - kitchen, and two rooms with beds, one with a TV that functioned as a family room as well. The sink, toilet and shower were outside in little stalls. There was no running water in the house, but they kept a big filtered water jug in the house. So yeah it was different! And they spoke no English, so it was all Spanish all the time, or just silence sometimes. It was great though! It´s amazing how you can really bond with people despite the language barrier. I could even joke around with them or make small talk, etc. It was fun. I bought the little girl shoes for her birthday and would randomly bring home fruit or stuff for the kids. On the last day, they surprised me with this HUGE industrial sized strawberry pie, which I had seen them making in the Farm kitchen but didnt know it was for me. I was so happy! It was amazing. I was so sad to leave them.

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

Work at Ijatz was cool. Everyone was nice and again, it crazy how you can bond and have relationships with people when you can barely speak. My spanish got a lot better, or at least I was forced to be more comfortable giving it a shot, putting together shoddy sentences combined with the occasional charrades. We worked in the office with Victor a lot, sometimes with Pancho with the conjehos (bunnies) or in the gardens, and sometimes with the mujeres (woman) who make snacks and drinks to sell on the street as a side business. The first day was the hardest as we had to scoop up rabbit poo for the organic fertilizer. Yay organic! It was gross but we had a really good time with Pancho and just laughing to each other.

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

We were really glad when it was over though, to be able to come back to San Marcos and enjoy the peace and pleasantness here. And get some normal food. This is a whole other issue, but its really sad how people eat in the small towns, the regular people like the ones we were staying with. It was mostly sweet breads, very sweet watered down coffee, tortillas (fresh and yummy but just carbs), rice, beans and the occasional vegetable, eggs, chicken and carne (least frequent). They dont eat many vegetables. I thought since they were more indigenous they would all have backyard gardens and be really healthy, but just like in the states, people just buy what is cheap, including sugary processed stuff. Anyway, ts nice to get some yogurt, fruit and western-hippy chow here in San Marcos.

Ciao for now!

Que Tal in Guatemala

Xela (Quetzaltenango) is a great city. It's real - chaotic, messy, bustling, and still beautiful. While the more touristy places, including Antigua and San Pedro where we were this weekend, are nice for other reasons - often more preserved, more anemities, more travelers, etc - the thing that I love about traveling is being somewhere different and real. That is where the excitement comes from.

Today we go back to the lake to volunteer at a coffee cooperative. It should be interesting. On Friday I talked to Miguel from Mano Campesinas, an org that works with coffee cooperatives as well. It was really nice to chat with him. Besides learning about the industry, we were able to chat and connect about general life goals, helping people, development, etc. Every once in a while I get to to talk to someone, a genuine person, that seems to echo things I feel and think inside. (Other people that come to mind are Jonathan from Bobolink, and a German farmer I met in Cambodia who volunteers to teach Cambodians more about agriculture.) It's just amazing what people chose to do with their lives; how they can live so in line with their values and be a source of inspiration.

Ciao for now!

From Guatemala

Still Here!

I finished week 2 of spanish school and am still a major beginner...but I have some basis now. This coming week, I am sort of "taking a vacation" - going to Lake Atitlan with 2 friends and then to Xela (Quetzeltenango) to check it out and also meet up with Rafman! He was my most recent / last boss I had a Lehman. I am really excited to see him and his family. Rafman has always been encouraging to me exploring my interests and we always have long conversations about world issues and random things.

From Guatemala

As for my paper - I encountered an organization called As Green As It Gets (per a lead from Eric!). I went and helped them out last week and tomorrow I am going to interview the founder, Franklin, to get more official info for my paper. As Green As It Gets works with local coffee farmers to process, market and sell their coffee at real prices (not the crap prices they get offered by larger farms). Check them out.

After my "vacation" next week, I am going to volunteer for 2 weeks at another collective of coffee farmers, IJATZ. This will be really interesting/hilarious because it is Guatemalan-run and I will be on the only native English-speaker there. But I want to dive in - its probably the only chance I have to improve my skills in so short a time.

From Guatemala

Yes, if you saw my facebook, I had quite a time hiking Pacaya, an active volcano. OMG. 2 hour hike, rain, thunder, lightning, flowing lava, pitch black, holding two walking sticks and my backpack, steep climb through volcanic rock, etc. There is no way in hell you would be allowed to do this in the States. You'd be lucky if they let you stand at the base. Seeing the lava was really cool though, once I realized I'd survived. If I may impart a true by cheesy metaphor - I realized that the worst thing to do when hiking upward is to look up - its totally demotivating. Much better to focus on what's in front of you and just keep ploughing.

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

~~~ shout out to sarah and mark - congrats on the little one on the way!! ~~~~