¡Bienvenidos a Guatemala!

I'm here!

I've had a wonderful summer so far and have had the great fortune to spend lots of time with friends and family who I will miss dearly, but now I'm in Guatemala!

The trip went pretty smoothly with an overnight layover in the DC Dulles airport - I can now safely say that spending the night in an airport is perfectly manageable when equipped with the proper camping gear. Rows of chairs with no arm rests help too. Also managed to be upgraded to an emergency row seat for the flight down, so happy travel days!

Had a bit of a delay and uncertainty meeting up with my supervisor (Mike) and our driver once I arrived at the airport, but the delay meant that I had a chance to watch the end of the Brazil v. Chile match with about 50 other excited fans in the airport cafe which was very thrilling. The drive into Joyabaj was uneventful and gave me a wonderful chance to catch up with Mincho, my favorite albañil, and we stopped by his house to say a quick hello to the whole family, all of whom were very welcoming as always.

I'll be moving into my new home shortly, then off to a whirl-wind week of visiting projects and people while Mike is here, followed by a week of classes at Minerva Spanish School in Xela to kick-start my Spanish.

Stay tuned for more updates as the weeks and months progress!

Pre-Guatemala

Between graduation and Guatemala, I've been spending my time prepping for the trip and taking small trips to spend time with friends and family. I'll be heading to Guate at the end of the month at which point I'll start posting about my work as an EWB-USA Guatemala in-country intern. Some things to expect:

• Municipal planning for Joyabaj analyzing existing infrastructure vs. necessary infrastructure and the resources necessary for (as well as barriers preventing) desired infrastructure development
• Monitoring and evaluation of a roughing filter servicing the city of Joyabaj
• Preparation for (and eventual construction of) my senior design team's vehicle bridge
• General notes from assessment and technical review of other projects in Guatemala
• Spanish classes in Xela at the the Minerva Spanish School 
• A trip to Panama to attend the Design Global, Engineer Local course (!!!)

Those are the main events/projects I'm anticipating, so stay tuned for info and insights into these items and beyond as the months progress!