Written by: Vicenzo Roling-Stella
When the alarm woke me up at 0617, I felt slightly tired from the constant routine of the past week. However, that did not last very long because I knew the work we had to complete wouldn’t resolve itself if we didn’t do something about it. So, shoving any thoughts of laying in bed aside, I got out of bed and dressed for the day ahead. As I waited in the lobby with everyone else – who all seemed to be collecting their thoughts and talking amongst themselves – our glorious leader, Nate, delivered an announcement. Using his “voice for radio,” he informed us that at 2000 tonight, the water would shut off for cleaning, meaning we had to finish all of our necessities before then.
Filing this information for later, we walked the two blocks to Violetta’s tienda for breakfast, which was made up of jam toast, a muffin, a comically large bowl of chocolate Rice Krispie cereal and apples, and of course, a strong cup of coffee. After thanking Violetta for the meal, we split into groups and went to our separate projects. Our guide, Ivy, took us to a bakery called San Martín and bought many pastries for us to enjoy at work. As we excitedly left the store, we were surprised to find Captain Lennon and Smitty waiting for us. They drove us to the CANI Asociación Casa del Niño school with some materials we would need for the day.
Once there, we finished the last-minute prepping of the courtyard’s main walls for this week’s big painting project. This included putting on masking tape, removing dust that had accumulated from the day before, and washing sections of the wall. Smitty lent us a valuable hand in completing these tasks with precision. We concluded all these tasks and then waited for the paint to arrive, which took longer than expected.
By 1000, we were told to take our “union break,” which was spent eating the pastries from San Martín, followed by playing a game of soccer with the school kids. It quickly became a thrilling game, with the kids running circles around us while we showed them tricks of our own. The fun, however, ended when one of our group members kicked the ball over the school wall and into the neighbor’s yard. A note was left with the neighbor and hopefully the ball will be back tomorrow.
By 1030, the paint had arrived, and we began painting. Once the time to leave (1130) arrived, we had nearly finished painting the first wall, making it a productive day. We cleaned up and hitched a ride on the “chicken bus” back to Antigua and lunch at Violetta’s at 1215. Once we had eaten and thanked Violetta for another delicious meal, we returned to the hostel to relax before Spanish class at Ixchel Spanish School across the street at 1330.
Sitting down for my session, I began conversing with Maestra Aura, my Spanish teacher. She has a fascinating life story, including surviving Guatemala’s civil war, moving from town to town, raising five children, and being a young grandmother already. She could hold conversations for nearly 3 hours. This is how the class passed by – we discussed various topics while she corrected my vocabulary and grammar. Once 1630 struck, we ended the session with a review of future conjugation exercises, followed by me saying goodbye to her. I am looking forward to class tomorrow.
After a quick debrief with Captain Lennon and Professor Cadwalader at 1630, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. I relaxed before going to Antigua’s Gym with Sean and Tanner for a workout. We ate dinner at the Tacorazon taco restaurant, which was doing a 2-for-1 tacos promotion tonight. After we had our fill of an insanely large order, we walked back to the hostel, ready to tuck in for the night, knowing that we would be doing more work tomorrow.
