Hello all!

Today was our first full day in Gautemala and it has been quite the learning experience!

We woke up at around 7:30am and had fresh eggs and beans for breakfast! It sounds so simplistic but it was amazing. We then hiked up Volcano Aqua. It took our group about a half hour to get to the plantation, it was a really steep hike but the view made it worth it!

Once up to the plantation we learned all about planting, growing, and caring for coffee plants. A few of us even dared to try the raw coffee fruit and drink what the locals call “honey” from the fruit! We picked coffee fruit for about an hour and a half. In total our group picked about 69lbs…which sounds impressive but really isn’t!

We next went to Froilan’s (the owner of the coffee plantation) house for lunch. His family taught us how to separate the fruit from the coffee beans! Who knew it could take up for ten days to dry the coffee beans out?! We each took a turn roasting and grinding our coffee so we could each have a fresh cup. Our group ended up buying about 54 bags of coffee all harvested by Froilan!

After that we enjoyed our first meal without our translator! It was an awesome experience getting to pr actice my Spanish for the first time! We met with Gregorio’s family and learned that he has worked with De La Gente for about seven years! His daughter Julia taught us how to salsa and despite the language barrier we were able to have a wonderful traditional Guatemalan dinner.

Tomorrow we wake up bright and early again to help paint and build a coffee fermantation tank for a farmer!

¡Adios!

ASB