El Fin

The last few weeks have been crazy, intense, busy, and amazing. I have been diving more, including one dive at a site called five fingers where we had to fight against the current by pushing off and grabbing onto rocks, almost like under water rock climbing. I snorkeled with more rays, turtles, sea lions, and sharks, and I spent my last weeks with friends with whom I had become very close.

The last class, Human Ecology, taught by Diego Quiroga, was very interesting. First of all, Diego is a incredible person; an Olympic swimmer in his youth he now teaches with his vast knowledge and experience that has come from seemingly being involved in nearly every major event in the Galapagos' recent history. We learned more of how the conflicts between the conservation, tourism, and local population sectors make the islands a very unique situation where no solution is easy. Tourism helps pay for the national park who then try to scapegoat the local population for lots of the environmental degradation, meanwhile the local population is trying to get into tourism. It's very complicated, but taking a deep look into this situation made it easier to understand other situations.

Saying goodbye to the Galapagos was one of the hardest goodbyes I have had to do. The relationships I had made with the people on the Islands were what made it hard. I would miss having to dodge sea lions while walking across the beach to school, but the hard part was saying goodbye my friends who lived on the Galapagos who I don't know if I would ever see again. I will always have the memory of the islands, but I don't want the personal relationships I created to just be memories, I want to continue them, and let them grow. This will be possible with the wonderful internet, but the fact that returning to the Galapagos is not the easiest thing to do makes it really hard.

Now that this long chapter in my life is done, I have mixed feelings. I am excited to be heading home, but I don't want it to end. Now with my parent's and me sponsoring Francisco in Guatemala, and having such strong relationships in the Galapagos, I can't just box this chapter up and put in on the shelf. As with all my travels, this trip has changed me and will be affecting my life for years to come.

I want to thank everyone for supporting me in my travels, you have enabled me to do so much. I'm excited to come home and will hopefully be leading a forum on my travels at the Chapel Hill Friends Meeting in the near future. Music helped me fund raise my trip before I left with the Guitars For Guatemala fundraiser, and that couldn't have happened without the amazing Justin and Nikki. So I'm also excited to come back and involved with Dynamo Music Production, just one result of the great work they are always doing (Check out their page at http://www.dynamomuseproductions.com/Radio_Coverage.html and you can even check out the recordings of the radio interview I did for Guitars for Guatemala). Returning to UNC, Ultimate Frisbee, and music will be great, but I will always be holding onto, remembering, and thinking about this amazing trip.

The Galapagos

Week of October 2nd to 8th
This was the last week of Fernando Ortega’s Health Culture and the Environment class, we had to finish up our project and present them. The class was interesting because it went over a lot of things I had already covered in my UNC Global Health course but it looked at them with a slightly different perspective, focusing more on the cultural side. We did not have class on Friday which worked out perfectly because Friday morning I went on the local radio station in the Galapagos. My friend David and I were playing a gig at the main bar on the island on Saturday night so the owner of the bar got us on the local radio station to promote the show and play a couple songs. The weekend was also special because it was ‘La Regata’. La Regata is an annual sailing race from the mainland of Ecuador to the Galapagos and it ends in San Cristobal with a big festival. So Saturday the town was full with the sailors from the race and the whole boardwalk was full with tents for the festival. I had played a gig at Casa Blanca Friday night so I went and picked up my guitar Saturday morning and walked around the festival. When I walked by the stage where there were performers I was flagged down by the organizer and was asked to play a set for the festival. So I played there and announced the show we were having that night as well. The gig went great, the bar was packed with over 150 people and it was a lot of fun playing electric with David playing the drum set. David has played drums for a long time and plays back home in Chico so it was really easy for us to play with each other and follow each other. Sunday I just relaxed and rested.

Week of October 9th to 15th
This week was the start of our next class, Political Ecology. This class was taught by Carlos Mena, who spent some time studying at UNC. Carlos was a very personable guy and made it easy to talk in class and get discussions going. There was a bit of reading for the class every day, but it wasn’t too bad. In the afternoons I snorkeled, relaxed on the beach, read, and explored the town. Friday night I played at Casa Blanca again. It is nice playing there because I have become good friends with the whole family that works there. On Saturday a group of us went across the island to Puerto Chino, a beautiful beach, to go camping. It was amazing, one of the nicest beaches I have ever been on. We slept under the stars and I had the shock to wake up with a sea lion lying right beside me. All in all it was a lot of fun!

Week of October 16th-22nd
On Tuesday of this week our class went on a field trip. We started out going to a Coffee Plantation in the highlands and saw the process that went into making the coffee. Then we visited a NGO called Hacienda Tranquila that helped educate the local farmers in the highlands about more sustainable methods. After that we went to El Junco, the only fresh water source on the Galapagos in the form of a crater lake. Then we went to the Galapaguera, a restoration project for the giant land tortoises on the island. We got to see the tiny baby tortoises up to the giant tortoises that were about 3 or 4 feet long. After the Galapaguera we got to spend the end of the day in Puerto Chino again, which was just as amazing as the weekend camping. On Wednesday we were introduced to our second teacher for the class, Christian. Christian seemed to be the opposite of Carlos, he was not very personable and seemed to be used to teaching Graduate level classes. We had to read more and write more reading responses for the second half of class. Then on Saturday a group of us went to the highlands of the island to go to some mud baths. It was pretty cool; we had a guide who studied geobiology, what he explained to be the study of the world as one living being. I’m not sure if I believed all of what he said, but he had some very interesting ideas. When we got back from the mud baths David and I played another electric gig at Café Del Mar for an early Halloween party.


Week of October 23rd-29th
For the last week of our Political Ecology class we had to finish our projects. For my project I was working with my friend Travis surveying and mapping out where the dogs lived on the island. We wanted to see if the locations of the dogs were correlated with locations of dog’s attacks on sea lions. The project went pretty well and the class was pretty good overall. It was a little bit too much plain theory for me but it was interesting. On Friday we left for our island hopping trip. Instead of fall break, our vacation this semester is a week long island hopping trip to Santa Cruz and Isabela. We had a 2 or 3 hour long boat ride to Santa Cruz which was pretty bumpy. On Saturday we took a short boat trip to a small island Seymor and saw the red bellied frigates, giant tortoises, and iguanas. After we went to small tide pools where there were white tipped sharks resting.

Week of October 30th-November 5th
Sunday we took another short boat ride to another island, La Lobereria, where there was supposed to be lots of sea lions that you could snorkel with. We saw some sea lions when we arrived but when we started snorkeling they all went away, a couple minutes later we saw a Galapagos shark swimming which must have scared away all of the sea lions. In the afternoon we went to another beach and snorkeled and relaxed. Then on Monday we went to some other places including some cliffs that we jumped off of that were about 45 feet high. On Tuesday we went to Isabela and stayed there until Friday. We saw lava tunnels, sharks, manta rays, spotted eagle rays, an octopus eating a crab, and more. We spent a day climbing Volcano Sierra Negra and Volcano Chico and had delicious food at a local hacienda. I played music at a bonfire on the beach with an amazing flutist. We also went to the wall of tears, built by the penal colony that used to be on the Galapagos. Then Thursday afternoon we went rappelling down a cave. We had harnesses, helmets, and could be clipped in the whole time… Except the harness was just a rope tied around our legs and waste, the helmets were bike helmets, and there wasn’t much to clip onto on the way down. We went down 150 meters, it was scary but incredible. The cave was only discovered 2 years ago and nobody has discovered the end of the cave. Friday we went to another cave and then got on a boat and returned back to San Cristobal. It was a fun vacation and it was great to get to spend time with our whole group. Now were back in San Cristobal for a month and a half more, taking two more classes. I’m excited for the rest of the semester and will try to keep up with the blog a little more often!

From Quito to the Galapagos

My last week of classes in Quito was good. We all had group presentations which went well. I presented on the topic of ‘Defining Sustainable Use of Wildlife’. Essentially touching on how ambiguous a term sustainable can be, and how there are biological and social perspectives on the issue. We had a final exam on the last Friday, the 16^th that went well. Then Friday night some of my friends and I went with our Ecuadorian buddies to spend our last weekend camping. We drove out about 2 or 3 hours from Cumbaya to a little pueblito where there was a huge beautiful cliff for rock climbing.

We arrived at dark so we could only see the outline of the cliff, but even then we could see how cool it was. There was a river running by where we camped, so we played music, sang, and enjoyed our last weekend together Friday night by the riverside. Then we woke up Saturday morning and went rock hoping up the river for a bit, then came back and went to the cliff to rock climb. There were a lot of people so I didn’t try to rock climb this time, but it was a lot of fun to see some of the people 50 or 100 meters up on the Cliffside climbing. Then we returned Saturday evening and went to a bar in Quito that had a room with walls covered completely in fur and just pillows on the floor. It was nice to relax after camping and before we left for the Galapagos early Sunday morning.

We left early Saturday morning to meet at the University to go to the airport and fly out to the Galapagos. Everything went without a hitch, I was able to bring my guitar on the plane which was my only worry. We flew through Guayaquil to San Cristobal getting there a little before mid day. We met Sara, the leader of the GAIAS program in San Cristobal at the airport and hopped on busses to go to campus. It was cool flying into San Cristobal because you could see the coast of all of the island as well as Kicker Rock, a famous snorkeling and diving spot right off the island. We drove through the town and go to the university, and picture this…

The university is a nice 2 story building on the right side of the road, and then right on the left side of the road is Playa Mann, the beach. And like almost all of the beaches in the Galapagos there were lots of sea lions just lounging around on the beach. After one and a half weeks I don’t think I have seen less than 10 or 15 sea lions on the beach ever. Once we got off the bus we dropped our bags off and went directly to the beach where we took off our shirts and went swimming in our shorts. The water was cold but refreshing.

Then we had our orientation to GAIAS, just giving us general information about the program. We had a group of local GAIAS English students come and give us a tour of the town. Then when we came back we met our host families and went to their houses for dinner. I was picked up by my 2 host brothers Huber and Aaron. We live on the opposite side of town as the university (about a 20 minute walk-it’s a small town) The family is good, they like making jokes which is good because it forces me to try to start joking with my Spanish which is good practice. That first night I went with one of the English Students to Punta Corola, one of the beaches past the university to see the sunset, it was amazing.

Classes started on Monday, I am taking a class called Environment, Culture, and Health. My teacher is Fernando Ortega, who I have been very impressed with. He has represented Ecuador in UN conventions and gets himself involved in lots and lots of interesting projects. So every class he has a personal story related to whatever the topic is that day. The class is formatted so that we have a good amount of reading every day and then 2 or 3 people will present on each of the different chapters we read each day. So this makes every student have 3 presentations over the whole three week class.

So my daily schedule is class from 9am-12 and then lunch, which sometimes we will go into town, but this past week I just bought groceries and ate at the university. Then after that it is a mix of relaxing on the beach, doing readings for class, playing guitar, creating presentations for class, snorkeling, or walking around the town. Since I’ve been playing guitar all the time this semester everyone in the program knows that I play, and they knew I wanted to try to play some gigs this semester as well. This lead to when Chauncy, one of my friends in the program from Australia, learned that his host brother was in a band he told him about me. This started the ball rolling for me and music here.

The first Friday we were here was the viernes culturales, something that the town does every other Friday or so. They set up a small stage on the boardwalk and have different performances, like a town talent show. So I went to the tourist office and talked with them and got a spot to play at the viernes culturales. Of course they put the gringo who signed up 2^nd to last, but it was fun. I played Do Wrong Right by Devil Makes Three, an upbeat song that got the crowd moving even if they didn’t understand it. Then I my friend David, a talented musician as well, played one of his own songs. Every now and then I also played some with Chauncy’s host brother’s band and band mates just jamming and having fun. Then after the Viernes Culturales I went to one of the bars in the town New Moon which I heard sometimes had live music. I went in and talked to the owner, and when I asked him if he would like live music in the bar sometimes he looked down at his watch and said, do you want to play in 20 minutes? So I went back to my house got my mic and cables, and I was able to borrow a mic stand from Chauncy’s host brother Ivan. I played for a bit and the David played a bit as well and it was a fun night. We ended up repeating this Saturday night as well.

Saturday we went on a ‘field trip’ on a boat to Isla lobos and kicker Rock which was absolutely amazing. We all got on three different boats and went out first to a small island off the coast of San Cristobal and went snorkeling. One of the coolest things we saw was something the guide showed us… he put a sea urchin on a patch of algae on a rock and then 2 or 3 damsel fish quickly swam up and worked together to push the sea urchin of the algae. The guide explained that the algae are the fish’s food source, so they protect it which is why they pushed the urchin off. I also spotted a Marble Ray and we got to see some turtles and sea lions as well. Then we hopped back on the boat and went a little further out to Kicker Rock. There when we got in the water we couldn’t see the bottom, but we were going to snorkel through a small little gap that’s between two parts of the rock. As we got to the middle we were able to see Black Tipped Sharks! It was amazing! There were about 10 or 15 of them swimming underneath us as we were snorkeling. We also saw a large Spotted Eagle Ray, many more sea turtles, large star fish stuck to the rock wall, and of course lots and lots of fish. It was incredible. Then we went to a beach to eat lunch and then headed back.

Sunday was just a relaxing day, I did some homework, and relaxed on the beach for a bit. It was a busy first week so it was nice to wind down. Sunday evening there was a small festival on the boardwalk where Ivan’s band was playing. He talked to the organizer and got me and David to open up for them and play for a little bit before they went on which was a lot of fun. There band was really high energy and a lot of fun to listen to. There was a contemporary dance performance and at the end there was cuerpa pintada. Which was a painter who painted this woman’s body, it was amazing, he painted kicker rock with a large shark on her back, and fish on the legs with bubbles going up the back. It was pretty amazing.

This week has been essentially the same schedule as the first week, class in the morning and then a mix of work and beach in the afternoon. I am doing a research project for the class about Environment, Stress, and the Government. I’m trying to see if the Environmental factors that stress people out are ones that the people think the government should be concerned about or not. Also, I am trying to see if it is different in different locations like the Galapagos, Ecuador mainland, Guatemala, the United States, and Mexico. So I created a survey that I have sent out to friends and I will be going around town to try to get some locals responses.

This is a short version of all that has happened because it there has been so much that has happened that I probably forgot some things. But this gives you a general idea of what I’ve been up to. I still have not been able to find anywhere with internet fast enough to upload pictures, sorry. The semester's been great so far and I only expect it to get better! Thanks for keeping up with my adventures! I

Quito, Ecuador

Thursday, August 18^th

Arrived at the airport and greeted by my host family.

Friday 19^th

I went to the University for the International Student Orientation. The campus of USFQ is incredibly nice. We learned that San Francisco was the first liberal arts university in Ecuador and one of the first in South America. The current president of Ecuador was a professor at USFQ until he was fired/quit. It is a very fancy university, and it seems like most of the students who attend are very well to do. This has made it more of a class shock than a culture shock coming here after Guatemala.

Saturday 20^th

We toured the Historic District of Quito on Saturday. The district reminded me of Antigua, Guatemala with cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. It was a nice downtown and had lots of churches. All we have gotten to see is the nice rich suburb, Cumbaya, where USFQ is and the nice downtown. The south side of the city is a lot poorer and is about 2/3rds of the city, but we probably won’t get to see it at all.

Sunday 21^st

On Sunday we connected with a friend of Travis, the guy from my program who is living my homestay. He had a friend who studied abroad at his school, Juniata, last year from here. Me, Travis, and another guy from the program David went with Travis’s friend Matias and some others rock climbing at a place called Sigsipamba. I’ve never really gone rock climbing before but I tried it out and it was a lot of fun. It was a really beautiful place, a huge cliff in the hills over Quito.

Monday 22nd

We had GAIAS orientation, specifically for the Galapagos program. It got me excited for all the trips and the Galapagos. It looks like Travis, David, and I will be hanging out a lot.

Tuesday 23^rd

We had a free day so we went into downtown Quito. We had to handle a little visa problem with Travis that turned out to be a lot of waiting in line for nothing. We stopped a small restaurant for an amazing lunch for $2.50.

Wednesday 24^th

Classes started today. My first class is Wildlife Management and Conservation and is taught by 2 professors, Esteban and Galo who seem to be really cool. It seems like it will be an interesting class.

Thursday 25^th

Regular schedule of class from 9-12. Then in the evening we went to a despidida (going away party) for one of our Ecuadorian friends who was going back to the States to study at University. We had a fun night going out in Quito.

Friday 26^th

We went on our first field trip today. We went to the Paramo, or the highlands. The day started early and we bussed out to the start of the hike at 4300 meters altitude. We were in the clouds and it was cold and rainy. It was a fun hike being able to clearly see the ecosystems changing as we went down. There were lots of little lakes in the Paramo, and the Paramo is actually where the majority of the water for Quito comes from. At the end of the hike we got to go to hot springs and bathe in hot pools. It was a great way to relax after a long hike.

Saturday 27^th

We took a trip to Otavalo today. Otavalo is a small town about 2 hours outside of Quito that is famous for its huge market. We went walked around the market for most of the day, I bought some small things as souvenirs. The coolest part was just the atmosphere of the market which reminded me a lot of the markets in Guatemala. Then we returned to Quito in the evening just in time to run home and go back into downtown Quito to participate in La Ruta de Las Iglesias, a annual 10k run through downtown Quito. Reports said that there were at least 6000 people signed up and more than 4000 people running for fun like we were. It was a beautiful route around a bunch of the churches in downtown and it was cool experience to participate in a run with so many people. I ended up finishing in around 55 minutes, which for the altitude I think is a pretty good time.

Sunday 28^th

Travis, David, and Me went to Teleferrico today. Teleferrico is a cable car that goes up a mountain called Pichincha overlooking Quito. The cable car took us up about a kilometer to over 4300 meters, we had a nice hike with some beautiful views.

Monday 29^th

Back to regular the regular schedule of class today. It was nice to have a relaxing afternoon after having a long weekend.

Tuesday 30^th

Regular class today, then in the afternoon we went and played with the university’s basketball team in the afternoon.

Wednesday 31^st

Today we left for our 2^nd field trip to the cloud forest called Maquipucuna. We left early in the morning and got there around mid day. Then we split up in groups and my group hiked for a couple hours to a beautiful waterfall. We were with a local guide who was able to point out and name all the different plants and insects we saw. When we got to the waterfall the water was freezing cold but it was a lot of fun swimming around under the waterfall. In the evening we had a lecture about the local rivers and ecosystems in the area. The food at Maquipucuna was amazing as well and there was locally grown coffee that was great.

Thursday, September 1^st

We woke up early today to go bird watching at Maquipucuna. We saw some Tucan’s and other birds. One group saw a Quetzal but we weren’t lucky enough to see one. Then we went on a hike through the forest before lunch. We headed back to Quito after lunch and went out in downtown Quito in the evening.

Friday 2^nd

Had regular class today, and its crazy to think that there are only 5 more days of class in the classroom after today. We went into downtown Quito again in the evening which was a lot of fun.

Saturday 3^rd

Slept in today and then hung out with Travis, David, and our Ecuadorian friends. Then in the evenings we went to The Wailers concert. It was amazing! I had seen the Wailers in Chapel Hill, but it didn’t compare at all to seeing the Wailers in Quito. The opening band was a really cool ska, reggae band with a bunch of horns that came out with tons of energy. The energy didn’t stop until the end of the show, which ended on a 10 minute long jam on Exodus.

Sunday 4^th

Slept in after the concert and then hung out with my host family who had a family barbeque in the backyard. It was fun to hang out with the family which I haven’t done much because I’ve been so busy. Then I packed for our trip to Tiputini from the 5^th to the 9^th.

Monday 5^th

We left for Tiputini at 6:30 in the morning. We took a bus to the airport, took a 25 minute flight over the mountains to a small Oil town Coca. Then we got on a boat from there for 2 hours to the edge of the large Oil concession. We then took a 2 hour bus ride through the oil concession on the oil road. We had to go through a checkpoint for the oil company to be allowed to use the road. After that we took another 2 hour boat down the Tiputini River to get to the Tiputini Biodiversity Site in the Amazon Forest. It was a long trip out there but it was amazing to get out into the middle of the jungle. The Biodiversity Site is a research center started by the University, and Tiputini is one of the most, if not the most biodiverse areas in the entire world. Just walking around camp we were able to see Spider Monkeys, Wooly Monkeys, and Howler Monkeys. There were so many different species of plants, insects, spiders, and everything you can imagine.

Tuesday 6^th

We went on a hike with one of the local guides in the morning. He was able to show us all of the plants and insects. He showed us a tree that had a symbiotic relationship with Lemon Ants that would protect it in exchange for a home. We also tasted the ants and the tasted exactly like Lemon. There were many other interesting things like that that the guide was able to show us. Then in the afternoon we went to the Puentes and Torre (the bridges and the tower).

The bridges were over 30 meters high in the canopy of the forest. We had to climb up a somewhat shaky metal structure to get up the bridges and then harness in for safety. It was scary but an amazing experience. On one of the platforms in between the bridges we were able to climb up a rickety metal ladder another 10 meters to a platform at the top of a tree and see out over the whole forest. There were trees for as far as the eye can see in every direction. It was amazing. The only drawback was that there were a lot of bugs and bees that up on the bridge that would find any uncovered skin on you. Then we went to the Tower which was 40 meters high and we were able to relax at the top and see out over the Amazon. There were amazing views and the local guide was able to point out birds and different plants. It was an amazing experience.

Wednesday 7^th

In the morning we went on a hike to a lake nearby the Biodiversity station. Our group of 6 got in a small Canoe with the professor and paddled around the lake. It looked like a scene from the age of the dinosaurs. The plants all looked prehistoric and there were ‘Watson Birds’ which looked like prehistoric turkeys. There were also tons of bats hanging off of the trees. It was a really cool place.

Then we did some class work in the afternoon, working in groups on brainstorming conservation ideas and thinking critically about how to address some of the problems that are pressing in Tiputini. These are problems involving the Oil Companies, the local Woarani people, and the conservation of the Environment. It was an interesting activity and it was interesting to hear all the different solutions that people came up with.

Thursday 8^th

In the morning we did some field work which consisted of looking at poop for 2 hours. This was actually more interesting than you would think. We were testing the species richness of disturbed areas of the forest versus undisturbed areas. Tons of ants and flies would come to the poop and then there were dung beetles that would come and carry little pieces of way. We even had spiders come and start to catch the flies that had been attracted to the poop. It was cool to see how just in an hour or two so much could happen in such a small area.

In the afternoon we did a flotada, and floated down the river. We floated down for around 2 hours and had a good time. We stopped in the middle and had a huge mud fight which was fun. It was nice and relaxing to be on the river after hiking the previous couple of days.

Friday 9^th

We headed back on Friday. We took the boat back in the morning, took the bus down the oil road, and then took the 2^nd boat to Coca. Then when we arrived in Coca we were informed that because of the weather our flight back to Quito had been canceled. We ended up being put up in a nice hotel in Coca and having to spend the night there and caught of flight the next morning. It was a really nice hotel and it was nice to hang out with the group because we had become close during the trip.

Saturday 10^th

We flew back this morning and got in around midday. So I finally got back and I have finally found some time to write a blog post. So as you can see I’ve been very busy and have been trying to do as much as I can while I’m here. Only one week more until the Galapagos, which is very exciting! Quito has been great and the field trips have been wonderful but I can’t wait to get out to the islands. Next time I post will probably be from the Islands. I don’t think we will have very good internet access there but I’ll keep you all posted with how everything is going!

One Adventure down, One to go

A lot has happened in the past couple weeks. I finished working at the project, traveled to Honduras to do scuba diving, and now I’m in Quito, Ecuador. Everything has been happening so fast that I haven’t had much time to reflect on my whole summer experience in Guatemala, so I’ll try to do that now.

I always wanted to come back to Safe Passage after I returned from my first trip in 2009, so this summer was great to finally be back. I say a lot about how the connections with the kids and the project I have made are what always make me want to go back, but there is another thing that I hadn’t really thought about which makes the project so special for me. For me, it’s the endless possibilities of the project. It’s inspiring to see what Safe Passage has become in its 11 years of existence, but it’s also incredible for me to think about what more can happen. I think that experiencing the project as a volunteer, it was very clear what a strong base the project has in the community. So the possibilities of building on that base seem endless.

This summer really made it clear for me. Being able to teach guitar and English is something most projects don’t have the capacity for. Then, on top of that, being able to organize a community fair not just for Safe Passage, but also for the entire community around the garbage dump was incredible. It really showed me what a strong presence Safe Passage is in the community. Then it was small things that showed me possibilities, such as working individually with Francisco on songwriting, something that seemed to happen somewhat randomly. But that got me thinking about the possibilities of creating music on a computer for some of the kids. There are some children who don’t have the technical musical talent, but are incredibly creative and have music in their heads. So working even with a simple program like Garage Band would allow some of the kids to be creative.

Working with Francisco was very inspiring because I saw him grow a lot this summer. I think one of the main reasons was because he started to be creative. So not only was he thinking in a different way, he was gaining self confidence, and creating original work that he can always have. I think Francisco is a classic example of what the Creative Expression program at Safe Passage strives to achieve. Through any medium, being creative can be incredibly powerful, especially for the kids at Safe Passage.

My last day at the project was overwhelming emotionally. I had created very strong relationships with my guitar students and English students so it was hard to say bye. Also, my family and I decided to be Francisco’s sponsor which was exciting. He was so happy when I told him that he started crying. He told me that he had had other sponsors that were great, but he had never actually gotten to meet any of his sponsors. So he was very happy to actually have a personal relationship with one of his sponsors.

Then after I finished at the project last Wednesday I headed down to Honduras to Scuba Dive. I had to take a bus all day Thursday and spend the night in La Cieba, a big city on the coast of Honduras. Then I took the ferry the next morning to Utila, one of the bay Islands which is one of the cheapest places in the world to Scuba Dive. Then over the next three days I got certified to Scuba Dive and saw tons of amazing fish and coral, including a barracuda, a spotted eagle ray, and a sea turtle. It was unbelievable. It is like a whole different world Scuba Diving. Now I can’t wait to dive in the Galapagos. I bused back to Guatemala on Tuesday and spend Wednesday packing and getting ready to leave. Then this morning at 4 am I left Antigua for the airport and flew through Panama City down to Quito. I met my home stay family in the airport and I’m at their house now. I can’t wait to start my next adventure!

Fiaria de Valores

This past weekend we had the Fiaria de Valores, the event that the Creative Expression program at Safe Passage has been planing for the past month. The days coming up to the event started to get busy and a bit hectic as everything came into place. On Thursday and Friday we had group rehearsals with all the students that were going to play music on Saturday. Some of the kids were getting nervous but it was starting to sound good. Saturday came around and it started early. We left Antigua at 6:30 to go to s

et up everything for the fair. We set up everything and it was seeming to go well. Until we realized we didn't have a power cord for the whole PA system, we ended up finding a cord in the project and after fiddling with it a little we got the sound system up and running. We were running about 30 minutes behind schedul

e, but it was alright. Kids were already there helping us set up everything and were already playing in the park.

If you want to read the project's blog about the project you can see it at http://safepassage.org/es/node/5630, but right now i'll talk about my part in the event... the music.

The music started with one of the students, Cesar, playing with Mike, the head of the music program. Cesar played Let it Be by the Beatles and Hotel California. Then I went on with Francisco, Cesar's little brother. We played two songs that we had been working on for about 2 or 3 weeks. Francisco had come in one day and said that he had wrote some lyrics, and was writing a song.

I sat down with him and worked with him to put some chords to the songs and helped him a little with the melody. He ended up with two great songs that we were able to perform. Francisco was nervous as we went up, but once we got to playing he was fine. Then at the end of the performance when I announced that both songs we had played were Francisco's and everyone clapped it was great to see the smile on Francisco's face.

The music continued with more students playing. Then the group performance took place. All the kids

who had been practicing 'Stand by me' (a Spanish and English version performed by Prince Royce) for the past couple weeks came up on the stage. It was a bit crowded, but everyone was having fun playing and singing the song. It was great to see the kids playing together, it was clear

that music was something that all of them really enjoyed. Th

e ones who had been playing for a couple months were having just as much fun as the ones who had been playing for a couple years.

After this a local Guatemalan band, Calimoshos, came on and finished the day off. They were an upbeat band that consisted of a couple guitars, and a bass made of a bucket, a piece of bamboo, and a piece of string. They were great and brought some good energy to the fair.

All the while the music was going on a lot more was happening. There was the art project where people from the community were painting shoes. There were games like bobbing for apples and face paint that were being led by some of the students from the project. Then right outside the park the Graffiti club was working. Some professional Graffiti artists came and helped some of the students put up some of their own designs on the walls outside of the park. The pieces of art said things like No a la guerra (No to war) and Paz (peace).

It was great to see the event be such a success in the community. Not only were there all of the Safe Passage kids running around the park and playing and participating, their families came out, their friends came out, and it seemed like the whole community surrounding the park was participating. It made for a great day that I hope will be remembered by the kids for a long time.

Its funny, before I came down this summer I had the idea of working with music and English and then had the less concrete ideas of working on songwriting as well as a concert as a culmination of the summer. As the summer went a long I kind of lost focus on the songwriting and concert part, but then as I look back on it, I did exactly what I set out to do. I just didn't really realize I was doing it until it was done.

I want to thank again all of you for your support for my trip. I'll have you know that a portion of the money that I raised was what allowed this Fiaria de Valores to happen. I was very happy to donate the money to make this event happen, it was great to see such a concrete result come from the money that was raised.

Its crazy to think now that I only have 2 weeks left in the project. It has gone by so quickly. I am getting excited for the Galapagos though. And I have told Francisco, the kid I've been working on with songwriting, to send me any lyrics he writes by email in the project. So hopefully I will be able to continue working with him even when I am in the Galapagos or at home. This summer I've created a very strong relationship with Francisco. Sometimes its tough, but the good things that have come out of it have been amazing.

Next time I post will probably be when I am almost done with Safe Passage. Its been a great summer, and my travels are not done yet. Thanks again for your support!

Busy Busy Busy

Last time I posted my parents were about to arrive. They have come and gone now, so as you can imagine, a lot has happened since then. I met my parents at the airport and got them on a shuttle safely for Antigua the returned back to the project to work the rest of the day. Then, because of national holidays we didnt have the project on Thursday or Friday. So on Thursday we hopped on a chicken bus at the market and headed out to a local macadamia nut farm. It was a very tranquilo place with a kind of crazy owner who has been planting macadamia nut trees in Central America for most of his life. Then on Friday we headed to Volcan Pacaya. We went with a group of other Camino Volunteers and friends, so it was nice for my parents to meet some of my friends. It was a good practice hike for my parents for what was to come, as you will read about later. I hiked Pacaya last time I was in Guatemala 2 years ago, but it was all different from the eruption that happened last year. you could see the whole lava flow from the eruption, and the dome of the volcano was not how I remembered it. We got to go into a small cave at the top of the volcano that felt like a sauna from the natural heat of the volcano.

That night we headed up to Earth Lodge, a small nature hostel on the hills right outside Antigua. My parents go to stay in their tree house cabin. Lots of my friends from Safe Passage and Antigua came up to Earth Lodge so we had a fun night. Then on Saturday morning my parents walked down from Earth lodge with a couple of my friends and stopped at Cerro de la Cruz, a beautiful place looking over Antigua. I had to stay at Earth lodge waiting for a friend. My parents were leaving for Tikal early Sunday morning so they got to sleep early and then I played my gig at Cafe No Se. I had a relaxing day Sunday and finally figured out my housing. I moved into a house with 2 other Safe Passage volunteers as well as some other friends. Its great to finally have a place to settle down.

The next week as a good full week at the project. I continued to teach guitar and shadow Mandy. We started to teach the kids Stand By Me so that they could all play at the event we are organizing for August 23rd. I had a full week of gigging that week... Rainbow Cafe Tuesday night, Ocelot Wednesday night, Abasi Indian Restaurant as well as Cafe No Se Thursday night. On Thursday my parents took the tour of Safe Passage and got to hang out with me at the project during the afternoon. It was great for my parents to finally get to see the project that I've been working with and in contact with for over 2 years. Then on Friday I toured Nuestros Ahijados, a local NGO, with the Safe Passage English Team. The project was impressive and it was also interesting to compare and contrast Nuestros Ahijados and Camino Seguro. Things like the specific populations they serve and the different structure of the organizations affect the organizations.

Then after the tour ended I went off to Xela where my parents had gone earlier int he morning. We were going on a 3 day trek from Xela to Lake Atitilan, about 45 Km total. We started out Saturday morning and it was all uphill... after a couple of hours we made it to the ridge and started hiking through the cornfields of all the local villages that were up in the highlands and cloud forests. The trek consisted of a large group of about 25 hikers and 4 guides. We got where we were staying the first evening, a local town that was letting us use their municipalidad building. It was not much, but it was a roof over out head, so it worked. My parents had made it the first day, but it was definitely a push for them. But we all got up the next morning and all of us got ready to plod along again. The hiking was beautiful with great views of the highlands and some of the volcanoes around. Then around 11:30 on the second day it started to rain. So we put on our rainjackets and pushed on the paths had been somewhat slippery before, so now with the rain it made it even worse. Then in the afternoon we had to cross a small river 15 times to follow the path. Most people had sandals to do this, but I didnt so I did it all barefoot. It was actually a lot of fun, crossing rivers in the middle of the forest in the pouring rain. So then we finally got to where we were staying the 2nd night. It was a man who ran a sort of hostel out of his house, so we slept in a big room he had. He also had a campfire and a guitar, so that night we sat around the fire and I played some songs for the group.

Then on Monday morning we woke up at 3:30 am and hiked an hour to a lookout over Lake Atitlan. It was amazing, we got to see the sun rise over the lake and over the 4 or 5 volcanoes surrounding the lake. We then hiked down to one of the towns on the lake, had lunch, and said our goodbyes. My parents and I took a boat across the lake to the main city, Panajachel, and caught a shuttle back to Antigua from there.

Then it was back to work on Tuesday, and now with Mandy gone I started to teach classes by myself. I had support teams work with my classes twice that week so it was nice to have lots of volunteers in the classroom to help out with class. It was great to be back at the project. My parents caught there flight back early on Wednesday. It was great to have them visit me and see why I love to come to Guatemala and why I have and will come back.

Now the music program is getting a little hectic planning for the event on Saturday. We have been having group rehearsals with the guitar, piano, and chorus students for the concert we will have. Everything is falling into place for the weekend so it is exciting. Hopefully next time I post I will have pictures and be able to tell all about how the event went!

Parents and more...

Lots has happened in the past week, it was a short week at Camino Seguro so it was good to have a long weekend. We had Thursday and Friday off of work because one day was a national holiday and the next day was a teacher appreciation day. So the project this past week was good.

The Art program, or now named, Creative Expression program is starting to kick into full gear for planning the event on July 23rd. We have started teaching all the guitar students how to play 'Stand By Me'. There is a cover of this song in Spanish and English by Prince Royce so the kids are excited to play the song. We visited the park near the project where we will be hosting the event and have started figuring out the logistics. We have also been collecting lots and lots of old shoes to paint for the art installation... and thats where my parents come in

I asked my parents if when they came to visit they could bring down some old shoes. When I met them at the airport they were carrying a duffle bag full of over 100 shoes in between them. It was great to see my parents again and i'm excited to have them experience Guatemala!

On Thursday my parents and I visited a macadamia nut farm near Antigua. It was a fun and relaxing experience. The finca made all different things out of the Macadamia nuts... pancakes, chocolates, ointments, lotions. We had some free samples and some pancakes which were delicious. Then on Friday we hiked up Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano in between Antigua and Guatemala City. It was amazing to get to the top and see the old lava flows from when it erupted last year. Then on the way back from the volcano we stopped at Amatitlan and went to a nice pool to relax.

Friday night we went up to Earthlodge along with a whole crew of other volunteers and friends. It was a great night, I played some music after dinner and my parents got to stay in the Treehouse. My parents got to walk back from Earthlodge and see Cerro de la Cruz, where there is a great view over all of Antigua. Saturday night I played my gig at Cafe No Se and had a lot of fun and then on Sunday my parents left for Flores and Tikal. I had a relaxing sunday, played frisbee, and went to an Indian Restaurant for dinner. I talked with the owner of the Indian Restaurant and will be playing there on Thursday night.

It was great to be at the project today after a long weekend. It was good to see the kids again. I got to help one of the kids start writing another song which was fun. I also worked with another student learning Stand By Me so she could play it at the event were having. It's been awesome getting the kids excited about performing. I had a relaxing night tonight, and hopefully will tomorrow... and then I will be playing gigs Wednesday and Thursday and leaving Friday for Xela to go on a hike with my parents to Lake Atitlan! It should be fun, hopefully i'll post when I'm back from the trip!

Everything is happening so fast...

Its been over 2 weeks since I last posted and lots has been happening. I've been very busy keeping up with everything, so i'll try to recap what all has been happening down here in Guatemala.

Music at Camino Seguro

I now have a steady schedule of guitar lessons at Camino Seguro in the mornings. Every morning I teach 2 different hour long one on one guitar lessons. These have been going great. The skill level ranges from beginners who are still trying to finger chords, to some kids who are playing, singing, and even writing some songs.

Two of the kids that I have been working with are ones that are very talented and have been writing their own songs. I have been working with the music program director, Mike McCarthy, trying to give the kids a chance to go to a

recording studio in the city and record some of the songs. Its somewhat funny because the kids are always playing their songs for girls in the project and so we have been trying to get them to focus on getting their act together if they are going to record.

The art department, or now renamed the Creative Expression program, has also been working on organizing a concert/fair/day of art for the community on July 23rd. We are starting to work with the guitar and music students focusing on performing at the event. We have also been organizing an art installation for the event involving painting old shoes. There will be outside performers as well as games, it should be an awesome day. We will be having it at a park near Camino Seguro in Guatemala City... i'll keep everyone posted on further details with the event!

English at Camino Seguro

In the Afternoons I have been working with the English department. I have helped organize their curriculum materials and put them online. I am also working on creating bigger projects for the English Department such as board games and other things that will make the program more sustainable.

I have also been shadowing and helping teach English classes with a fellow teacher, Mandy, who will be leaving in a couple of weeks. I will be taking her afternoon classes when she leaves so it has been nice to start developing relationships with the kids in the classes. This past Wednesday I led my first class and it went well, so i'm excited for what lies ahead!

Life in Antigua

Life in Antigua has been going great. I have been keeping busy playing lots and lots of music. I am currently staying at a hostel called El Ca

minante, playing for an hour every evening and staying for free. This has been an interesting experience, because it has ranged from playing for 2 or 3 people, to opening for bands during the weekend with big crowds. I also am playing at a local blues bar, Ocelot, every Wednesday from 8-10pm. The big gig that I have though which is always fun is Saturday Nights from 9-12 at Cafe No Se. This is a popular dive bar in Antigua that is always crowded and always fun.

I also have exciting new related to playing at Cafe No Se. In June 24th's Prensa Libre, the national newspaper, there was a photo of Mike McCarthy and myself playing at Cafe No Se.

It's been great getting the opportunities to play so much music. I should actually be getting some video of some of my performances at El Caminante, so I will post that when I get it.

So I have been keeping very busy at the project as well as in Antigua. I'm looking forward to my parents coming to visit me this Wednesday. They'll finally be able to see everything that I always talk about at home.

I want to thank everyone again for supporting me on my trip. I'll try to post on the blog more often, it has just been very busy. Until next time!

One Week In

It took me until the day before my flight to get my visa for Ecuador. After scrambling around to get all the different forms that I needed I went in and it took less than 15 minutes to receive my visa. I'm glad thats over with now.

June 2nd, I flew out of Washington DC to Houston and from Houston to Guatemala City. It was a fairly uneventful flight. As soon as I walked out of the Guatemala City airport there was somebody advertising a shuttle to Antigua, so I jumped in the van with a couple other gringos and was off to Antigua. When I got to Antigua I was dropped off in the Central Park and then walked to the volunteer's house I was crashing at that night. Literally, everything was the same as it was when I was down in spring of 2009. So this made it very easy to find my way around.

After I had settled in at the apartment, and watched a little bit of the Guatemalan presidential debate (with 27 candidates!), I went out to Cafe No Se, a local dive bar where I was supposed to meet some other people from Safe Passage. The English Program Coordinator, Megan, was working their that night, and I managed to just miss Mike, the guitar teacher.

Friday morning I headed to Safe Passage. The bus stop for the volunteers was the same as 2 years ago and the bus ride was as long as I remembered it being. It was a 'reunion mensual', where all the parents came to the projects, but no kids came. This made it a relaxing day to start back in the project, it let me settle into the project a little before working with the kids.

Friday night I went back to Cafe No Se where Mike was playing a gig and got to play for a little bit during his break. This was great, but was a little bit tough because there was only a mic to mic the guitar, so I just had to sing really loud. Saturday I spent most of the day looking for apartments. I looked at a couple, but none were that appealing, so I decided to move into a homestay on sunday night. This plan is temporary, as I still would like to try and find an apartment in Antigua. Sunday afternoon I ended up playing Ultimate Frisbee with a local group in Antigua. It was great, it was a group that started up about a year ago and consisted of people who had never played before to very experienced players. There was one guy from Atlanta who had played on a team that had gone to club nationals, it a pleasant surprise to find this group in Antigua.

This week started my 'real' first week at Camino Seguro. I did orientation Monday morning and started working with the English department in the afternoon. Then tuesday I started my regular schedule, music in the morning, English in the afternoon. The mornings usually consist of teaching 2 hour long 1 on 1 guitar lessons with some of the students. The afternoons this week have consisted of doing a little bit of everything with the English department. My role in the English department is essentially to fill in the gaps... I will be helping to organize their materials and curriculum, be a liaison between the support teams and the English Department, as well as help teach English classes when some of the English teachers leave in a couple of weeks.

On Wednesday night I met with the manager of Cafe No Se and booked my first gig in Guatemala, for Saturday night from 8pm-12. Right after I booked the gig I went to the local music shop and purchased the guitar which I had been looking at for the past couple of days. I spent the whole night after that playing my new guitar. It was mostly a normal week at the project but on Friday the kids didn't come in again, so I met with all of the English Department in Antigua to work. We worked on organizing the curriculum and materials and talking about ways to improve the department.

After working with the English Department all morning and into the afternoon I was invited to play soccer with a friend. I ended up riding about 20 minutes on the back of my friends motorcycle up to El Hato, which is a local community in the hills above Antigua. My friend worked as an English teacher their and was involved in a local soccer tournament. We ended up walking down a winding dirt path to get to the cancha, or field. It was amazing, it was a small dirt field with fences on 2 sides, a cemetery on another side, and a very steep drop off on the other. The view from the field was beautiful. I was one of 3 gringos playing, and everyone else was part of the local community there. It started to rain when we headed back, so we ended up hitching a ride with a friendly Guatemalan back to Antigua. It turned out that the man had been good friends with Hanley Denning, the founder of Safe Passage. I made it back to Antigua in time for dinner, and now here I am writing my blog!

Its been a busy first week in Guatemala and I wouldn't ask for anything more!

Guitars for Guatemala Recap

Two Sundays ago was Guitars for Guatemala, a day long music fundraiser at East 54 Urban Village. The purpose of the festival was to raise money for my trip to Safe Passage in Guatemala. The festival started around 11am when I took the stage for an hour. There was a fair amount of people at Streets Deli and we had a big table set up with raffle prizes, information about Safe Passage, and information about the East 54 Music Series.
For the beginning set I probably should have used some sunscreen because the sun was on my face the whole time. It got a little hot but it was a great time playing. Then Dashton came on from 12-12:45. I had only heard a Dashton play a couple songs before so it was great to hear him play a full set. After Dashton was Hearyonder, this was my first time hearing them and I loved the duo of Nellie and Justin's voices. After Hearyonder played we had Puritan Rodeo come on... Proof that it is a small world: Kate Morrison, who I have played lots of Ultimate Frisbee with, turned out to be the flute player for Puritan Rodeo.
After Puritan Rodeo was Tom Maxwell, formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Tom and Justin Johnson played some duos and it was great to hear them feeding off of each others energy. After Tom Maxwell was Rootzie, only Gregory Blaine could come but he played a great set of some classic blues and originals. Justin Johnson played a couple with Gregory and then I had the honor of playing a couple tunes with Gregory and Justin Justin Johnson. Then came John Saylor, who brought it all on the stage, ranging from playing classics to imitating cicada noises. We had a little time to spare after John came off so we had a local musician, Alex Joustra play a set.

The night was coming close to the end so it was time for me and Justin Johnson to take the stage. We played a short set to finish the night off, ending with Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. This meant a lot to me because Hallelujah was the song that really connected me with the children at Safe Passage. When I was down at Safe Passage in 2009 they would always tell me to play "cancion de shrek" because they knew the song Hallelujah as the theme song from Shrek, the movie. After Hallelujah we had the raffle drawings and announced the winners.

I would like to thank everybody who helped make this event possible. I would like to thank all of the musicians for donating their time and gift of music, I would like to thank all of the local businesses that donated items to the raffle, and I would like to thank everyone who came out to Guitars for Guatemala and helped support me on my trip to Safe Passage. I would like to give a special thanks to Anna Young, who came and set up a table displaying her handcrafted jewelry and designs, as well as for donating a beautiful necklace to the raffle. I would also like to give an enormous thank you to Nikki for her amazing help organizing the whole event and making it possible. Nikki and Justin Johnson have helped give me a step up into the Triangle music scene and I cannot thank them enough for all they have done for me. I wish them the best of luck while I'm away on my travels, and I hope to come back and hear about how successfulness the East 54 music series that she has helped run has been.

I am currently in Washington DC right now, figuring out how to get my visa for studying abroad in Ecuador in the fall before I leave for Guatemala on Thursday. Its looking like it will all work out, and I already have plans for Thursday evening when I arrive in Antigua, Guatemala. I will be meeting Mike McCarthy, the guitar teacher at Safe Passage, who will be playing a gig at Cafe No Se in Antigua and he has invited me to play some tunes with him. So hopefully this will lead me into the music scene in Antigua. My first day at Safe Passage will be this Friday and I can't wait. I'm so excited that I finally get to return, I feel like I've been waiting for two years for this to happen. When I post next I will be in Guatemala and will have already played music live and started volunteering at Safe Passage.

Thanks again to everyone for their support!
Until next time - Tristan Green

IMPORTANT: Location Change for Guitars for Guatemala

GUITARS FOR GUATEMALA!!! Fundraising Festival @ East 54 Urban Village
Address: 1118 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
When: 11am-8pm

In the spring of 2009, Tristan Green spent 3 months volunteering as a Teachers Assistant for Safe Passage (www.safepassage.org), an organization that works to provide access to education and opportunities for work & life beyond the confines of poverty for (currently) 550 children and 70 adults who represent over 300 families living in the vicinity of the Guatemala City garbage dump.

Following his experience with Safe Passage, Tristan became certified to teach English as a second language, and is currently studying Environmental Studies at UNC, all with the goal of returning to Guatemala this June, to volunteer again with Safe Passage tutoring English and teaching guitar & song-writing to those children, and using his environmental studies education in helping with a research project involving Water Filters with the local community.

He will be traveling to Guatemala from the first week in June through mid-August, during which time he will maintain a video blog where he will upload videos of his experiences there, as well as songs that he writes while traveling. You can follow his progress & check out those songs at:
(http://tristanlatinamericantravels.blogspot.com/2011/04/pre-departure-plans.html)

We couldn't be more impressed with Tristan's follow-through and dedication to sharing his gifts & interests in such a meaningful way! After seeing him get passed over for a couple of very competitive grants he applied for, we decided to organize a fundraiser to help him continue with his efforts and make the return trip a reality, both for him and for the joy it will surely bring those children & families to see him again! (Any amount raised over the expense of the trip will be donated directly to Safe Passage)

Several of the area's most talented performers/bands have graciously offered to donate their time, and the line up currently looks like this!! :

11-11:45 Tristan Green (Acoustic / Singer-Songwriter)
www.reverbnation.com/tristangreen
12-12:45 dAshton (Folk / Indie / Alt Country)
www.reverbnation.com/dashton
1-2 hearyonder (Acoustic Folk Pop / Country)
www.hearyonder.com
2:30-3:30 Puritan Rodeo (Americana / Rock / Roots Music)
www.puritanrodeo.com
4-5 Tom Maxwell (Post-Zipper Americana)
www.tommaxwell.com
5:30-6:30 Rootzie (Blues / Reggae / Soul)
www.myspace.com/therootzieband
7-7:30 John Saylor (Acoustic/Folk)
www.myspace.com/johnsaylormusic
7:30-8 Justin Johnson & Tristan Green: Closing Set & Raffle!

*All Day Justin Johnson (Jazz / Blues / Fusion)
www.justinjohnsonlive.com
Justin will be sitting in on some of the sets and performing in between each set while the bands switch over, so that the music will never stop!! :)

Flanking the courtyard and stage are Streets Deli, Piola Italian Restaurant, Archira Thai & Sushi, and Saffron Indian Cuisine, so there is something for every taste, and ALL have outdoor seating! Saffron will also be setting up wine and beer tents, as well as food vending by the stage, so come enjoy the festival atmosphere!

We'll also have local art, locally handmade jewelry, and a RAFFLE for awesome prizes!
If you haven't been to East 54 Urban Village, there's definitely nothing more relaxing or enjoyable than an afternoon in the courtyard, basking in the sunshine with music on the outdoor stage and food & drinks a'plenty ... AND it's for a great cause!
Come on out and enjoy an amazing afternoon & evening with us in Chapel Hill's grooviest courtyard!

Oh! And be sure to tune in to WCOM 103.5 FM's Festival Forum with Cameron Alworth on Tues, May 17th from 5-6:30pm
Tristan will be talking about his experiences with Safe Passage, and his goals for his return trip, and the participating musicians have agreed to drop by the station to give on-air performances so you can get a taste of the festival while we wait to bring it to you!

Guitars for Guatemala Line up set!

Several of the area's most talented performers/bands have graciously offered to donate their time, and the final line up looks like this!! :

11-11:45 Tristan Green (Acoustic / Singer-Songwriter)
www.reverbnation.com/tristangreen
12-12:45 dAshton (Folk / Indie / Alt Country)
www.reverbnation.com/dashton
1-2 hearyonder (Acoustic Folk Pop / Country)
www.hearyonder.com
2:30-3:30 Puritan Rodeo (Americana / Rock / Roots Music)
www.puritanrodeo.com
4-5 Tom Maxwell (Post-Zipper Americana)
www.tommaxwell.com
5:30-6:30 Rootzie (Blues / Reggae / Soul)
www.myspace.com/therootzieband
7-7:30 John Saylor (Acoustic/Folk)
www.myspace.com/johnsaylormusic
7:30-8 Justin Johnson & Tristan Green: Closing Set & Raffle!

*All Day Justin Johnson (Jazz / Blues / Fusion)
www.justinjohnsonlive.com
Justin will be sitting in on some of the sets and performing in between each set while the bands switch over, so that the music will never stop!! :)

GUITARS FOR GUATEMALA! Fundraising Festival Update

Hey, an update on the Fundraising Festival!
Tom Maxwell (formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, of course) has offered to come play some Post-Zipper Americana for you all in support of this event! He'll be playing solo with Justin Johnson sitting in!
...and trust me... you do NOT want to miss this show!!

The schedule now looks like:
12-12:45 dAshton (Folk / Indie / Alt Country)
www.reverbnation.com/dashton
1-2 hearyonder (Acoustic Folk Pop / Country)
www.hearyonder.com
2:30-3:30 Puritan Rodeo (Americana / Rock / Roots Music)
www.puritanrodeo.com
4-5 Tom Maxwell (Post-Zipper Americana)
www.tommaxwell.com
5:30-6:30 Rootzie (Blues / Reggae / Soul)
www.myspace.com/therootzieband
7-8 Tristan (Acoustic Singer-Songwriter)
www.reverbnation.com/tristangreen
All Day Justin Johnson (Jazz / Blues / Fusion)
www.justinjohnsonlive.com
Justin will be sitting in on some of the sets and performing in between each set while the bands switch over, so that the music will never stop!! :)

Invite your friends and family, come out and have a good time, support local music and art, and support a good cause!

GUITARS FOR GUATEMALA!!!! Fundraising Festival @ Johnny's!

In the spring of 2009, Tristan Green spent 3 months volunteering as a Teachers Assistant for Safe Passage (www.safepassage.org), an organization that works to provide access to education and opportunities for work & life beyond the confines of poverty for (currently) 550 children and 70 adults who represent over 300 families living in the vicinity of the Guatemala City garbage dump.

Following his experience with Safe Passage, Tristan became certified to teach English as a second language, and is currently studying Environmental Studies at UNC, all with the goal of returning to Guatemala this June, to volunteer again with Safe Passage tutoring English and teaching guitar & song-writing to those children, and using his environmental studies education in helping with a research project involving Water Filters with the local community.

He will be traveling to Guatemala from the first week in June through mid-August, during which time he will maintain a video blog where he will upload videos of his experiences there, as well as songs that he writes while traveling. You can follow his progress & check out those songs at:
(http://tristanlatinamericantravels.blogspot.com/2011/04/pre-departure-plans.html)

We couldn't be more impressed with Tristan's follow-through and dedication to sharing his gifts & interests in such a meaningful way! After seeing him get passed over for a couple of very competitive grants he applied for, we decided to organize a fundraiser to help him continue with his efforts and make the return trip a reality, both for him and for the joy it will surely bring those children & families to see him again! (Any amount raised over the expense of the trip will be donated directly to Safe Passage)

Several of the area's most talented performers/bands have graciously offered to donate their time, and the line up currently looks like this!! :

12-1 dAshton (Folk / Indie / Alt Country)
www.reverbnation.com/dashton
1:30-2:30 Hearyonder (Acoustic Folk Pop / Country)
www.hearyonder.com
3-4 Puritan Rodeo (Americana / Rock / Roots Music)
www.puritanrodeo.com
4:30-5:30 Rootzie (Blues / Reggae / Soul)
www.myspace.com/therootzieband
6-8 Tristan (Acoustic Singer-Songwriter)
www.reverbnation.com/tristangreen
Justin Johnson (Jazz / Blues / Fusion)
www.justinjohnsonlive.com
Justin will be performing in between each set while the bands
switch over, so that the music will never stop!! :)

We'll also have a variety of incredible food trucks on site which have each offered to donate a percentage of their proceeds to GUITARS FOR GUATEMALA! So far we have:

Will & Pops, offering their fabulous burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches (we love the veggie burger, but if you're feeling crazy there's always the Hell Burger!!)

Pie Pushers, offering scrumptious whole pizzas, pizza-by-the-slice, garlic knots, & salad!

We'll also have local art, locally handmade jewelry, and a RAFFLE for awesome prizes!
Local Artist Anna Young will be setting up a booth to sell her jewelery (http://www.leoninedesigns.com/)and will also be donating one of her pieces to the raffle.

If you haven't been to Johnny's, there's really nothing more relaxing or enjoyable than an afternoon in the back yard, basking in the sunshine with music on the outdoor stage and food-trucks a'plenty ...
...AND they've renovated the interior to include a new music stage, 2 indoor bars, and built in seating & tables, so THE RAIN WON'T STOP US!
Come on out and enjoy an amazing afternoon & evening with us in Carrboro's favorite backyard!

Oh! And be sure to tune in to WCOM 103.5 FM's Festival Forum with Cameron Alworth on Tues, May 17th from 5-6:30pm
Tristan will be talking about his experiences with Safe Passage, and his goals for his return trip, and the participating musicians have agreed to drop by the station to give on-air performances so you can get a taste of the festival while we wait to bring it to you!

Pre Departure Plans

In less then two months I will be in Guatemala working with Safe Passage. Ever since my first trip down to Safe Passage in the spring of 2009, I have always wanted to return. I think it will be amazing to see how the kids that I worked with before have grown up. Have they kept the same friends? Have the kept the same personalities? Will they remember me? I can't wait to find out!

This summer I will be doing something different at the project. I will be splitting my time between teaching guitar lessons and tutoring English. Hopefully I will also be getting involved in a research project they have been running about the impact of Clay Water Filters within the community of Safe Passage.

So it's about that time to start thinking about fundraising again, I have a couple ideas that I will keep you updated with as they solidify. I hope to have a fundraising dinner at the Chapel Hill Friends Meeting sometime in May, similar to what I have done before. What will be new and exciting is I'm trying to organize a fundraising concert for my trip as well. Keep your eyes out for more information about these events!

You may know that I have started to become a singer/songwriter and this year have started playing small gigs. With the help of local guitarist Justin Johnson. I now have a regular gig at Johnny's in Carrboro nearly every Sunday from 3:30-5pm. Then Justin Johnson plays from 5-8pm. I have been having a great time writing songs and getting to perform them! You can check my music out here.

One thing I am going to try and do with this blog is try and post videos at least once a week while I am traveling of songs that I have written. I plan on writing lots of songs during my travels, so this will be a way to share them with all of you!

Keep your eyes out for more details about fundraising events and in the meantime i'll leave you with this video of me playing at Johnny's with Justin Johnson: