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!