Written By Saul & Emma

¡Hola chicos!

Somos Saul y Emma! We’re the student leaders for the week, and also trying to practicar nuesto Español, entonces este mensaje will be in Spanglish.

Us writing this blog with some company…

We arrived in Comalapa from Antigua on Sunday afternoon to this beautiful volunteer house at Long Way Home:

The buildings are all made out of recycled materials such as old tires, trash, eco bricks (bottles filled with more trash), and glass bottles.

Starting Monday, we’ve been working from 7:30am – 4pm (with breaks and delicious food made by Antonia), learning about green building and putting our new knowledge to work. Here are some pictures to show you what we’ve been working on!

Learning about systems that help us make use of human caca y pipí for fertilizer, irrigation, etc. We also learned a lot about how different materials regulate temperature differently, and different strategies for building sustainable, comfortable, and reliable homes/classrooms.

Emily working hard or hardly working? Just kidding Emily trabaja muy duro and NEVER forgets to bring her PA!!! (Positive attitude) Here she is pictured compacting a tire for a new volunteer house. Discarded tires filled with soil and trash are one of the common materials used to build sturdy walls. 2000’s beats keep us motivated on long and sunny days, and the blisters are worth it when we get to see our progress at the end of the week!

Emily, Soumya, Dani, Linda, and Maddie mixing cobb (arena + tierra + paja + aguo) for the first time! Cobb is another common material used for building.

Outside of working, we’ve been adjusting to a new lifestyle (cold showers, compost toilets, hand washing clothes, etc.) and exploring the town of Comalapa. We started the week off with a group workout!

Hunter not understanding the exercise, Emma laughing at him, Saul giving up?

Tricep dips!! Saul caught slacking yet again.

Long Way Home only uses compost toilets. After going number 2, you have to dump 3 cups of sawdust in the toilet to cover up your mistakes (comida de la calle o demasiado frijoles).

A colorful Guatemalan cemetery.

Learning about the history of Guatemala and the indigenous Mayan people through a street mural.

Visiting the galleries of the talented and passionate Perén familia.

Saul y Tony Perén outside his studio.

Celebrating Elliot’s 17th birthday with amazing banana bread cake, a piñata, fireworks, a humiliating “skip around the room” and birthday card. Elliot no le gusta cumpleaños.