Thoughts on Monday

In addition to the the travel narrative and photos that we share, I'll be posting thoughts from the teens. Here is what Jake K. has to say in regards to yesterday:

Jake writing his reflection

Living in a small, comfortable farm town in the United States is how I’m used to living my life, so coming out of the country to the huge capital city of Guatemala in-of itself is kind of a big deal for me. From seeing the smiling faces of the children in the elementary school and nursery to the welcoming personalities of the locals in the garbage dump community of the city, it’s a lot to take in. In the school, we watched the classrooms of children perform various acts and readings and music to welcome us to Guatemala. They gave us homemade gifts and the full experience of a “warm welcome.” During the day, we visited different families in the garbage dump community, who were also very welcoming as well as humble, which in turn was humbling to see. Along with visiting the families, we saw the garbage dump of the city, where hundreds of people were literally digging through trash. It was so hard to process that this was how they made their money for the day: by digging through garbage for plastics, aluminum, and glass to sell for as much as 5 dollars a day or as low as 1 dollar a day. It gave us all something to think about and how much we have in our lives. It’s only been the first day and there has been so many life altering experiences.