Wednesday, March 3, 2010

And then there were 3..

Sunday we woke up very early to head to Toj Mech to climb Volcán Chicabal with our friends Hans and Josan.  Learning about the nature and culture of each community is an important step in this feasibility process.  Though the hike was pretty steep, we found ourselves at the crater lake within about 40 minutes!  The views were absolutely stunning with erupting volcanoes on one side and beautiful pristine water on the other.

 Don´t jump in just yet, it´s a sacred lake.  No swimming allowed.


Volcán Santa Maria on the left, with Volcán Santiagito erupting on the right.

On Monday we had to move out of the apartment I have called home for the month of February, AND we had to bid farewell to Lori who had to head back to Nicaragua.  We were sad to see them both go.  But, Monday also brought our third visit to Toj Mech, and our second meeting with their eco-tourism association, ASAECO.  We spent the meeting going into more detail about Manna, our expectations, past international work, and asking questions about safety, culture, feasibility, and partnerships.  Each answer, of course, brought a new question.

 Maddie, Juan, and I with Toj Mech and San Martín in the background.

I continue to be more and more excited about the possibility of working and living in Toj Mech.  We should have our answer within the next 2 weeks!

Yesterday we visited Momostenango again to revisit our friend Cesar of Waqxaqib' B´atz´.  In our first meeting he was incredibly helpful in giving us the cold, hard facts about the areas he worked in.  Unfortunately in our second meeting we found that our objectives and goals for long-term community growth diverged too drastically.  We learned a lot from his development approach, and will remain in contact.

More soon,

Dana

1 comment:

  1. wow fez! the volcano shot is so beautiful! incase every other day on g-chat isn't enough, i hope you know i'm so proud of you and i hope your last couple weeks are awesome!!

    oh and ummm come back to ecuador before may. mmmmmk great!

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