First dinner in Antigua
We had dinner at the “Rainbow Café”, one of the favorites
for thousands of travelers and Guatemalans for over two decades. It has a great
and relaxing atmosphere and their food is good, tasty and healthy. Live music
was about to start when we left… sorry we couldn’t stay to enjoy some Latin rhythms,
but everybody was really tired. I loved to hear all the comments from our
students and how they think that Antigua is a great place… everyone is eager to
work and explore the city. We are meeting at 8:30 am to start working with ecofiltro:one. Tomorrow morning we are
visiting the factory and learning all about this wonderful worldwide project
that started in Guatemala. After lunch
the students will have their first session with their individual tutors.
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At Rainbow Café
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We also walked to the Cathedral and we were amazed by the beautiful architecture, woodwork and art. Loved the smell of incense.
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| Retablo con el Santisimo expuesto. |
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| A view of the Cathedral from the "Ayuntamiento". |
Stay tuned… more to come!
Love the photos!!!
ReplyDeletePost for Monday, 10 June 2013
ReplyDeleteI woke up bright and early this morning, for the sun is already shining at 6.30. Half an hour later, a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, eggs with ham, bananas, etc. awaited us in the kitchen. The oatmeal here contains much more liquid than the typical US version, but it tastes very similar. Soon after, it was time to meet with the group and head off to the ecofiltro:one plant to learn about the company, how it is managed, and the production of the filters. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Phillip Wilson, the co-founder of the organisation, who explained to us the goal of the company -- to gift filters to 1,000,000 Guatemalan families -- and the challenges of meeting such a goal. So far, the company has installed 140,000. Because the first rural filters are free to the communities, the company loses money, but the slightly-more-expensive sale of the same filters to urban communities balances out the cost and helps the company make money in the end. We the met the inventor of the filter itself, who then proceeded to take us on a tour of the plant. One of the most interesting facts I learned was that the operation is surprisingly small and nothing is automated! Each filter is made completely individually with numerous hands working with it throughout the fabrication process. It takes about a month for one filter to go through the cycle and be ready to ship to a community. First the sawdust and clay must be dried, then the they must be added together in the perfect mixture to allow for optimal filtration. Water is added and the mixture is put into a mold -- powered by hand and only capable of creating one filter at a time. The newly casted filters are then placed on a rack to dry slowly in the shade, for the water will evaporate too quickly in the sun and they will explode. When they are fully dry after three days, the filters go into a kiln capable of holding 420 inserts at 700-800 degrees for seven hours to finish drying completely and to convert the sawdust into carbon inside the filter. Each insert then undergoes extensive quality control, where its flow rate is measure to make sure it functions properly. I was astounded to hear that the rejection rate is usually at 20% and can sometimes go as high as 50%! Finally, we saw the application of a precise amount of colloidal silver to the filter, also done by hand, as well as the packaging room. I am very excited to go back tomorrow to begin working on a project that we will present! In the afternoon, we began our language classes and I began to read some short stories, review vocabulary, and have long discussions with my teacher about immigration and other topics. Tomorrow will be fun, as we are continuing to read stories to better my comprehension. We returned to the house to a dinner to fried rice, beans, bread, cheese, and tortillas -- all of which were wonderful! Tomorrow begins another bright and early day of service, so for now, I am off to bed!
On my second day in this wonderful country, I have been able to bond more closely with my friend Evan, Jack and Sidak. We have all gotten the hang of where we are and how to get from our house that we are staying at to the school. The Guatemalan people are very nice and try their best to communicate with us. My Spanish tutor is super nice! She has done a great job so far!
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