Today started off with a delicious breakfast to fuel us up for a long day of education. Our first visit was to a local Montessori school where we learned about the education they provide to 4-12 year olds. While we were learning about the school, we even got to see a typical school day in action by watching the kids at afternoon snack as they ran around the courtyard playing games! We then went to the Women’s Center where we learned about the sewing, gardening, and cooking they take part in! It was very interesting to learn about the medicinal plants and their natural benefits. After that, we made our way over the the hospital. There was an optic clinic going on, and we got to see a little girl with brand new pink glasses with a huge smile across her face! It was so heart-warming to see how much good the hospital can do for the people of San Lucas! We then headed off to the coffee program at San Lucas where we learned about all the ways that their coffee beans are processed, roasted, ground, and checked for quality. I found it incredible that they are able to produce so much coffee with only eight workers! (If you are interested in buying some pure coffee sourced in Guatemala consider buying from the Juan Ana Coffee website!). We then went to lunch and it was delicious! After our meal, we headed back to the coffee program, where we saw two different ways the coffee is brewed, sampled each, then got some refreshing frappes!

After the coffee presentation, we headed to the lake to do some shopping and relaxing in our free time. We got to have lots of conversations with local people, get some souvenirs, laugh together, and enjoy the amazing view! It was truly such a great atmosphere. We then went to dinner at the bibliotheca, ate, went back to the hotel for reflection and called it a day!

~ Madie and Mitchell