The Start of a Guatemalan Adventure

Guest blog by Jon Slock, 
Global Village Volunteer

It is often said that the most important person on a Global Village trip is the person who writes the first blog. 

Who says that?  I do.  How often do I say it?  Often.

Okay, I’m joking.  The person who writes the first blog is often the one who arrives early and/or packed their own laptop. 

I’ve done many of these trips, so I’ve written a few blogs.  Prior to this, I’ve been on nine Global Village trips.  Most have been through Twin Cities Habitat (hats off to all former/current team leaders), and most have been to Central America.  I have joked that they have started to blend together into one big trip in my mind.  (Insert joke about my memory starting to fail me.) 

At the same time, each trip is a new and different adventure.  It’s my first time with this specific group, and my first with Twin Cities Habitat in Guatemala.  We’re a huge group of 27, which sounds both amazing and is also a logistical challenge.  We’ll be building at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, which is another challenge. 

photo of Guatemala Global Village Team at the Iximche' Mayan ruins

These trips are legitimately the highlight of my year.  I will be working with amazing people, fellow weirdos like me who think using a week of vacation to dig holes and mix cement sounds like a brilliant idea.  I’ll be getting to know future Habitat homeowners in a town I’d never know to visit on my own.  If I can lay off the hamburguesas, maybe I’ll even lose a couple kilos.

I hope the stories and pictures you see in the next week motivate you to join me on a future Global Village trip.  (Shameless plug:  ask me about the trip I’m leading to India in October!)  If I could do this the rest of my life – amazing service with awesome people, and maybe enjoy a cerveza or two each night – I’d sign up in a heartbeat.