Monday, 3/23: Benito Juarez, National Palace, Cathedral

First, apologies. I realized that my dates were one day off, but I corrected my mistake.

On Monday, we went to Benito Juarez (Centro Educativo Rotario), a school dedicated to teaching children with high intelligence quotients from low-income families. For a good hour or so, we visited each individual classroom and talked to the children. I remember walking into the fifth grade classroom. Eyes turned towards us as we filed through the door and lined up in front of the blackboard. We did the routine introduction that we did in the previous five rooms and explained that we were university students from Chicago. This class was different from the others. The other students were shy, reserved and afraid to ask questions -- possibly overwhelmed by the 14 tall students standing in front of the room (especially Lauren, standing at 6'2"). The fifth grade class? Questions just poured out of their mouths. "What is your favorite food in Guatemala?" "What is your favorite place in the country?" "Where are you from?" "Who is your favorite actress?" The curiosity made me wonder if they wanted us to stay longer so class was shorter or if they were genuinely interested. Regardless, it was an experience seeing all the students -- from the cute, adorable first graders to the ambitious tenth graders.

After doing the rounds, we hung out with the tenth graders outside in the garden. We split up into groups and got to know each other. Josh and I talked to Gavi (I'm unsure of the spelling), Christian and Albert. I learned that Gavi really wants to be an actress and Albert is into astronomy. Christian is really into politics and would like to be the president of Guatemala. These kids really have ambition and the potential to do great things.

When we met with the principals of both the elementary school and high school, they told us that students oftentimes stop going to school because they need to work to support the family. The goal of Benito Juarez is to provide a quality education that offers them more opportunities. Here's the thing: the school is funded by donations. They are always looking for more resources and funding in order to continue providing quality education.

All of us Northwestern Rotaract members loved our time at Benito Juarez. We realized that these students can really go somewhere and their education is key. As we sat in the lounge and listened to the principals talk, ideas churned in our heads. We brainstormed a list of ideas and we intend to turn these ideas into concrete plans. It's nice to know that we can extend our service in Guatemala and try to make our time there a long-term presence. We are planning to talk to local schools about resources and get in touch with Interact.

I don't know if we made a lasting impression on the students. I hope we did. Regardless, the students at Benito Juarez left an impression on us.



Afterwards, Hector took us to a relief map, made by a man who walked and measured the expanse of Guatemala years ago and created a map to scale. We were standing on one of two towers overlooking the map when we realized we could spell words with our arms. Cute? I think we are.



We also visited the National Palace which was absolutely beautiful. The way the light behind the stained glass hit the ground was absolutely gorgeous.





Lauren pointed this out. There was a chip in the panels of stained glass. Funny how the chip is in the panel that discusses orders






The rose is replaced every 24 hours. I don't remember off the top of my head what it marks, but it has to do with peace.



Another peace memorial that Bradford is looking at.







I love the colors of Guatemala. This woman wears it all.



This is my favorite photograph of the trip, by far. Intrigued by frames, I walked out of the National Palace and stopped to take a picture of Guatemala as the arch framed it. I noticed this girl walking by and just waited, finger-happy.

It was an eventful day. That's for sure.