Day 2: Elderly Home

Soooo this isn't quite working like I though it would. I originally wanted to update this blog everyday, but I haven't really have access to wifi! So today, I'm just going to blog for the past couple of days.
Lets pretend today is Tuesday December 31, 2013.

Happy New Years Eve! Today was quite an interesting day. We started the day with a volunteering project at an elderly home. There were about 40 permanent residents, many of whom have been abandoned by their families due to their growing dependency on medicines and declining health. Walking into the home was a difficult scene. The residents were all lined against the walls in either their wheelchairs or in plastic lawn chairs. Everyone was very subdued and despite the blazing sun all the residents were dressed as if they were preparing for a winter storm. When the residents noticed our (us volunteers) presence a few faces lit up and others just went back to their somber state. We spent our time engaging the residents with activities. A solid few really wanted to dance when we turned on some traditional Spanish music, so I spent about 2 hours dancing with a very lively 82 year old man! He was speaking rapid Spanish to me and since he had no teeth it was very difficult to understand him. From what I could catch, he seemed to be telling me stories and was having a grand time recounting his life. After dancing we handed out some tamales and cake for lunch. For our final activity we set up a game of picture bingo which was a big hit with the residents. I guess bingo is loved around the world! Before leaving, we handed out some presents and the residents seemed truly grateful and very excited about them. The presents varied from towels to scarves to hats. I have no picture documentation because we weren't allowed to take pictures, but everyone at the home will forever be in my memory.
After the morning volunteering session, I traveled to a coffee farm about and hour outside Antigua with Melissa and 3 other volunteers. While we were there, we had to opportunity to go ziplining, berry picking, horseback riding, and to finish off we went on a coffee tour. While ziplining was terrifying fun, the coffee tour shocked me the most. We learned how to pick coffee beans, prep the beans, and roast the beans. It is a very long process and made me realize the work that goes into producing a cup of high quality coffee.
Since its New Years Eve there was a lot going on in the streets. Fireworks were blowing up, food was shared, and drunk people roamed the streets for hours!
Here are a few pictures from today:

                                                                               Ziplining!

                                                                Rachel, Melissa, Me, Mike

                                                                         New Year!