El Primero Dia en Camino Seguro (Safe Passage)

Hola! Emily and Patty here.
Traveled into Guatemala City today for our first day at Safe Passage! Our first stop was at the municipal dump where the the families of the children work. The overlook of the dump is at the edge of a cemetary and the first sign of it were the vultures, which were perched EVERYWHERE-- on tombstones, trees, hovering over the landfill and resting on the sloping ground. The concrete of the cemetary ended abruptly and the ground fell away to heaping piles of trash. At first we did not realize that what looked like moving trash was actually more than a hundred people sifting through it. Starting our day at the dump was good because when we arrived at the Safe Passage facility we really took in how amazing that opportunity is. Settled between concrete buildings and fenced in slums, the facility is a little oasis, complete with a peace garden and giggling children running around each other. It was really cool to meet the girls that we will be working with because it made us all relax a lot and know that this project is going to be great. For a little artistic icebreaker we all drew what animal we felt like today. All of us Mainers drew animals wilting under a bright yellow sun or ones that love cool water, but most of the Guatemalan girls drew butterflies.
Everything is great so far and we are all so so so thankful that it you that helped bring us here.
Adios for now! (I wish I knew more Spanish)
Emily