Justin McCandless

A typical night during my time in Loja: "Justin, let's go daaancce!!"

A typical night during my trip in Guatemala: "zzzzzz...."

Not that I should even compare the two, since Guatemala was only a one week project while I actually lived in Loja for four months, but the differences were profound.  In Loja I was living 24/7 with the locals, and really being able to integrate and experience the culture.  In Guatemala I was traveling around with a bunch of engineers, working briefly on two projects and then moving on for only a week.  And the engineers part is what the above example accents.  My primary companions were nerds just like myself, so not once was I pressured to drink, or dance, or otherwise be social.  It was actually really nice in a way.

This trip did help me realize what an amazing experience an AIESEC traineeship is though.  I was really able to see another culture in a way that I don't think most people get the opportunity to when I was in Loja.  We were in our own gringo bubble in Guatemala; I hardly spoke Spanish in comparison, and I could definitely see a trip like this only building stereotypes and assumtpions instead of building understanding.

But my own opinions on cultural exchange aside, the trip was a ton of fun and definitely a success.  I got to travel from Guatemala City to Anitgua, around Lake Atitlán, and back.  This covers only a tiny section of the country, but for a week-long trip it wasn't bad. 

We took some measurements at the Asturias Academy (www.asturiasacademy.org) in Xela/Quetzaltenango in our first few days.  The school itself is a real success story of a guy trying to improve education for some kids who really need it.  There are a few Americans working there now, and they're all doing some great things there that I felt honored to be able to help out with, so check out the website if you are interested in that type of thing.

After that we took more measurements at a school called CECAP (www.amigosdesantacruz.org) in Santa Cruz la Laguna, a small indigenous village on Lake Atitlán.  The school there is under construction, but it already looks like it will be a really nice building that will provide great opportunities. The village itself is beautiful; it's right on the mountainside overlooking Lake Atitlán, and as of now doesn't even have any roads going to it.

We'll be using our measurements to make models of the two schools and help out in writing grants to get solar power systems installed on them.  I'll be starting work on that pretty soon now that I'm back, and around this time next year there will hopefully be some progress being made on actually getting the systems in place.

The trip wasn't entirely work though, before we came home we spent a day or two traveling back to Guatemala City and sort of being tourists.  I got to kayak to a pretty cool cliff diving spot one day and hike a volcano the next.

I'll try and post my pictures of everything here shortly, but unfortunately being back in Ann Arbor means that I'm swamped with work as usual.  On to an EECS assignment...