Guatemala - Part II: "Esperanza"

Her name means hope. Esperanza is seven years old and studies in the third grade. She lives with her mother and sisters in Chajul -- a community of 3000 people in the highlands of central Quiche -- and speaks Ixil, one of 22 languages spoken by 22 distinct ethnic groups in Guatemala.

The Ixil [ "ee-sheel"] people are descendants of the Mayans.  A visit to their remote villages scattered throughout the valleys and steep mountainsides of Quiche reveals women in traditional red woven skirts and whipils ["whee-peels"] which take the women on average two and half months to hand weave on homemade looms.

It's a complex process, I learn, as I make my first attempt under the supervision of Esperanza and her family.  At seven, Esperanza has already mastered the basics of weaving. As I struggle to keep track of the many wooden tools involved, her mother, Maria Asicona, smiles over me and adroitly adjusts my errors.  Esperanza studies my blonde hair and foreign features as she stands nearby, transferring a spool of thread to another tool with nonchalant expertise. Her eyes bear a quiet confidence beyond her years.

Guatemala - Part I

We've just emerged from a week in the jungle of central Quiche, Guatemala.  Situated just 150 miles from Guatemala City, what a typical American would normally project as a 3 to 4-hour drive requires in actuality no less than 8 hours, in 20-year-old vehicles imported from the U.S., winding up and down Guatemala's sometimes-paved mountain roads to reach the town of Chajul.

It was here that we followed the coffee trail from the tree to the mug; we were invited into the homes of families in this indigenous community where we shared a meal and learned to weave; we witnessed the incredible poverty of these families and were touched by their joy and generosity. And we were introduced to four different organizations who are actively addressing the challenges and needs of this community in unique ways.

But since I have only a few minutes until the bus comes to pick us up to fly to the Mayan Ruins at Tikal, I will have to dive into the intensity of our experience in Chajul another day.  I wanted to at least share a few photos today!

We're now in the colonial city of Antigua, in a most deluxe hotel - a far cry from the abject poverty which plagues what seems like 90% of this country.  As we drove into Antigua yesterday evening I was thinking how it's almost unbelievable that we are in the same country as the Chajul we left early that morning.

Yesterday's highlight - zip lining in the canopy outside Antigua.

Quetzales - Guatemalan money. 1 USD = 7.90 Q

A walk through Beurs in Rotterdam

NIBS Competition

So, first progress report.

A reward after 15+ hours of
traveling: Our first European coffees
together!

After our 43-hour day starting Friday in Nashville, taking us to NYC, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Brussels, and ending in our hotel late Saturday night - 2am Rotterdam time, we stayed in for the most part and caught up on some much-needed rest on Sunday.

Or, rather, my teammates caught up on some rest while I sat in the lobby studying all day for an exam I thought I would have to take online this week.  (As unpleasant as it might seem, three good things have actually come of that... 1) I met that really neat Dutch journalist while I was alone in the lobby, reading; 2) A lot of the principles in my strategic management book were solidified in my head, and have actually been quite useful in the case competition; and 3) My wonderful Strategic Management professor agreed to allow me to take the test when I return instead of online -- so I studied for several hours with the urgency of an impending test date and now find myself thinking about the material from time to time, letting it sink it, and feel that with some more revision I will be well prepared for the exam!)

The first day of the competition was stressful, especially since we didn't know quite what to expect, and it turns out that European case competitions are quite different from American ones in many ways. There is a huge emphasis here on the format and structure of the presentation, rather than the idea.  Judges want to see detailed implementation and contingency plans over everything else, and are less appreciative of creative, innovative solutions than their American counterparts. In the head-to-head rounds of this competition, the panel of judges has a total of 11 points to split between the two teams.  We lost our first round (3-8) to the best team here, who gave an incredible presentation. The positive side of this is that by watching them we immediately had a great example of excellence that my teammates and I were able to use in restructuring our own style and approach.

A promenade through Brussels' downtown café district

Follow me for a short walk through the tourist-saturated back alley ways of downtown Brussels, only a few blocks from le Grand Place.  I can't remember a more beautiful, sunny day in Belgium!

Curious Encounters of the Traveling Kind

There are some legitimately fascinating people out there, and it seems I never fail to meet some of the most interesting, friendly, and eccentric ones during my travels.  Our group of five just navigated a transatlantic flight, then trains from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, then to Brussels, then back to Rotterdam. Check out some of our most memorable encounters of the past 48 hours...

The Well-traveled English Expat
Spotted: Filling up her water bottle at the airport drinking fountain, outfitted in Nike from head to toe.  Turns out she lived in Amsterdam for several years, traveled India, and now works at Nike global headquarters in Portland (Oregon), in Event Management.
Why she stood out: She was so sweet and encouraging; was genuinely interested in the details of our case study and the competition we were headed to.  I can't help but think that our mutual love of Oregon was a bonding factor :)

Typical American Tourists?
The setting: We rush onto the JFK-Amsterdam flight with just seconds to spare. Luckily I'm in an aisle seat. Two native New Yorker guys in their late twenties are already sitting in the seats next to mine, outfitted in comfy sweat pants, playing Uno and licking pink heart-shaped lollipops.
Behind the scenes: I finally asked about the pink lollipops, and was informed that, in fact, they were marijuana-pops... To make a long story short, they were quite relaxed and pleasant passengers; I won several games of Uno and the six and a half-hour flight was interesting. Also, thanks to these guys' ordering of multiple jack & cokes, vodka and rum, I learned that alcoholic drinks are free on KLM international flights.
True story: These two guys both have pretty good jobs in accounting & finance in NYC, and they were en route to a 4-day weekend in Amsterdam, where they were meeting up with old college friends.  Hitting up coffee shops and bars seemed to be the main priority, and, unfortunately, I have a feeling they won't remember much of this expensive weekend.

A First Taste of the Coffee Industry

A new adventure starts Friday morning when we leave Nashville, headed for Amsterdam.  A busy first weekend includes a train trip to Brussels to Saturday.  The NIBS competition kicks off with a welcome banquet Sunday night.  Much to be excited about!

I'm scrambling to get next week's assignments into my professors' inboxes tonight before I leave -- the last thing I want to worry about is trying to connect to the internet in a foreign country while under pressure to get my work in on time.

Now about this trip...

We just had our pre-departure briefing for Guatemala this morning.  It was so neat to have Bob Bernstein, owner of beloved Belmont Blvd coffee shop Bongo Java, tell us about his experience starting a fair trade coffee cooperative several years ago to buy coffee directly from small-scale farmers -- although he doesn't use the term "fair trade" anymore because "it's been bastardized," as he puts it.  Most people refer only to price when talking about fair trade requirements, but it's so much more than that, says Bob.

Bob has a lot of thought-provoking ideas and experiences to share with us, especially in regards to responsible sourcing for coffee sellers, so you'll read more about this as I think about our discussion throughout the trip. What really caught me off guard, though, was this: Of all the coffee-growing and -producing communities Bob has visited during his travels, Ethiopia is the only coffee-drinking community. In all of the other coffee-growing communities, the bean might be the region's biggest economic driver, but it's final product is not enjoyed there.  

Some of the reasons coffee isn't so popular -- or good-tasting -- in Guatemala?  Uneven and inconsistent roasting, and the inability to get water hot enough for a good-quality brew present major challenges. And of course all the best coffee gets exported, so what stays in Guatemala is definitely not the cream of the crop. Bob's cooperative is now working to help coffee farmers in Guatemala improve their equipment so that they can taste their coffee. 

I can't wait to explore Guatemala and experience the entire tree-to-bean-to-latte process!

In other news: I was honored to be nominated by my peers to Belmont's Homecoming Court last week, and even though I wasn't crowned Homecoming Queen, it was so much fun participating! (In fact, I didn't even know that we had a homecoming court in college, so the entire event was a surprise.) My friend Rami was also nominated, so here we are walking out on the court together at halftime of Belmont's Men's Basketball Homecoming game last Friday night!  

Photo courtesy Belmont University