On Tuesday, Melissa and I went to the Yabteclum community. We drove up through the mountains and arrived at a local church, where one of the Cántaro teams checked up on a Mark OS system that was donated to the community. The team replaced the filters and guided the community leaders on how to operate and maintain the system. They were committed to learning as much as possible and thanked us afterward with lunch. We drove further up and arrived at a local school, where Cántaro built new restrooms and a water bottle refilling and cleaning system. It was amazing to see how the kids engaged and took the initiative to create action plans for themselves. They took on roles to ensure that the students were drinking safe water and practicing good hygiene.

 

One highlight for me was that I tried Indian food for the first time ever. After trying a couple of dishes, I can say that it’s in my top 3. I got the garlic naan, chicken makhani, and kheer. I think the makhani reminded me a lot of the guisados that my mom makes at home, and the kheer was very similar to arroz con leche!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another highlight was our visit to the Mercado de Claridad y Santo Domingo. The handmade crafts were beautiful, and we were mind blown by the variety we saw there. I personally bought a lot of bags for the tías back home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I got to attend San Cristóbal’s first official Pride parade! We filled the streets with color, music, and messages of love. One of my favorite chants was “¡No que no, sí que sí, ya volvimos a salir!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Til the next blog!