Picking up where we left off during the Mexico Trek, I've been looking forward to this Latin America stage with a mixture of apprehension and excitement:

• Apprehension because this will be the longest I've been away from home.
• Excitement because during the Guatemala stay, Abeja and I have been assigned to work with Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, a human rights organization.

In Mexico, our theme was Youth and Society, and Silvia Montero covered the experiences of street children with Casa Alianza. In Guatemala, our theme is Indigenous People. I've been learning a little bit about the different groups of Guatemala. Unlike Mexico, there has been less mestizo mixing between the European colonizers and the native peoples.

So, there are 3 main groups in Guatemala: the descendants of Spaniards and other Europeans, the ladinos, or intermixed individuals, and the native Maya, who we'll be focusing on. The Maya are the majority of Guatemala's population and have held onto their traditions and cultures, and even more than 20 different indigineous languages, for the last five centuries.

Also, while we're in Mexico, some of you expressed an interest in re-meeting some of the former street youth from we met last time. Let me know via e-mail and we'll try to get in touch with Casa Hogar.

See you soon!