We have arrived!

It has begun! Our first day in Guatemala for the 2009 research is completed. What an exciting day we had as we traveled during a flood of notices from all sorts of media sources warning of a dangerous virus call the swine flu. If you haven't heard of that until now, and you are reading our blog, maybe you should re-prioritize your reading list. Anyway, just to put everyone at ease, I (Bryan), as you can imagine, am taking all the necessary precautions I can. We bought one of these suits. We were going to buy two, but they are a little expensive, so we are trading who gets to use it each day.
No, but in all seriousness, we are washing our hands frequently and avoiding people displaying the symptoms. I read some 15 articles on it this morning, so I feel well-versed, for now, on what everyone supposes to be the problem. And, we will continue to stay updated.

Anyway, so our plane flight left Salt Lake City, Utah at 12:50 a.m. MST on Saturday, April 25, 2009. We flew to Atlanta, Georgia, arriving at 6:07 a.m. EST. We then had a wonderful 3 hour layover, during which I ate a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel from McDonald's (this was only to help me prevent too much weight loss while in Guatemala). I also paid $7.95 to use the internet in the airport, and I ended up infecting my computer with a virus because of it. So, yes, I have a virus, but not the swine flu. My symptoms include "Anomalous Behavior". My bad. Sorry.
Anyway, at 9:45 or so, we left for Guatemala City, taking 2 turns around the runway, waiting for a backup of several other planes. The flight was fantastic. I loved the biscuit I was served on my Delta Flight, and I washed it down with some tomato juice. Lucky for Dave and me, I have one of the most caring and prepared mothers one could ask for. So, while others ate their biscuit and were left wondering what other scrumptious foods they might see a little further on in the flight (which ended up including a glass of free water), Dave and I, and the other people on our row, enjoyed boiled eggs, pea pods, carrots, broccoli, fruits, delicious sandwiches, graham crackers, and gum. Thanks, mom!

We worked our way through the Guatemala city airport. I made sure to thank the workers, all equipped with face masks, for taking proper precautionary measures:) Dave's friend (and previous companion from his two year mission he served in Nicaragua with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Hector, did the huge favor of picking us up at the airport. This was an awesome reunion, seeing Hector again! He traveled a little with us during our research last year, including a beautiful visit to Semuc Champey. It should be noted that Hector's first comment to me was, "Hey, you got a little chubby." So I have decided that going on grueling runs through the highlands of Guatemala will need to be part of my experience here. With that increased activity and the parasites we will likely rendezvous with while here, I might come back a new man. Watch out!

Anyway, (is that the third time I have said that word in this post?) just in case any of you think I am going on and on about nothing because I like hearing myself blog, you are right. This is still a pretty new concept to me, as a habitual thing at least. I hope the content will be more interesting as time goes on. But, hey, if you are bored, please go read more about the swine flu on some other site.

We love you all, family and friends! Really, thank you for all the help many of you offered to make sure Dave and I were able to wrap up the semester, move out, work, pack, and get to the airport in time to leave for this trip ready to go.

One last quick note: this research is awesome! I love it! But, the thing that makes the experience most enjoyable is the chance to see and be with all the loving people of Guatemala again! Here are some pictures of our experience thus far (and please, no comments on our physical condition--Dave and I both know that he looks perfectly normal and I...well I do too--I'm tired and just finished a crazy semester--give me some time to recover :)

We're at it again!

The time has come! We are diving into the detailed planning of this year's phase, phase two of the three total phases, of the microfranchise research in Guatemala. David (Dave) Richards and myself (Bryan C. Bennett) will be heading for Guatemala on April 25th in search of last year's interviewees for the purpose of followup interviews. We want to see what has brought the successful businesses to more success. We also want to see which ones haven't made it through this year and find out why (mostly by obtaining and analyzing numbers). The research targeted at quantitative results more than qualitative results.

Planning the details of the trip has been exciting. Yesterday, we did a fly-by review of the cities we will be visiting and set tentative dates for seeking the clients in each of those cities. It is exciting to have year number one behind us because we are taking so many lessons learned with us as we form this year's operational plan. We will be traveling in a rented vehicle for the entire trip. We are also allocating a chunk of our stipend to pay interviewees to come find us in central city hubs rather than going out to every village we visited last year. This will benefit both us and them. We will save considerable time and money. The interviewees will be delighted because they will have their periodic trip to the city paid for by us. They can do their monthy or semi monthly compras (purchases--both food and other), and perhaps use it as a chance to connect with others in the city as well. Usually, they are in a crunch for money moreso than for time. So it will be a symbiotic relationship! I love symbioticicismnesshoodship!

Anyway, Dave and I are excited. We have planned to listen to some great audio books on our travels between cities. We are excited to visit the congregations of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whom we met last year. We will also surely be swinging by the orphanage to visit little Moses and the other adorable children there in Panajachel.

We are determined to be more effective and efficient in this year's research. We will be photographing more of the locations we visit as well as each individual interviewee (and this to facilitate third year research, in case we can't be present).

The hunt for economic self-reliance in Guate continues! Three cheers for the MicroFranchise Development Initiative (headed by Jason Fairbourne of the Economic Self-Reliance Center at Brigham Young University [BYU] in Provo, Utah)! Also, special thanks to Jorge and Gregorio (the two men in the middle of the picture above) for allowing us to network in and work through the connections of Community Enterprise Solutions (Soluciones Comunitarias)! We'll see you in less than four weeks!

Pictures!

I finally got my pictures to work. Here are a few for fun Guatemalan digestion. I love this place! Oh, and happy 4th of July! We set off fireworks in the town square tonight, right in front of the policemen. It's not illegal here. We loved it! We had a large crowd by the end and received a healthy-sized applause. :) Hoorah for America!

Ketchup!

What an adventurous few days we have had. Yesterday morning, we traveled to Guatemala City and met with the Director of Business Economics and a couple other faculty there. They were very helpful to talk to. We talked about the resources each of us have that we might use to collaborate. They invited us to prepare an article to be published in Entrepreneur Magazine. I think that is definitely a job we will get our director's help with before we publish. I am pretty sure we will simply serve as the liason between them and our director, considering our experience in the studies of microfranchising is still very limited. They also invited us to present to a huge meeting of social entrepreneurs and microcredit lenders and borrowers. We postponed the invitation until next year when we are more experienced. But we made some great connections.

Later that day, we went to a wedding conducted with a great deal of Jewish influence. All the men were given small Yamacas to wear. There was some fantastic food and dancing. Before the wedding, we went to do some quick errands (eat and buy a wedding gift). On the way, we stopped at Pizza Hut to ask if they sold just some good old plain beans and rice (we are craving the basic authentic food). A little ten-year old boy was carrying a shoe-shining kit. We called him over and gave him a job. He shined Dave's shoes while his friend shined my shoes. We taught them to say, "Shoe shine?" so that they could recruit English-speaking customers. Then they asked how to say "three Quetzales" then "seven Quetzales" then "ten Quetzales." We payed them ten quetzales even though they only asked for three. They got so excited. :)


We finally made it to the Mall. We spent a while finding a gift that looked much more expensive than it cost at some Macy's Clothing type of store. Dave and I played a quick game of checkers on an enormous Checkers floormat. He plastered me. We also met some very nice people and ate some great authentic-style food.

This morning was a beautiful experience. We had the chance to go to the LDS temple in Guatemala City. It was a beautiful experience. The people are so kind and the spirit of God is so strong.

Today, travel was an adventure. First, our bus got randomly selected to have all the men get off and get patted down to be checked for drugs or firearms, I assume. They also checked our documentation. It was fun.

Further down the road, a big Cat claw (sorry I don't know the official names of machines in construction) was on a ledge above us and to our left. It kept knocking dirt and rocks off that came tumbling down onto the road. What a riot. The bus also got stuck in the mud. They tried to pull us out with a rope that snapped. Then they got us out using a chain and a tractor. While we were on this long 3-hour bus ride, we watched a movie about Tikal and other ancient ruins here in Central America. It was exciting to realize that we are here!

When we arrived in Sololá, we were quickly reminded of God's love for us and His concern and desire to help us in what we are doing. We were in a pharmacy asking for directions, when something unexpected and miraculous happened. One of the missionaries I served with saw me and came over to greet me and help us. He is from this area and speaks the indigenous language of many of the locals. He also speaks Spanish. It was a joyful reunion. And, he was headed the direction we were going and was able to help us get oriented. He is now married and has a child! Life moves so quickly. We will be meeting him for lunch sometime next week.

Two more quick things:
1. I bought some cool handmade masks today. The boy was so nice and we shortly became friends. After I paid and he left, he came running back to give me a free gift personally from him.

2. I also just want you to all know that for $6.50, we ate on the very edge of beautiful lake Atitlán with a live band playing nice music for us (and we were in the open air with a fantastic view of two volcanoes).

And, lest any of you think this sounds like vacation, you're right about the last 1.5 days. But we have worked hard this week and we plan to continue to do so! It's great and I love it!

Love, with a friendly nature, respectfully (or whatever else you would like to hear),

Bryan

The Post (creative name, right?)

Today's post is going to be short. But, today was truly awesome.
Activities included:

1. Mountain biking













2. Saw mayan jade masks and a mayan sacrifice ritual (objects-not live beings).






















3. Meetings


















4. Nacho libre

Woops, I meant to fix the grammar and long sentences in the last post. Oh well. Here are some borrowed images until I can get my camera working.

This is an example of the beautiful clothing and the sweet children of Guatemala.

Look at these awesome and colorful houses with the gorgeous volcano in the background.




That cute little girl looks like lots of the little children that walk around the market and the streets near the park selling home-made pulseras (bracelets).




We drove past the LDS temple in Guatemala city and it was beautiful.

















The streets are cobblestone and have so much character!

Wow! That is all I can say! Guatemala is beautiful.

Today was amazing! I love Guatemala! We arrived just fine. It smelled so much like my mission when I stepped out of the airport! I loved it.

This amazing man, Leonardo, and his mother and his fiancée picked us up at the airport. His mother tells me that I am her boyfriend now, but she is just joking and is so nice and funny. What an amazing family. He fed us, bought us a cell phone, and drove us almost an hour to our destination, even though gas is about $5 a gallon.

We drove past the Guatemalan temple. It was beautiful. I also met three wonderful people on the plane flights. We had some fantastic gospel conversations.

Guatemala is full of hills, mountains, beautiful volcanoes, blue skies, and kind people. It smells wonderful! We got to Antigua, found our place, and explored Antigua looking for the possibilities of other hotels and hostels to stay in. We found the most elegant and amazing place for 18 dollars per night! We will be there starting tomorrow. What a blessing.

There are not yet any wild chickens or leopard dogs, yet. Everything is so fun and adventurous and different. I got a cell phone for $13. And, and, and, it is cheaper to call the U.S. than to call someone down the street here in Antigua, Guatemala. How helpful!

The people are so kind. I feel blessed and guided to be here.