Catching Up

Wow it's been over a month since I posted! Time to catch up a bit. I'm back at IU in Bloomington. I'll soon be posting pictures of the beautiful fall colors around campus. I've been super busy as usual. I'm back in classes, working at Cool Beans Cafe, Informatics Cafe, and catering at the Convention Center on the weekends. I'm still promoting a service trip to Guatemala for spring break. That's been getting more interest lately. I've had several people email me about it and I'll be doing more class presentations soon, so hopefully I'll get enough people to go! (Check out past blog posts for more info on the Guatemala trip)

Something else I've been doing this semester is roller skating. One of my friends and I have decided that we want to join the Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls roller derby team next year! We've been going roller skating once a week to practice. It's been a lot of fun so far!
Check out their website:http://www.bleedingheartlandrollergirls.com/

It's almost October, so I'm getting excited for Halloween!! Any costume suggestions?

NYTimes Article

"Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?"

Last Week at The Village Experience!

This is my last week at my internship. I've been busy finishing up my portfolio and reports to turn in to my advisor. I've also been trying to do last minute Indianapolis thing I wanted to do. Last weekend, Kurt came up to visit me so we decided to have a downtown date night at The Oceanaire Seafood Room. They were having a "Devour Downtown" special and the food was amazing! We had potato crusted lake trout, new england clam chower, and chocolate moose for desert. Seafood is one of my absolute favorite things. After dinner, we went to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World. I really liked it. I've only read the first two books of the series, but I thought the movie was even better.

On Sunday, Kurt and I finally went to the IMA. It was really cool! We didn't spend a lot of time there since we took so long to get going that day, but it was interesting. I want to go back in the fall to see the 100 acre woods. It was just too hot to explore the outdoors that day.

Tonight, I plan to go see Salt with my cousins. Somehow, I've been to a lot of movies this summer! Tomorrow, Sam is doing my hair (maybe bangs?) and then I'll be packing. Saturday, I'm going out with Sam and Steve to Talbot Street's white party. I have nothing to wear. We'll see how this goes. Finally, Sunday I move back to Bloomington. Ahhh! I'll be kinda sad to leave, but I'm excited to move into my new apartment.

Work and Play

This week at The Village Experience has been really busy. We redid the store's product displays and got a lot of new products in such as hand blown glass beer mugs and wine glasses from Uganda. I'll post a picture of them. We also have new sun dresses with new colors and patterns which are super cute! We spent a lot of time making cool displays and setting up a side walk sale for this weekend. Also at work, our wholesale catalog proof was printed! It turned out really well, so that was cool to see it all come together. I've also been working on my portfolio for my internship. It's kind of like my professional scrapbook, so it's fun to work on. I have to get it done soon because the last day of my internship is Aug. 21st. Two more weeks!


I'm excited about this weekend because tonight I'm going with my cousin Patti to the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art to see the grand opening of the Post Secret exhibit. Check it out here: http://www.indymoca.org/. Tomorrow night, I'm having a girls night with a couple of my other cousins that I don't see as often, so that should be fun too. Finally, Sunday I plan to visit my grandma. It's definitely been the summer of family! It's been really nice hanging out with my cousins all summer because I don't usually get to do that very often. My immediate family lives about three hours south, so we don't see the rest of our family too much. Living closer to my extended family has great, especially since I don't have a lot of friends who live here. I'll miss them when I move back to Bloomington!

Family Cook Out

Last Sunday, my cousin and I hosted a family cook out. It turned out really well. Everyone had a great time and I even got everyone to do a group picture!

Guatemala Itinerary

Here is the itinerary for the Guatemala trip. It will be March 12-19th, 2011 and costs $1599. Email me at kjholt@indiana.edu if you're interested! For more information about The Village Experience, check out their website at www.experiencethevillage.com


Service Trip to Guatemala
*prepared by The Village Experience

(Saturday) – Arrive in Guatemala City. Transfer to hotel in Antigua. Welcome dinner in the evening. Overnight at hotel.

(Sunday) – Morning walking tour of Antigua and time to shop the local markets. Visit colonial ruins, churches, convents, and museums and learn the history of this magical city, which was once the capital of Guatemala. Free time for lunch. After lunch, embark on a tour of Finca Filadelfia to see a large- scale coffee operation. At an altitude of between 5000 and 6500 feet the FILADELFIA Coffee Estate produces one of the finest coffees on earth, and product from FILADELFIA has won the "Cup of Excellence" award twice. 200 acres of "arabica" coffee has been grown here for several generations under environmentally and bird friendly conditions. This beautiful farm of 900 acres is developing into an ecological tourist resort, which eventually will have hotel accommodations. On this interesting tour we will show our guests how coffee is
grown from seed in the nursery and take them through the many phases of processing. The adventurous have a chance to breath in the cool fresh air of our mountain forest reservation at an elevation of 8000 feet with an incredible bird’s- eye view of the Antigua valley. The trip by mule or jeep will take you through tree plantings of white pine, cedar, cypress and even redwood and Douglas fir brought in from California a few years ago. Zip-line through the jungle in the afternoon! Return to hotel in the evening.


(Monday) - Volunteer day with Vamos Adelante. Vamos Adelante provides education, health and nutrition services to poverty-stricken individuals in over 18 villages in the region of Esquintla, Guatemala, in addition to supporting various projects throughout the country. There are currently no other permanent development organizations working in this isolated part of Guatemala. Vamos Adelante has established schools and health facilities in several local villages, and currently provides educational materials and school equipment to 3,000 children at 19 schools. Enjoy lunch in the village and help to implement an income-generation project for the community. Return to hotel in the evening. Overnight at hotel.

(Tuesday)– Continue volunteering with Vamos Adelante. Return to hotel in the evening.

(Wednesday) – Continue volunteering with Vamos Adelante. Return to hotel in the evening.

(Thursday) – Spend today in the famous town of Chichicastenango. ChiChi is known as one of the biggest markets in all of Central America. Enjoy a tour of the area in the morning, lunch, and then free time to shop the market. Transfer to Panajachel in the afternoon and check into hotel. Panajachel is home to Lake Atitlan. A natural treasure is the sapphire-blue Lake Atitlán, surrounded by 3 dormant volcanoes in the Western Highlands. Located around the lake’s shore are 14 picturesque indigenous villages, which are home to Kakchiquel and Tzutuhil families and where Mayan dialects are the first language. At 320 m deep, it is the deepest lake in Central America. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. Overnight at hotel.
(Friday) – Spend today exploring Lake Atitlan. Embark on a full day boat ride and visit small fishing villages dotting the lake – visit fair trade groups in San Juan la Laguna, learn about the Mayan deity, Maximon, in Santiago de Atitlan, and enjoy lunch and shopping in San Pedro la Laguna. Return to Panajachel in the afternoon. Free evening. Overnight at hotel.

(Saturday) – Return to Antigua in the morning. Upon arrival, visit local coffee farmer, Don Filiberto. Board a chicken bus and head to his village to explore his coffee farm, meet his family, learn how to make tortillas, and purchase his fair trade coffee. Don Filiberto and his family are part of Common Hope’s “Income Generating Plan.” Return to hotel in the afternoon. Overnight at hotel.

(Sunday) - Transfer to Guatemala City to catch flight back to the United States.



Inclusions:
8 nights accommodations
All in-country transportation
Breakfast, lunch while volunteering, welcome dinner/farewell dinner
Walking tour of Antigua
Tour of Finca Filadelfia with Zip Lining
Coordination of all volunteer activities
Tour of ChiChi
Boat ride on Lake Atitlan
Visits to fair trade groups in San Juan la Laguna
Community tour with Don Filiberto
Spanish speaking guide
Village Experience guide
Donation to Vamos Adelante

The Global Voluntourist’s Bucket List

The Global Voluntourist’s Bucket List

Cedar Point

My weekend at Cedar Point was awesome! I had never rode any upside-down roller coasters before, so that was really cool. We rode The Raptor, Millennium Force, Power Tower, Top Thrill Dragster, Corkscrew, Iron Dragon and a couple others. It was a great time! The picture is Jessica and I in line for Millennium Force.

This week, I'm looking forward to a family cookout on Sunday. My cousin and I are excited to have everyone over!

Update

For those of you who don't know, I'm living in Indianapolis this summer with my cousin. I'm doing an internship with The Village Experience. The Village Experience is a socially proactive business dedicated to uplifting impoverished communities through international tourism and trade. Check out their website for more info: www.experiencethevillage.com.

One of my reasons for starting this blog is to be able to talk about one of my projects with The Village Experience. That project would be helping to promote a service trip to Guatemala for spring break 2011. I'm just beginning to make a brochure and start fundraising so I can actually go on this trip! It will focus on volunteering with an organization called Vamos Adelante. Vamos Adelante provides education, health and nutrition services to poverty stricken individuals in over 18 villages in the region of Esquintla, Guatemala. They have established schools and health facilities in several local villages and currently provide educational materials and school supplies to 3,000 children at 19 schools. Besides volunteering, the trip will also include a tour of Antigua (a world heritage site), learn about coffee production on a coffee farm, shop in the markets of Chichicastenango, and explore Lake Atitlan. I am so excited! If you're interested in going, just send me an email at kjholt@indiana.edu. I'll also try to post a sample itinerary.

Besides thinking about the Guatemala trip, I'm going to Cedar Point on Monday for my friend Jessica's birthday! Anyone have suggestions on what the best rides are?

First Post!

Hi Everyone! This is my first blog! It's mostly going to be about me- my eventual trip to Guatemala, school, my internship, fun stuff, whatever. Hope you like it!

<3
Kelsie