Today I ran the second focus group, this time with the young women of the group. ER and one other girl who still remains suspect of me chose not to participate. The sample size was four young women, all teenagers, who live in the Hogar (Shelter). Three of them have children, and two are pregnant. AL was the co-moderator for this group. We sat under a playground at a nearby park to chat. The same questions that were used during the men's group were used for the women's.

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This morning I arrived at the Hogar (Shelter) around 9 AM. Many of the girls were in a room upstairs learning how to do hair. This was the morning's group activity as many of the young girls aspire to be beauticians. Breakfast was a communal pot of Ramen noodles which sat in the corner on the floor. A scraggly rabbit hops around feet as girls crowd around, MA, the girl getting her hair done.

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Today I ran the first focus-group. I didn't really know what to expect, how the group was going to go, or if I was going to be well-received. By now, I have spent time getting to know those in the Hogar (shelter) and forming bonds with JO, the Hogar director, so I had reason to believe it would go pretty smoothly. I was all set with my questions, tape recorder and little incentives for participation in the discussion groups when I arrived at the shelter. The group consisted of five men in their early twenties, who had been living on the streets until they found the Hogar. The discussion location was a nearby park where we could be outside, away from the city noise and pollution, and then play a game of futbol (soccer) afterwards.

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I visited "La Escuela de los Rayitos del Sol" or the School of Little Rays of Sunshine. The school is situated on the side of a mountain, high in the Zona 18 District of the city. It appears that if the wind blew too strongly, the whole town would slide into the ravine. Zona 18 is what we in the United States refer to as "underserved" and "marginalized" and would consider all the children "at-risk."

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I recently visited "La Ciudad de los Ninos" or the City of Children. The fortified institution is situated outside of the city and access is limited. I received a "volunteer pass" and was able to tour the location which serves as a place for homeless youths to receive care in a multitude of areas.

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Many Guatemalan street youth are addicted to drugs. The drugs allow an escape from the harsh realities that these youths face every day: not knowing where to sleep, where their next meal will come from and when, harassment by the police, detainment and death.

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Two days ago I went to Zona 3, a city district known for its "basureros" or garbage dumps. When we think of garbage dumps, we normally consider the picture to be a semi-regulated area with restricted access where people bring their trash to get sorted. In Guatemala City, one of the most polluted cities in the world where recycling isn't even an afterthought, garbage dumps are brought to a whole new level.

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I woke up at 6 AM to leave the house by 7. Breakfast was "pan integral" which is a sweet multi-grain bread, papaya, cantaloupe and coffee. C and I went to pick up one of his colleagues who work in the youth detention centers in the city, and two YAP employees so we could attend a 9 AM "reunion" (meeting) with a international NGO representative.

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For the purposes of confidentiality, all of the names in the blog are abbreviated and the names of some locations have changed.

I left Baltimore for Washington National airport at 5 AM to catch my 8:30 AM flight to Houston. Upon boarding, the crew announced a recently found, though somehow otherwise overlooked, fuel leak in the plane. Twelve hours later, I arrived in Houston, not so happy that I woke up at 4 AM to barely make it to the Gulf.

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So it has been confirmed: I will travel to Guatemala City on March 7th. I have been taking the regular precautions for travel, purchasing travelers insurance, registering with the Embassy, getting the proper clothing for the trip, finalizing research logistics and making sure that I have all of coursework with me during my stay.

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