It's spring break, which means a bunch of UMR students have headed south -- for Central America. Jacob Midkiff and Cassidy Volek are two of the students who are helping people in Guatemala improve their water quality. They're also collaborating to send us dispatches from the field. In the first one, which was emailed on Saturday, Jake and Cassidy describe their arrival. Dispatches detailing their water-related work will follow.

Yesterday we arrived in Guatemala City safely. From there we rented vans and drove four hours to the city of Chichicastananga, in the highlands of northwestern Guatemala. The drive was beautiful, if not somewhat intimidating. The quality of the roads was better than expected. The roads were nicer than some Missouri roads. But the drive made the trip from Rolla to Jefferson City seem like an interstate highway. It took us approximately four twisty, hilly, sometimes stomach turning hours, to reach our hotel.

The city of Chichicastanango is very traditional with some indigenous touches. All the roofs are terracotta and people linger in the streets at all hours of the day. Children run around unsupervised in the streets, which is much different than in the U.S. They do have internet cafes, which don't fit with the other aspects of the town.

Signing off from Guatemala,

Jake and Cassidy