It's 3am, and I can barely keep my eyes open. Just 30 minutes before, I was washing my face, brushing my teeth, and putting on my clothes to get ready to travel with our coffee. Yes......today is the day! We are moving all of our coffee for export! My counterpart pulls up to my house, and I quietly sneak out my host family's front door. I hop in the front seat, and with a little shiver, I greet Nazario with "Seqer" -{Kaq Chikel for 'Good Morning'}. He greets me back in English, and we take off for the office. At the office, we wait for a good 30 minutes for everyone else to arrive. Needless to say, I could have been sleeping for that extra 30min, but I can't complain.

It's time to go! We load the pick-up truck with blankets and soft cushions because it's 11 of us in a medium size truck and only 3 of us can fit in the cab. That's right, even in a pick-up, we are squished beyond recognition. I think I may take a job as a circus clown when I leave. Did I mention it was a manual? I really didn't have any room.....two grown men and me trying to fit non-comfortably in the cab. We hit the road for Xela, an almost 4hr drive, and I attempt to catch some Zzzzzzzz. Ha ha, the joke is on me because an hour and a half later the truck stops, and not because we're making a pit-stop. The truck is malfunctioning! What are we going to do?! We all look under the hood as if we are mechanics, and none of us are. I checked the spark plug, and sure enough it was covered in so much dirt that it couldn't catch. I must stop for a moment here, and interject. I know absolutely nothing about cars or trucks. I just happened to get lucky.

From this point on, the guys called me a "truck girl". Whatever that means?! We make it to Xela with only 2 more mechanic-stops, and take a break to have breakfast. It's great to sit and eat with the guys. I'm like a little princess with them. I order the baked chicken with rice, and my guys politely tell the waitress, "no tomatoes". I love them! We finish breakfast, and make our way to the warehouse where we prep for the great unload!

We back in our coffee truck, swing open the back doors, and start unloading the 100lb-bags of coffee onto the large scale. Before we actually put the bags onto the scale, we all take turns on the scale. Funny......I almost weigh the most. These doggone little guys. Now I really feel fat. But the guys think it's cool I weigh so much and don't look like it. They couldn't guess my weight. Ha ha! It takes several hours of moving bags from the truck to the scale and then to the pallets. Two of us lifted the bags and put them on the backs of the others. It took a lot of teamwork to get the job done. At the end, my guys tell me "Xani, you work hard!" I was so proud, not because I worked hard but because they noticed how hard I work. It made it all worth while........this trip here, the choices I have made to get here, everything!

 

  

 So now it's time to go. We settle our contract and get ready to head back home. I'm outrageously tired! Can't believe I worked so hard! Oh well, we hop back in the truck. Oh yeah! We cram back in the truck with my thighs screaming for space, and make the trip back. By the time we get home, it's dark (and hell is hot - lol). I'm sooooooooooooooooooo drained! Yet, we didn't eat dinner. Oh no! What am I going to eat? There's nothing in the fridge that can easily be made. I look over to Nazario and ask him to stop at the Dispensa. He agrees, and I buy some lunch meat so I can make a sandwich real quick when I get home.