32 in GUATE

My birthday came and went with a flurry of disjointed celebrations. I took two days off from trip leading to hang out with my friends and experience Guate sans kids. There was dancing, tres leches cake, fireworks, horseback riding, and of course mojitos, but the highlight for me was going to el Cerro de Santa Domingo, this very cool sculpture park just outside of Antigua. It was late Thursday afternoon. Wendy, Paola and I had just had lunch at Cafe Condesa (french toast!)and we were headed to one of the Fincas (coffee plantations) for a tour on horse back, but it was too late. So instead, at the advice of a friend, Paola and I went to Santa Domingo.

We parked at the bottom of the hill than one of the staff called someone to come pick us up. We took an open air truck which drove us back and forth up and up the steep cobblestoned road. On either side were manicured lawns dotted with ocassional scultpures done in mosaic or like cutouts in metal. When we reached the top, we found ourselves in an indoor outdoor gallery. There were lots of animals made out of colorful mosiac...groups of snails, horses, birds, and all sorts of creautures and as we worked our way around the grounds we discovered murals, a giant bird cage filled with live parrots and quetzales (the Guatemalan national bird). There was a large outdoor chapel, and several other sculptures as well as an exhibit of large photos of local artists with their art.

It was so much fun to just wander around, but more than fun it felt inspiring and when I made it home to Dona Carola's house, I opened up a piece a writing I started several months ago and began to start working again. Here's to 32! I hope this year will bring more balance, more art, and hopefully a new house. I give thanks for every year I've been alive and I hope to live many more. Thanks to all my friends and family, new and old, for being such a blessing in my life.

3 Trips Later

Three trips later and I am coming up for air and finally remembering that I did have a life before GV, one that included singing karaoke, dancing salsa, kicking ass in taekwondo, finishing a novel, dating, and yes even this blog. While I haven't returned to everything, I am finally working my way back towards some type of work life balance. But once again that's on hold for my last trip of the year to Guatemala.

Here I am again in San Miguel, this time with a different crew, leading my first trip without my boss and without my Assistant Program Manager. It's me, three junior leaders (who are past participants on the trip who have served on our youth board), my Guatemalan staff, and 13 kids mostly from Seattle. The Intensive is a bit different from the Spring and Summer trips, partly because it is so small. After doing this with 40 kids, I am astounded by how much time we have. We don't have to hurry. Everything is easy. If I say "clap once if you can hear me", everyone claps and then there is silence...it's kind of magical.

Instead of dividing into 3 work teams, this group will stay together the whole time and rotate through Construction, Hospital, and Reforestation. Today was our second day of construction and I am ridiculously sore, but excited to see how much we've been able to accomplish since April...

So many things have changed since April. I remember landing in Guatemala City, just after Shoshana’s wedding. I had just pulled a muscle in my back at pre-wedding sunrise yoga, and spent most of my time in Kitty Hawk strung out on pain killers and wondering how in the hell I was going to drive back to Virginia then get on a flight to another country to lead a group of kids in manual labor. But I did. I made it, and there was Hector, a driver from the language school who is now my friend, waiting there with a sign for me. We drove mostly in silence to the GV office and when I arrived the entire group was there and my trip began. I didn’t have time to be hurt or to feel awkward or even really to process the fact that I had arrived in this place I wanted to go for years.

Back when I was at the job that sucked my soul, I met a woman who founded a program based in Guatemala. She was also friends with people who were part of Witness for Peace, an organization that brought US citizen to Guatemala to monitor the elections and to be advocates, saying the things many indigenous people might be murdered for. It was something I both feared and felt drawn to participate in…a way for me to use my US American privilege for good rather than evil, but then, as life tends to do, something else came up.

And so finally, years later I made it to Guatemala with a group of 40 boisterous, funny, intelligent, uniquely diverse teenagers. It was a trip of many firsts, both for them and for me-a special journey that I won’t soon forget, but now here on trip three, everything seems different. I’m starting to know where things are and how long it takes to get from one place to another. When I walk down the street, there are many familiar faces. But instead of feeling a special recognition of Guatemala, I guess I feel like I am really recognizing myself in my life. This is the thing I’ve wanted to do for a long time, to work in a Spanish speaking country, to work with teenagers (especially kids of color), to take them abroad and expose them to new things. And even when I’m tired and cranky, or wish I could sleep in my own bed, eat a meal that doesn’t include black beans and corn tortillas, or just have another 15 minutes to read, I am so very grateful for this opportunity to be here and now.