guatemala

if you were to close your eyes and think of anywhere you could go in the world, where would it be? tahiti? bangkok? rome? perhaps even the city of love? i would bet that you probably wouldn't pick guatemala as your first choice of locations to venture to. understandably. but allow me explain why i'm headed down south.

it all began with a certain latin boy that i know. before him, i was honestly never interested in or knew much about the latin culture. call it lack of exposure. but gratefully this last year i was exposed to latin dancing, latin people, latin culture, etc. what i've come to learn is that latins are extremely loving and interesting. their closeness appeals to me. their language i find interesting. their development i want to know more about.

i decided to try out the language and began spanish classes back in january. i can't lie. my true love is french. taking these classes has reinforced that to me and i've decided to go back to taking french classes this fall. but back to all things latin...

so here you have a girl whose interest in latin america is peaked, and she is wanting to use her new, but meek, language skills. insert her roommate. my roommate spent six months living in guatemala during college, teaching english to impoverished children. she loves central america and has been back since.

put the two of us together and a trip was bound to happen. we decided to venture back to where ashlee originally taught. it's a school located in the highlands of guatemala (patzicia).the school was founded by members of the church and has branched out to three schools (the last one i believe is either being built or was recently finished).

i'll be going down august 16-25. we'll be teaching english to children, as well as building a cancha (a play field of sorts. or at least that is my understanding of the word).

so guatemala, here we come. two american girls with a nowhere near complete understanding of the language. two american girls that will no doubt stand out. two american girls who will try their hardest to be safe and smart about their traveling. but we're also two girls with big hearts who want to help out and who want to travel.

i've never been to a developing country and my emotions vary from being scared, excited and somber about going down there. no doubt i will come back with a great appreciation for the many blessings i have.

what do i hope to get out of this trip? i want to come back humbled. i want to gain a small glimpse of what daily life is like for someone in poverty. i want to develop more compassion for others. i want to come back and truly feel like i worked hard and gave my all while i was there. i want to use spanish as much as possible (given that last night i struggled to order my mexican food in spanish this should be interesting).

wish me luck.

adios! it's like i'm almost fluent...