Tidbits from the Guat

Hey everyone! I just got back from a nice, long, reflective walk with Suki in our favorite spot above town. It keeps getting prettier and prettier up there because it’s all farmland and so all the crops are starting to grow. There are plots of potatoes, onions, lettuce, and corn. We love walking up there… Suki is in heaven up there because he can just run free and roll around in the dirt, and I’m in heaven because it’s so tranquil, and I can distress and reflect or brainstorm. I have also met so many people walking up there… I always stop and ask what they’re planting and start conversations. There are usually whole families up there, so I’ve gotten to know who owns what plot of land. Today there was this super nice family planting onions, and I stopped and talked to them for at least 30 minutes. Usually people are like oh you’ve come to help us plant! So I’ll stick around for a while and see how they go about planting their crops. People are always skeptical of the random gringa walking around until I say hi and start talking to them, and then they get the biggest smiles on their faces. I love it! I know I’ve said this before but making relationships and small talk is so important here. It has definitely taught me the importance of friendships and community. I know I haven’t always been the greatest friend to people in the past so I think this is God’s way of teaching me the importance of friendship and what it means to take time for each other. It takes a lot of effort, and in the past I haven’t always put in the effort, but the relationships you make and the things you get to experience when you do put in the effort are incredible and such a blessing! Tip #1 for the day:  TAKE TIME FOR EACH OTHER J

Everything’s going great here! I finally feel like I’ve started a life here in Guatemala. I know a lot of people, I know the ropes, and my house is starting to feel a little homier. I’m just trucking along at work… although there have been some setbacks. Last week I visited 4 more schools, and I have 6 left to visit. You wake up in the morning with a plan, but more often than not things don’t go according to the plan. One of my school visits got cancelled last Friday because the teachers had a training they had to go to and then over the weekend I lost my voice so I had to cancel my school visit on Monday. They already probably have trouble understanding me so trying to teach without a voice would have been nearly impossible. I thought it was better to rest my voice and reschedule. Today I was all ready to go visit a school and then the director called me and told me she’s sick so that we would have to reschedule for another day. It was too late to call up another school and plan a visit for today so what can you do? La vida es así en Guatemala (such is life in Guatemala). Hopefully I’ll be visiting a school tomorrow but then there are no classes Thursday or Friday, so I guess I’ll just be hanging out with Suki a lot this week and reading my book! I’m a hard worker and like to get things done so it’s hard to sit around sometimes and just wait but at the same time there’s no use getting stressed about it because there is nothing I can do about it. Lately my mantra has been “be present in this moment” because so often I find myself thinking of yesterday, tomorrow, or later today instead of focusing on the present moment. You miss so much when you focus on what could have been or what’s going to be, so I’ve really been trying to live in the moment. You get so much more out of life! Tip #2 for today: BE PRESENT IN THIS MOMENT.

This past weekend was a lot of fun. I went to hot springs with some girls for my friend Kim’s birthday. They were gorgeous! There were 3 different pools, each of a different temperature. The hottest one was unbearably hot and no one could get into it. The other 2 were comfortable, and we spent all day just lounging around in pretty much big hot tubs with a nice view. We kept seeing all these people with what looked like mud on their faces and all over their body, and when I went to rinse off in the outdoor shower this random lady was like here put this on your face! These ladies were rubbing clay off the side of the mountain and rubbing it on their bodies to exfoliate. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity so I started rubbing this stuff all over my arms, legs and face and it really did exfoliate my skin! Afterwards I was silky smooth but it was such a weird experience! That’s what I love about being here… you never know what’s going to happen.

Saturday night we went out salsa dancing in Xela. I am so bad at it but it was so much fun! Now I feel like I need to learn how to salsa dance while I’m here, but I don’t think I’m coordinated enough. We have a new volunteer welcome party this weekend and we’re taking a salsa lesson and then going out afterwards to show off our moves!

That’s all the updates I have for now! Adios!

Xoxo Maddie