Rocking that *International* Paradise

A while ago, I spent an evening trying to convince one of my best friends to embark on a roadtrip with me next summer, even though, I explained, I realized my original “Summer 2014 plan” had consisted of spending my entire break close to home with family and friends. “You just can’t sit still, can you?” she asked good naturedly.  I’d never thought of it that way, but she’s right.  Not in the physical sense as in sitting in one place to complete a task.  I can do that.  But it’s true that I am happiest when I am busiest.  I like to live my life full.  A calendar with commitments written on each day gives me glee.  I don’t sit at home relaxing by myself often.  I can’t sit still. Last weekend was a prime example of the way I try to do everything. Friday after my work day was done, I entered the school library for my last class in the 2 nd course of my masters program.  (Have I mentioned I’m working on my masters through a prog...

When you live in Guatemala City, you hear a lot about “the Lake”—everyone’s favorite place in the country, it seems.  And so, almost 3 months into my stay here, I was looking forward to my first trip to the fabled Lake Atitlan. Last Friday, after the Kite Festival, our caravan of 2 Honda CRVs followed the meandering, sometimes pothole-ridden roads to and around the lake to arrive at our hotel in Santiago Atitlan by mid-afternoon.  After we’d dropped our belongings off at the room, we ventured down to the pool and hot tub, which overlook the lake.  The view was breathtaking.  At 4:30pm, the light glanced off the surrounding volcanos and hit the water in a picture of perfection.  And because the property around Posada de Santiago (where we stayed) is so well-groomed and filled with flowers, sitting in the hot tub we had a sigh-worthy view in 360 degrees.  Saturday morning, Annette, Carrie, Nikki and I hiked up a ridge for a view of...

I've been learning about the Latin American celebrations of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) since I started studying Spanish in middle school.  Last weekend, though, was the first time I had the opportunity to experience the celebration authentically. We had no classes on Friday, November 1st, in honor of the tradition.  My friends and I took advantage of the day by going to Sumpango, where each year they hold the Festival de los Barriletes Gigantes (Festival of the Giant Kites) next to the cemetery.   We walked first through the cemetery.  It really is true that el Dia de Todos Santos (Nov. 1) is a celebration.  The above-ground tombs were freshly painted in bright colors and covered with pine needles and flowers.   At some graves, family members still worked to decorate even that morning.  Ice cream vendors pushed their carts up and down through the pathways, ringing their bells and selling cones of bright yellow ice cream topped with a...

It’s funny how easy it is to get used to things that at first seem foreign.  I’m finding that there are a lot of things I’ve gotten used to in my first 3 months in Guatemala. I’ve gotten used to drinking water out of a 5 gallon dispenser, putting the empty jug in my driveway to have it refilled periodically, and tipping the full jug back into the dispenser  on my own. I’ve gotten used to the fact that I shouldn’t really walk at night—anywhere—alone or with friends. I’ve gotten used to guards.  Lots of them.  I’m used to saying good morning to the 5-7 guards I regularly see on my walk to school.  One guard opens the gate at the back of my compound for me with a smile.  Two or three more patrol the parking lot I walk through (my favorite in the parking lot is only there sometimes, but he always gives me a big smile and says, “Hola Miss.  Buenos dias!”).  Two act as crossing guards as cars pull out of the parking lot.  And the two a...

our home for the weekend  There’s something completely pure about the way we spent this past weekend.  I feel like each of us took joy in each simple moment we encountered, and we lived each of those moments to the fullest.  Whether we were running into the ocean fully clothed in our exuberance or swinging slowly in a hammock under the afternoon sun, we were fully present in each second.   Five of us passed the weekend at a beach house in Iztapa, Guatemala this time.  We left straight from school on Friday at 3:00pm, picked up by Eddie, our private driver and host for the weekend.  Before leaving the city, we picked up William as well, our other guide and chef.  Traffic was, of course, horrendous at rush hour on Friday night, so it was 7pm before we reached the tiny town of Iztapa.  We pulled up to the dock and unloaded our van in darkness.  From there we boarded a small lancha (boat) and floated slowly down the river to ou...

About a month ago, I heard about a 10K trail race in October here in Guatemala, and I thought to myself, “I should sign up.  It will give me something to train for and help me get back into a running routine.”  Three weeks later, it was time to actually sign up for the race, and though I’d done some running, I definitely hadn’t trained. And then Amy decided we should sign up not only for the 10K on the 6 th , but also the 16K on the 13 th .  And I shrugged and agreed.  Last week’s race was difficult.  The uphill stretches winded me, and there was a point I felt it was the hardest race I’d ever run.  I finished it much slower than any of my previous 10K times.  (And yet, somehow I ended up taking 4 th place in women’s overall rankings?)  It made me feel a little better to discover after the race that our “10K” had actually been closer to 12 kilometers, putting my pace closer to a normal training run rate, and coupled with the fact that I ...

“Mr. O’Neill!  Mr. O’Neill!  It’s raining!!  Come look!” It seemed like a pretty obvious statement.  It had been pouring when I’d escorted my 5 th period class to the library, walking single-file in the center of the covered walkways to avoid puddles and raindrops, and the rain had continued the entire class. But Ana Alicia didn’t mean it was raining outside .  She meant it was now raining inside .  She stood a few feet from the wall, looking up, and sure enough, fine droplets of water were somehow making their way through the ceiling to filter down into the room.  Two computers were right there, so the girls working on them shut them down and moved away from the wetness.  That wasn’t the worst of our problems, though.  As I started telling kids to save their work and shut down their computers, Mr. O’Neill came over to me to inform me he wasn’t sure we’d be able to leave.  Sure enough, a quick glance out the window confirme...