“Su país/hogar/pueblo/de dónde viene” are all terms for the US. Most commonly it is “Los Estados Unidos” (never America- Guatemala is in Central America). Ana María (we’ll call her) is a school secretary. First I[…]
Continue reading …
Category: 75 Words in Guatemala
Agallas | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
October 30th, 2017: Tonight I switched on National Geographic in the hotel. The brownish tile floors, standard flat but not sinking mattresses and the thin blanket are all second nature. But the showers have hot[…]
Continue reading …
Le invito | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
I’ve been in site for a year on December 6 (wave your hands in the air!). This experience keeps unfolding like backwards origami, or maybe like forwards origami (you know, the normal direction of origami).[…]
Continue reading …
La Imagen Corporal | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
La Imagen Corporal, Body Image, is a term I learned working with youth. As I spent the better part of a year teaching healthy self-esteem, positive identity and knowing your value as an individual, in[…]
Continue reading …
Sabeeeeer | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
After the scene calmed down, my host mom and host sister were still in story mode. I fell and twisted my ankle, actually that’s backwards. I stepped on a stone in a way that just[…]
Continue reading …
Delantal | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
So….. This is not my first time writing about the wonders of Guatemalan indigenous clothing: traje típico. It’s the traditional clothing of the Mayan culture that is utilized in the pueblos of Guatemala. Each region[…]
Continue reading …
La Muerta | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
This is a long post about death and funerals in a pueblo. I found the whole experience beautiful, sad and important. I have a lot to learn from this culture about helping, company and coming[…]
Continue reading …
El Lienzo (or.. when I fell) | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
And here’s where I am 3 hours after my ankle-spraining. Eventually, it’s time to move upstairs to my apartment. This is not going to be easy. I’ve got the crutches, thank God, ice for the[…]
Continue reading …
El Reposo (or.. when I fell) | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
I’m experiencing this ankle sprain on every level: the writer in me is taking copious mental notes, the foreigner is overwhelmed at how rattled they are by a sprained ankle and the human is simply[…]
Continue reading …
El Tobillo (or.. when I fell) | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
Before that day, that fateful afternoon, I could say wrist, liver, distinguished, decade, hallucinogen, family planning and chemotherapy in Spanish, but not ankle. So when I called my host sister and said “Yo necesito ayudo[…]
Continue reading …