Guatemala – Page 3

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): The Last Santa Clara Day

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 First Person ForeignAbuelita

I’ve called Santa Clara home since December 2, 2016. Abuelita, Clara and Rosario are all part of my story now, and me a part of theirs. And I know how hard it is going to[…]

T-minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): La(s) Despedida(s) in Santa Clara

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 First Person ForeignBeauty

Sunday and Monday were despedida days. Despedir means: To say goodbye. What I love about the Spanish language is that there are verbs that sum-up an action in one word, like aprovechar, to take advantage,[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): My Good Name at the Saturday Market

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 First Person ForeignBeauty

My favorite güipiles (woven blouses) have birds on the the pattern. Santiago Atitlán is my favorite style of güipil. Always stripes down the blouse and then colorful birds sewn across the neckline. But even the[…]

T-minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): The Wednesday Takes It All

March 24, 2019March 26, 2019 First Person ForeignChanges

On Tuesday night, I couldn’t sleep. A mac track of tasks hit me: packing for a travel day the next day, packing for leaving forever, plus all the work I had to do tomorrow. All[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): A Double-Feature, My Last Work Monday and Tuesday

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 First Person ForeignChanges

Dios Mío. There aren’t other words. But this is a blog, so there are. On my second-to-last Monday in site (the 18th) I got myself out of bed, showered, coffee-powered and out the door to[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): The First Goodbye Lunch

March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 First Person ForeignBeauty

Upon returning from the Master Stylist workshop excursion in Huehue, the nice Indianans dropped me off at my highway stop. I waited for buses while I called my sister to catch up. I was so[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): Translating For The Master Stylist

March 21, 2019March 22, 2019 First Person ForeignBeauty

On our last day, our group of 16 stood in a large circle while the youth gave us palabras de agradecimiento. They also gave each one of us Estadounidenses little gifts to take home, recuerdos[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): How To Lose A Pueblo in 10 Days

March 18, 2019March 18, 2019 First Person ForeignBeauty

It’s 11pm on a Sunday night. It’s my second to last Sunday in site. Tomorrow I have a session to observe and some tasks to accomplish, and then I go to another school in the[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): Taking My Chances on the Border of Guatemala at the Border of Service (2)

March 15, 2019March 18, 2019 First Person Foreigncoffee

I stepped out onto the patio with a toothbrush and retainers in hand, still in my pajamas at 10am, in a place I am just getting to know: a coffee farm in Huehuetenango. What did[…]

T-Minus Guatemala (Peace Corps Ending): Taking My Chances on the Border of Guatemala at the Border of Service (3)

March 14, 2019March 18, 2019 First Person ForeignCompany

On the third day of my adventure to Huehuetenango at the border of Mexico, I woke up in a desert heat in a house of polite and friendly strangers-becoming-friends. It was Monday morning. In a[…]