At the end of this day, I lay in bed and looked up at my fairy lights and thought: “yep.” This is how one day as a PCV unfolds (a Peace Corps Volunteer). Join me?[…]
Category: Hard Thing
De Tal Palo, De Tal Astilla 3 | My Parents’ Visit
Be sure to read 1 and 2 first! DAY SEVEN: Panajachel is the biggest tourist hub on Lake Atitlán. Lake Atitlán is a popular Guatemalan destination, it’s stunningly beautiful, and it’s got “lake towns” scattered[…]
The Big Cry, Part One
In January of 2016, I looked at one button on my computer screen. It was an “Accept Peace Corps Service in Guatemala, September 2016-December 2018” button. I had to click the button then press “Submit.”[…]
El Lustrador | Pueblo Press Issue One
The Pueblo Press is a series based on the strange, intriguing experience of living, working and existing in a Mayan pueblo in rural Guatemala as a US American woman. This is my second year living[…]
El Otro Lado | 75 Palabras in Guatemala
“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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
First Time Back | Coming Back to Service
And I left the cab driver who couldn’t get his payment machine to work for me to leave a tip. I felt a little bad but couldn’t do anything. I went through LaGuardia security heaving[…]