Learning Spanish

Fomentar | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

December 17, 2016: K’oliw! (kuh-olee-ew) is K’iche’ for “Is anybody here?” I say this as I walk into the kitchen. I took my second Mayan language class (Cuerpo de Paz pays for 20 hours) and[…]

Cortar Café | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

My alarm went off at 7:17am. Already winning. On my second morning in my new pueblo of Santa Clara, I descended the stairs to find my host mom in her tasked cooking pace, donning her[…]

“Mondays Are Hard Here Too” And Other Easing-In Stories

January 5, 2017 First Person ForeignChanges

This is a patchwork of all the feels from week one. As wavering as unrooted as the feelings were, they came and went like the incumbent GI issues I experienced. I laid on the cold[…]

La Capacitación | (The Grit and the Polish of Training) 75 Palabras in Guatemala

December 17, 2016December 17, 2016 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

Week 3 of training, I ate 5 tortillas during one lunch because I loved them so much and came home and broke the key to the house. Out of all the things I’ve managed to[…]

Week 9+10: Divine Unwind + Wind Up + Swear-In + Socios + Adios

December 17, 2016 First Person ForeignCultural Difference

So here’s the thing, week 8 was so much better than the other weeks. You wanna know why? It was week 8. One week from the end. On Thursday of week 7, Thanksgiving, we got[…]

Week Seven: Thank Heaven You’re Done.

November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 First Person ForeignBeauty

Week Seven was a pile of dung. Not really. It was like a roller coaster and I came close to high-fiving Heaven’s gates and dragging my shoes through piles of poo every on a 4-hour rotation.[…]

HOW I FEEL in Guatemala: Gringo-Lumped

November 6, 2016February 19, 2017 First Person ForeignGuatemala

This episode in feelings: Surrounded by Tourists and Being Lumped In With Them I’m sure every volunteer has this experience and today, I had mine. I’ve only been in Antigua for early morning transfers to[…]

Week 4: El Sol Está Brillando Otra Vez

November 1, 2016February 19, 2017 First Person ForeignCultural Difference

Through extended pillow time, friend time, and interesting field trips, I found my sunny place again. Improvements: -We had class at my house and a special event on Monday (meetings with all the host moms) This means[…]

Pica | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

October 28, 2016February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

You know “pica” because you know “picante,” right? The first time I heard “pica” was actually in regards to a mosquito bite. My host mom and I just found each other in the courtyard. The[…]

La Chiflada | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

October 28, 2016October 28, 2016 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

Amanda is my first CBT friend. CBT is culture-based training, it just means the 9 weeks we live in a community and learn Guatemala. They have acronyms for everything because government. I am very lucky because[…]