For those hoping to see fun picks from my trip to Rio Dulce check back probably tomorrow. Here is a sneak preview... I jumped off a 40 foot waterfall into natural hot springs! And I didn't break anything! :)
Back to why today was a great day. Today I was just really reminded of what an amazing community I have been accepted into down here. One of my biggest worries moving down here was that I would be lonely. Back home I was constantly surrounded by loved ones. I lived with my grandfather who would hug me everyday. Then I would go to work where youth would hug me everyday. Then when I got home I would either hang out with friends or other family who (yep you guessed it) would do some hugging. Even if it was a quiet night at home I would probably be doing some snuggling with my pup and cat while watching stupid TV (which is probably one of the things I am most embarrassed about missing). I was used to everyday being shown that I was loved and honestly I was worried about loosing that down here. However, today I was reminded that after only about 5 months in country I feel loved by those around me. Here are some special moments I had today.
First up this morning I had a Spanish lesson over Skype with Silvia from Guatemala Tours. The owner Hembert offered me free Skype Spanish lessons which I am taking advantage of. All the other volunteers are amazed that he offered them for free. Apparently that is a very unGuatemalan (should be a word) thing to do. It is amazing to me that this company that we partner with a lot cares that much that I learn Spanish because they know it will make my life easier down here. I am very grateful to have made that connection and have been given that offer.
Next, I talked to my friend Archy on the phone. I have probably blogged about my friendship with Archy before, but he is one of the driver/translators with Guatemala Tours that we work with a lot at Salud y Paz. I worked with him several times last Spring and he became a great friend. He would always be so patient with me with all my stupid questions I would ask and really went out of his way to help me understand both how to be better at my job and how to relate to the Guatemalan culture better. His younger son has a milk allergy which causes him to have to drink this special formula that is crazy expensive and can only be bought in the States. He has never asked me for help with purchasing it, but I felt called to help my friend out and have been blessed to have different family members donate money to bring down many cases of formula for him. When my family was here last March Archy came and hung out with them for about an hour and brought gifts for them for bringing down the formula. Both him and his wife Jacky have always had such kind words for my family and towards me.
Anyways, all that being said this is why I felt blessed today. I have been thinking about going to Xela (2nd biggest city in Guatemala) to attend Spanish School. I really feel like I need to get out of my comfort zone (Pana) to be fully immersed. I told Archy of my plan when I worked with him on a team a couple of weeks ago and he offered for me to come stay with his family for a month (or really as long as I could get away from work for). I kind of laughed like yeah right when he offered, but this morning on the phone we talked it through and now I know that I am officially going to go for the month of November and live with his family in Xela. Everyone down here has told me that being invited to someones house here in the Guatemalan culture isn't the same as back in the States. It means a lot to be invited into someones home and I feel extremely blessed that Archy and Jacky have invited me to live with them for a month. Archy also keeps telling me that I won't have to pay for anything while I'm there to which I keep telling him we will have to talk about that later which just makes him laugh. No way would I move in for a month and not help pay for anything, but again blessed that that is the offer they are giving me. The plan is for me to both attend Spanish School in Xela and for me to use their home as a home stay. Also Jacky is going to help teach me on the days that I don't attend classes. They both have to go into Guatemala Tours in the mornings, so during that time I think I can do a lesson with Silvia who is doing my Skype lessons now. I feel really blessed to have Archy as a friend and to have this amazing offer to live in their home for a whole month. Hopefully everything will work out with work to allow this to happen. I think not only will it help me tremendously with my Spanish, but it will also give me the opportunity to learn about another community. Also think about how much I will learn about the Guatemalan culture by living with a Guatemalan family for a month.
Next, I walked to town to meet up with the girls at the coffee shop. When I walked into the coffee shop I was welcomed with warm smiles like I always am. Crossroads Cafe is by far my favorite place in Pana. I love that everyday I go there I am met with smiles, hugs, and great conversations. When the girls arrived they ran inside and gave me huge hugs. I think I mentioned once back in Spring that I missed hugging people everyday, so now every time I see Kaisa and Lungi they greet me with giant hugs. I know I have talked about it before, but I love this family so very much. The girls asked me about my trip to Rio Dulce and shared with me about their trip to the beach. Again I got sad that I had to make a decision to go to the lake with the other volunteers and not to the beach with them. However, then the more I thought about it I realized what a great problem that is to have. I had been so upset that both of the trips were on the same weekend and that I had to make a decision, but really how cool is it that 2 different groups invited me to join their vacations. I even talked to them about going to a water park on the coast before Kaisa leaves in November. Again blessed moment.
I really feel blessed to have made all the connections I have here in my short amount of time here. Sometimes it seems like I have been down here for so long and haven't achieved everything I'm wanted to, but then other times I am amazed with the friendships I have been able to establish in just 5 months in country. There are days where I break down and really miss my family and life back in the States. Then I open my eyes and look around me and realize that I have an amazing community around me down here also. Both my life and community down here is completely different than back in the States, but I love it just as much.
Speaking of my community back in the States I miss them like crazy, but again today I was reminded how even though I am far away people back home are still keeping up with me. When I logged on to write this blog I went into the settings to try to change something and ended up checking out the statistics page on my blog. It has been awhile since I looked at it and I couldn't help but smiling. My overall views of my blog is at 4,264 (great job folks!). It is such a blessing to me to know that people from back home are keeping up with my mission down here through my blog. As I said in the beginning of this blog I use it as a personal journal and sometimes forget that other people read it. It was funny this summer running into random people and everyone telling me that they read my blog. Sometimes I would go back and reread the last few just to remember what all I wrote about. I have also had team members tell me that they read my blog, so I guess I need to always be careful about what I write on here. :)
This also made me laugh. Here is the breakdown per country of who reads my blog.
Ok... So I know that I have loved ones in the States and that a few of my friends down here in Guatemala tell me they have read this. I have a friend in Tanzania who I know sometimes reads my blog, but other than that who the heck are all these other people reading this? I mean seriously 235 people in Russia? What the heck?! Who knew I was such a big deal in Russia?? :)
Anyways, all this being said that I had a great day today being reminded that not only do I have a really strong support group back home (and apparently in Russia), but that I also have an amazing community around me down here in Guatemala. It makes me excited to think about how these current relationships are going to grown this year and how I will hopefully form others that will develop to be just as strong. I know I am a lucky girl and it is fun to be reminded of that sometimes.
But seriously if you are one of my Russia followers (and apparently there are lots of you... I'm kind of a big deal over there) know that I have always wanted to be a Russian celebrity, so thanks for making that dream come true. :)
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