The first moment that I don't want to forget happened the Sunday I flew home. It takes about 3 hours from Panajachel to get to the airport. Along the way searching for something to do I decided to look at my passport. After reading all the random quotations on every page and all the do's and don't's of traveling abroad I then started counting all the stamps in my passport. I currently have 19 stamps in my passport. After counting them I am embarrassed to admit that I sat there kind of sad and annoyed that I haven't traveled that much. Maybe you are reading this and think that thought was crazy (it was) but for the community I was raised in in Houston I really haven't been that many places compared to others. During high school so many of my friends would travel internationally every summer. Instead of huge international trips my family always did a lot of road trips (which don't get me wrong I always loved). My mom and I counted this summer (while driving home from a road trip to Colorado) and determined that I have been to 26 states and 18 countries (again I know I'm stupid and I've traveled a lot for a 26 year old).
Anyways, I am writing about this because during that shuttle ride I started talking to a guy from Pana who was wearing a Texans hat. I asked him if he had ever been to Texas and he explained that he hadn't because it is very difficult for Guatemalans to travel abroad. He then explained that his brother lives in Texas and gave him the hat a few years ago for Christmas. We talked for about an hour about how he had tried to get to the States, but was deported and now has a 10 year ban until he can apply for another visa to try to return. I have heard this story before from some of the Guatemalans I work with. It baffles me that Americans (like me) expect the right to live freely in another country without having to jump through hoops, but then our government won't extend to others the same opportunities. Then while I was on the plane about to take off I was putting up my passport and found myself looking for the new stamp I had just received (could not be more embarrassed) when a mother and son duo sat down next to me. The son explained to me that he had been living in the States for about 20 years, but that his mother had never been able to visit. She just got her visa and was both leaving Guatemala and flying for the first time. She was probably about 80 and was so nervous as we started taking off. Again I was reminded of how incredibly silly I was being. I am 26 years old and have had the privilege of traveling to some amazing places. I need to stop taking for granted those opportunities and realize that I am beyond blessed to have been able to explore as many locations and cultures as I have. It also reminded me of when one of our translators told me that he would never have the opportunity to serve in another country like I am. It is good to be reminded every once in awhile how blessed you are.
Ok... now to my time in Houston. I LOVED it! Since I changed my flight to Sunday I had almost 4 whole days with my family before the other Salud y Paz volunteers arrived. It was great to just be home with my family and catch up. Honestly, I talk to them almost everyday, so it was more of just hanging out then it was having to catch up. Get ready to judge me... In the first 3 days that I was home I watched about 15 episodes of Duck Dynasty. It is the stupidest reality show, but my family loves it. They had been telling me about it for a couple of months, so when I got home we had a marathon. I cannot even begin to describe how much I love just laying around watching stupid hilarious TV with my family and laughing really hard. Again I am very much looking forward to being home again in about a month!
Since my mom retired from teaching in May she was around the whole week to play with. She went with me to do all of my random errands, and then my favorite thing that we did was work out in the pumpkin patch. When I originally thought that I wasn't going to be home for Fall the pumpkin patch at the church was one of the things I was thinking I would miss the most. We have pictures of Parker and I in the patch when we were so little. Besides Christmas Fall is my favorite time of the year, so I loved just sitting in the patch with my mom and laughing at all the cute little kids who were dressed up and getting their pictures taken with the pumpkins. Very blessed that I got to have a few days in Houston with my family and friends before I had to get back to work.
Heather, Janet, and Wayne flew in Thursday night. Janet and Wayne's hotel was about 2 minutes from my parent's house, so I drove over and picked up Heather since she was staying with us. It was so much fun having all of them in town and especially having Heather be able to experience my life in Houston. All day Friday and Saturday we had a board meeting that was hosted at the church. We actually met in the Youth Lounge which was just hilarious to me. I could not get over how odd it was that my 2 worlds were coming together.
On Friday night after the board meeting and dinner Heather and I went to hear my friend Mark play guitar at a restaurant. So fun to have Heather meet some of my friends and people I used to work with.
Sunday was a good day. I started the day by going to Youth Worship at the Refuge. Heather and I talked to the youth about Salud y Paz and why we were in Houston. Again so fun to have my 2 worlds together! Then we went to church at 11:00 where both Chuck and Suzy talked about Salud y Paz. Both of them mentioned that it was the organization where their own home grown Kelly Cragg was serving. It made me smile both times. :) After church we went out for BBQ. Heather had mentioned that she wanted to experience true Texas BBQ, so we went to Rudy's with Poppy, Parker, and my parents.
Next up was the banquet. Salud y Paz was having their first annual banquet at City Center. I was really nervous about the turn out, but that morning at church I ran into so many church members who said they were going to come. We ended up having about 150 there which was a great turn out! Most of the people there were church members and it meant so much to me that they all came out to support Salud y Paz and me. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night.
This is my favorite picture from the benefit. Heather felt uncomfortable sitting at her table while Phil was up front asking for donations, so she came to sit with me. We then decided to take random pictures. Now looking back how funny is it that 2 of the 4 volunteers in Guatemala were taking duck face pictures while our founder was pleading for donations. :) Makes me laugh a lot.
On Monday we had a free day before we flew out Tuesday morning. Heather wanted to see more of Houston, so we drove around downtown then went over to the medical center. I figured that since Heather is a nurse she would appreciate our med center. Then we went to the museum district and walked around the park awhile. After the downtown tour we drove over to the 4th Ward. I am not going to be home for Thanksgiving, so I have been thinking about how I won't be going to the 4th Ward on Thanksgiving morning like we usually do. After that we went to eat lunch at Onion Creek over in the Heights then spent the afternoon saying by to random friends and family. Usually I get really sad when I leave to come to Guatemala, but this time I really wasn't. I know it is because I am going to be home again so soon! I can't wait!
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