“Let me tell you about my best friend’

I chose not to attend school for the second week. for a couple of reasons. The first being that I haven’t had a break at all this summer. School ended, and I worked an extra week and rolled right into summer school. So, to do a little self care, I felt like I needed a break. Second, I wanted to time hanging out doing things around the city. Nicole and I booked two spa days, and Nicole decided to do a day of volunteering doing womans health in the old city. I spent a long time in my head going back and forth trying to deciding whether I was gonna tag along or not. Not because I didn’t want to go, but trying to figure out how I could be helpful without speaking the language almost kept me from going. In the end, I decided to go and just be helpful any way I could.

I have always been one to have a few close friends. It takes a lot to be my friend, but once I choose to let you in, my friendships tend to be lifelong. When I was younger, I didn’t put much thought into understanding my friendships, meaning that whoever I clicked with is who I hung out with. But as you age you gain an insight into people and realize the actual reasons why you just “click” with someone. Let me tell you about my best friend… hense the title. I am so lucky and blessed to have my best friend along on this crazy ride called life. To have someone who is willing to do things outside the box, take adventures (and keep me from dying by being more guarded than I, a nice balance), and see the world. But that’s not why she’s my best friend. She is my biffer because I admire her, because others are endeared to her, because she makes anything and everywhere better just by being there. I know how amazing she is at her job. I send everyone I know, including friends and clients to her. I trust her more than any other provider. But getting to watch her in her element (well her makeshift element) today was an honor. The facility opened its doors today to women of the community, and they came in not knowing who they were seeing but trusting her with the most sensitive of topics. I went today not knowing if there would be a purpose for me, but being there I realized that my purpose was to witness first hand my friend at work. I got to add to my admiration of who she is as a provider and as a person. Today, others got a little bit of her, and they are so much better off for having met her. I am proud to know her, to call her my friend, she is one of my favorite people, I admire her, and am so blessed to have her around for these life adventures.

When the power goes out in the states my life basically comes to an abrupt halt. No internet, no air conditioning, no stove, no microwave no way to cook food, no cell service. I am talking a complete stand still. But here, power basically means no fridge and that’s all that is truly effected. We lost power last night shortly after dinner time. So we lit candles, a fireplace, and played cards. This morning Nicole and I walked to get coffee and picked up ice to turn our fridge into a cooler. I was able to still make breakfast on our gas stove, we were all still able to have hot showers thanks to our gas heater… and life went on with very little being effected by our loss of power. It’s 65 and sunny here, and we aren’t sweating to death, but rather enjoying the day at the coffee bean farm, naps in hammocks and trail runs. Sometimes going back to basics makes life easier.

So as much as I try to disconnect I still get daily updates from the states. I know that traveling with kids especially those who aren’t mine comes with a great deal of responsibility and sometimes with criticism from others who say that I am crazy to come to Guatemala, and even crazier for taking kids who don’t belong to me.  I’ve been entrusted with the most precious of cargo and I take that responsibility very seriously.

While the news portrays much of Central America as a collection of violent countries, the news as we’ve learned, often times gets it wrong.  I am not saying that there isn’t a great deal of political discourse here,  nor am I saying that this place is immune to violence or evil.  What I am saying is that life and anywhere it takes you comes with risk.  While my morning news out of Antigua reports car accidents or road work, my morning news from the states is a stark contrast of mass shootings,  kidnappings,  serial killings,  racism, restricting of human rights…. and the list goes on.  I am by no means downplaying what is happening around Guatemala, I simply am bringing to light that danger and risk is all relevant and exist everywhere.  If we shy away from experiences out of fear we will miss out on so much in life.  Here I tell the kids that we don’t have rules but rather we make smart choices.  For instance I don’t have a rule about not having phones out when we walk… but rather we make smart choices and put our phones away when we walk the city to reduce any possibility of exposing ourselves to a threat. We make smart choices and never go anywhere alone.  We make smart choices and always have a plan.  We do things that keep us as safe as possible while allowing us still to experience life.

It feels like forever since I’ve blogged. Me… the pusher of the blogs has been the most absent for a couple of reasons. Mostly because the kids have surprised me with blogs without being asked to do them… and also because I haven’t stopped long enough to have a moment to reflect. I’ve been so busy living in the moment, the day, the memories that there hasn’t been much time to pause and blog.

Ohhhh but there’s been so many moments that I have wanted to share. Not the moments that one might expect… like the cool things we’ve been doing, but rather the more unexpected unplanned moments.

Yesterday concluded my last day of school. While I am so excited to be done with the school days (and looking forward to the days to wander the city) I am far from being done learning.

One of my favorite things about traveling internationally are the people you meet and the unexpected connections you make. Wednesday I went back to the dance studio I started taking lessons at 5 years ago…. and to my surprise all the kids wanted to go along. So Nicole got a nice nap while we all got to dance. The instructor I had was a student when I first took lessons 5 years ago and he’s now an instructor. Life comes full circle. Also Nicole came to our school yesterday for our food presentation and was chatting with someone and made the connection that she knows my brother and lived at the Finca during the same time my brother was there (small world)

Ugh, the moments. I am trying to convey what the moments are like here. While they seem so simple, they are really pretty magical. To watch the kids being kids with actual human interaction; where clothing, technology, and the latest fads matter not. Where asking them to not be in their phones hasn’t had to happen because they are naturally engaged with each other and the people around them. To see them interacting with others, they have just met and finding common ground with people we would have probably never encountered in any other setting. There are a few families here with interesting backgrounds and reasons for being here. Including a couple of stories of adoptions and one of the girls having been adopted from here and coming back here for the first time. To not have to “parent” or nag them about getting up for school at 7am… because they are getting to on their own because this is their experience, and they want it. We have spent hours playing cards, or doing each other hair, or coming up with games to play, and even studying (Spanish) on their own. Life before technology has returned here…. and I am soaking it up.

The time here is flying by and I want nothing more than for it to slow down.

Michele writes….. “My kitchen is my happy place.” In most cultures, the kitchen is the heart of the house. While Nicole’s happy place has proven to be the garden hanging laundry, mine is by far the kitchen. I love everything about my kitchen. From the gas stove/ oven to the view out of my window that overlooks the back garden and Volcan Agua to the kitchen table where the kids or Nicole will come to chat while I cook.  Having kids around who love eating vegetables and trying new food has been so much fun for me.  I also have gotten so at “home” at the grocery store.  I can now order my own meat at the counter, a necessity since Nicole refuses to enter the meat section 😆. Not gonna lie. While it’s not as overwhelming as the meat section at the market,  it’s still a very different experience.  I have had so much fun learning typical food dishes here and being able to replicate them at home.  On my past trips, we have simply avoided vegetables that weren’t cooked, but I am so proud to say that I have learned to appropriately wash vegetables here so that we are able to eat them without worry.

And when the lights went out…. my kitchen prevailed. Gas powered stove and water heater means that life can continue despite the blackout.

Michele writes……

So while the picture above at lemon represents where we started our day, it is by no means where we ended it. Our school moved,  and we were clearly the last to know.  Actually I was well aware the main school moved however I wasn’t informed that they closed the second location that happened to be a block (a 4 minute walk rather than a 12 minute walk) from our house last month.  So, with all best laid plans, we can still stumble and landed at the wrong location for our first day of school.  Here’s where the stress and logistics of a trip can feel heavy when you’re the one directing everyone.  So without missing a beat we rerouted to our new school.  The physical adjustment was far easier for me than the emotional one.  And here’s where we learn to pivot. Life can’t always be predictable.   If we stay fixed and rigid in our thinking in any situation…with set expectations, without the ability to pivot, then life can be even harder than it needs to be.  I had in my head what it looked like for my schooling experience.  It was familiar,  it was safe, it was predictable….. all until it wasn’t.  I think most of us in life keep from moving on,  or changing course in life because we refuse to pivot.  We stay stuck; in situations,  in relationships, in jobs, and in behaviors.  So here’s to getting unstuck.

I regrouped and was happy to see my teacher, even though I fear her greatly. For those of you who followed along last year,  I have the same teacher, and she’s hard. Yes, I chose her once again. I am either a masochist or I really wanna be forced to learn Spanish… only time will tell which it is.

Then, on our pausa (our break), I saw this on the wall at our coffee spot. Life is short, and in the big picture, the small stuff doesn’t matter. What’s important is to be present with others and to serve…. in whatever capacity we are able to.

We went to salsa lessons tonight and I am most proud of Kayla for taking the class with me, and secondly most proud of Nicole for stepping in and learning to be a lead (we were short on men). When I hit a wall tonight with being the decision maker of the trip, I was thankful Nicole stepped in. There were more peaks today than valleys, so I’ll be grateful for them both.

Michele writes…..

In the dark of night along a lake in what many refer to as “a third world country” (though to me this country and the people are richer than most) I was privileged enough to engage in some really great conversations with the girls. Conversations that even without sharing the details (what’s shared at the lake stays with the lady of the lake) one can deduce that only moments matter. That sitting around a campfire with simple and complicated conversations matters more than anything else in this world to me. This place and this time gave me a chance to share and to hear things that, without this experience, I would have never known. Listening is easy when there’s no other distractions happening. Sharing is harder, but under the cover of night, a world away from reality, it’s easier to be a little freer. I will forever be grateful for this moment.

One of the stories I shared happened before Luca went up to bed. It was a story from my experience on Outward Bound in 1999. There were lots of layers to this story about Outward Bound, (including me almost dying both physically and emotionally). But the part that Luca was present for was about doing hard things and how there was a guy in my crew who showed up for me and helped me when I physically couldn’t carry my bag anymore (my 75 pound backpack). The funny part comes in when Nicole returns and shared Luca’s take away from the story. While putting Luca to sleep he said to Nicole…”Tia should have married Matthew…. the guy who carried her backpack.” So Matthew if you’re out there, I got some baggage you can carry lol 😆 jk.

Michele writes…… Tonight I blog from the hot tub overlooking the lake after an amazing massage.

My favorite thing I saw today: watching the lake wake up (more on this later), my favorite thing I ate today: Desayuno at Cafe Sabor Cruceno (an NGO… check it out https://www.amigosdesantacruz.org/restaurant/.  My favorite thing I did today, was old people yoga on my porch overlooking the volcano. And lastly my favorite thing I heard today….”I’ve learned more Spanish being here two days than I ever did in school.” This is what this trip is about. Being here,  being present,  forcing ourselves outside of our comfort zone, and being able to fully present to experience another culture.  It’s about effort and not perfection.  Though we all aspire to be great, there’s power in acknowledging the difference between finding our own unique greatness and the desire to feel and be perfect.

Watching the lake wake up….. is by far my favorite time of the day on the lake. If anyone knows me you know that I am far from a morning person… but here on the lake I crave the morning.  The lake is silent first thing in the morning in every sense of the word.  There are no waves, as it’s smooth as glass out there,  there’s no boats,  there’s no people,  just the sun breaking its way thru and the sound of birds all around you. It’s honestly surreal.  Then without warning the lake wakes up… and the waves start and the boats start traveling,  and people start walking the path to work,  and….. the lake wakes up. But for just a few moments right at day break… the world is still.  No movement,  no chaos,  nothing to be done,  but to sit in the stillness. This is peace. 

Michele writes ….The title of my blog translates to “sometimes it’s good to be old.” The minute my body felt the first crash from the boat beating down on top of the waves I knew… that my body was gonna feel this trip. 😩 However, it’s not all bad… being old, (that is not the free spinal compression I got from the pounding waves riding on the front of a boat to make Luca happy, and do I could hear him squeal with joy). The minute we arrived in Guatemala, the men quickly assisted Nicole and I with our bags…. down the launcha,  onto the boat, up the dock and stairs, etc. They just felt in their souls that we were the Elders and we needed tended to. I’ve never been so grateful to be the old ones 😆

Yesterday was a travel packed day, including a plane,  a van, and a boat (what can I say we like diversity). Sometimes, despite all the planning in the world, things will still manage to go array…. well, not yesterday. Thankfully, everything went smoothly with not a single hiccup in the plan. We arrived in Guatemala City by plane,  then we drove 2.5 hours to Panajachel and had lunch on Lago De Atitlan. After lunch we took a boat across the lake to our lovely Airbnb where we be till Sunday.  Our casita looks like a page out of a fairy tale. We settled in and spent the evening in the hot tub and having dinner on our porch. 

Luca write….We woke up and then we took a Tuk Tuk to breakfast called Sabor Cruceno . After we walked back and got ready for the lake. We walked to the boat that took us to the lake. The weather was nice, we even saw some dogs on the way. I jumped off the 20 ft. Rock. I jumped off 3 times. The water was cold 🥶. We saw this cute dog. We were about to leave but it started raining so we got pretty wet. So we walked back to the boat. The boat ride was so crazy that it almost flew in the air. We got off the boat. We walked back to our house. Then we went in the hot tub. Then we played in the grass for a little bit. Then we played some card games. We also played some of my favorite music. We relaxed for a little and we are going to eat dinner soon and then after that we are going to light a fire in the fire pit. Then we are going to bed after a long fun day. And that’s the blog