The more you leave your bubble of daily life the smaller the world becomes.  Not just in terms of familiarity, and commonalitiies which are both very true,  but also in terms of connections. 

While making papusas in the school community kitchen, and in forcing myself to practice my Spanish I met another student from Florida. Turned out he’s from Westen went to Cypress Bay and goes to UF also his mom used to work at my school.  The broader your circle gets the smaller the world becomes. 

Speaking of a small world,  my neice who lives in Chicago is in Guatemala for the same 3 weeks we are with her school doing language school in Panajachel. We were lucky enough to get to host her and get classmates for lunch when they were in Antigua last week.  To top that when we arrived in Pana yesterday she was able to join us and spend the night in this ridiculously beautiful house in Santa Cruz.

Though I’ve gotten to travel with Maggie before it was nice to have her to myself without her parents or siblings around. I’ve seen her more in Guatemala than I did the past year in the states.  While it might have been far less time than I hoped I am thankful none the less.  I hope we get a chance for more trips like this in the future. The world is smaller then you think. 

Today, I woke up and had scrambled eggs and apples for breakfast 🍳. Then, I got dressed and was ready to walk to school 🏫. At break time, the workers had set up a table for their traditional meal 🍽️. I handmade the tortillas by flattening the dough until it was a circular shape and then I put the tortillas on the pan above the fire 🔥. Once, they were done ☑️, I tried them with beans and guacamole 🥑 and I didn’t like it that much but with only the guacamole 🥑, I liked it a little bit better. The assistant manager told us history about this meal 🥘 and I couldn’t really understand it well because he said it in Spanish but I understood a few words. Then, I had to wash my hands and then it was time to make the tortillas with guacamole 🥑 and beans 🫘. Then, when we were done eating 🍽️, we continued school 🏫. Then, we went to our field trip at our school. We went to the market to look 👀 and buy some things. I asked to buy a toy car 🚘 in Spanish and Tia got me it. It was Corvette Stingray. Then, we had to get our stuff and go home 🏠 because it was already time to leave school 🏫. Tia wanted to get lunch at a place where the woman 🧍‍♀️ did her cooking while we waited. I didn’t get anything there so we walked home 🏠 and I ate spaghetti 🍝 and meatballs for lunch 🥪. Then, we chilled and I played a baseball ⚾️ game with myself. Then, we had dinner and I had a hamburger 🍔 with French fries 🍟. Then, we went home and I took a shower and then I went to bed 🛌.

The End.

Here are some pictures.

One of the things I try to do when planning a trip is to find different things that would interest someone in the group.  The good that comes with living in community is getting to trying things that interest others that you typically would NEVER do otherwise.

I found a really cool place close to Antigua yet far enough out to feel like you were in the mountains and jungle. I knew Nicole would love the yoga they had to offer and I would love the view. So we set out to explore. Upon arriving we got dropped of by our Uber at a sign that said 300 meters to the lodge, with an arrow down.  Imagine a step decline into the woods. Halfway down I told everyone to look back and remember that somehow we have to get back up this.  The trip down was far more doable then the hike back up.  As we got to the entrance of the lodge it opened up to the most beautiful property. 

We rushed to make it to our class and let’s just say I am far from being a yogi…. in my mind it should be so lovely… in practice not so much. I failed to take a picture of our view from the yoga studio but as I sat there in pain moving my body in ways it clearly hated me for, all that kept coming to my mind was how much privilege there was in this experience. The privilege to have two jobs that afford me opportunities to travel.  The privilege to travel the world with my best friend and experience new things everyday. The privilege of being born into a family that by all accounts provided a stable loving environment. And lastly the privilege to be in a place more beautiful than you can imagine.  So as I sat downward facing dog hoping the physical torture would soon end, I gave thanks for all that I’ve been given; by luck,  by chance, by my own hard work, and by the grace of others. 

I haven’t had a chance to blog because honestly our days here are just so busy.  From sun up to sunset there has been very little down time for me. 

Though life is simplier here and seemingly slower, time is flying by.  Our days seem to end as fast as they begin. But our days are not just busy they are full.  Full of learning,  of preparing, full of walking,  full of experiences, full of community. 

Carla and the girls left Wednesday and Christine arrived.  So our house transitioned from little learners to adult learners. Though it all looks much the same.  Carla and the girls brought so much fun to our house.  I miss having my kitchen side kick Bianca around who while she may have appeared ever resistant (much like myself) to learning Spanish,  she was learning.  I miss watching Brianna fully engage is learning and picking it up with ease.  I miss the noise of the kids playing. I am so thankful for the time we had.

Christine has transitioned in with ease and is for sure the most eager of any learner that has ever been in this house lol.  I fully believe she will leave here speaking Spanish. 

My learning has been… well exhausting to say the least. I’ve learned lots about my teacher and her life. I am learning to ask questions that give me answers to my ever curious self.  When,  Where, How, Who, Why.  My learning looks different then others.  But it’s learning just the same. My teacher is sweet and kind. She is far more independent and educated then most woman in this area. Though her and I are similar in so many ways her life has been far more challenging then mine.  From the outside her and I both present as strong, independent, self sufficient woman. However her means of becoming that person were far more challenging then mine,  and far more atypical in her culture than it is for me in the United States. She is by no means typical here. It’s always a challenge to put your own privilege aside and be able to hear someone’s story thru their own voice.  To take in their hard and not judge it by your standards. To honor someone else’s hard in its totality. This is where empathy not sympathy comes into play.  There isn’t one single story my teacher has told that has been a woe is me story. Not once has she ever indicated she felt bad for herself and all that she has endured (and boy has she endured). It’s been quite the opposite. Her mentality is this is life and she lives every minute she is given.  Once again this place has me thinking of resilience and why some have it and others don’t.

I also continuously come back to the fact that education is the only thing that can change a community, a culture,  and improve people’s lives. This is true no matter where you live or travel to.  The more educated people you encounter the kinder the interactions become.  There’s far more humanity that exists when people are educated.  Living with isolated views and little exposure makes a person far scarier to me then probably anything else.  I’ve tried to disconnect as much as possible from all of the awful that has been happening in the US. I needed to for my own mental health.  But there have been moments where no matter how hard I try I can’t completely avoid.  I hate that the perception of the US has changed so drastically and so quickly. Last year people here viewed the US as a power house.  As the leader in the world.  This year their views are so different. They feel sorry for us,  they think we are allowing one man to destroy everything the US has stood for.  They literally have said how are you letting this happen to you. My only response is…I wonder the same thing.  

Today I woke up and ate eggs and cereal for breakfast. Then, I got dressed and ready to go to school. Today was just a me and mommy day so for break, we went to a coffee shop and had fun playing cards. Once, I returned to school, and I had a blast with my teacher. Then we went home to eat lunch. Then, a little later me and mommy got our shoes on and walked to the best part of the day, ROCK CLIMBING! When, we got there the door literally opened when we had just got to the place 😱. I had the best time of climbing on rocks. The best part was Mommy had scheduled 4 hours of rock climbing! I got so lucky 🍀. The craziest part of rock climbing that there was a literal monkey in the building. Not actually but there was a guy who was basically acting like a monkey climbing up the wall and hanging from his feet and doing poses because he had 2 photographers taking pictures of him. I was in shock.

Today, I woke up at 6:30 and ate cereal for breakfast. Then, we got ready for the day at school. We walked to school and once again, we had the best time ever. At break time, we went to the coffee place that had a ping pong table in the place. After that we finished school and then we went lunch and then we went to the ruins in a tuk tuk (a motorcycle with a carriage over it with 3 wheels) and we all had to cramp ourselves in the tuk tuk. Once we got there, I was ready to climb 🧗‍♂️. The girls were trying to go where I had climbed and their mom stopped them. The scariest thing about the adventure was that I almost got lost but luckily I found them and I wanted to stay with mommy so much that I even went to the market with her and the girls and Tia went home. We got stuff for Chipotle bowls and they were delicious 😋. Then, I took a shower and then played with the girls. Then, I went to bed 🛏️.

The End.

Here are some pictures.

First I woke up early and had scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then we had to go somewhere like where the yoga was and we had to take an Uber up a mountain and then hike the rest of the way up. Yoga was fun, and a little boring, and a lot of stretching. The view of the mountain while we were doing yoga was magical. Once we finished we hiked halfway up the mountain to go into the reception center to get a little brunch. I played ring toss and I got the ring on the hook one time. They finally had pancakes without milk in it so I ate that and with some syrup and it was a little sweet but good. The hike was so tiring that we had to take a break after every 20 to 30 steps. We got super lucky because other people got an Uber and we came at the exact same time as they got there so we got that Uber and drove back to Antigua to our house. Once we got home we chilled for a bit while Ms. Christine went out for a walk because she didn’t come with us for our yoga. Then we chilled for a bit and I had a little snack and then Ms. Christine bought a lot of fun stuff for her house and for here and then we walked to pottery. Mommy and Ms. Christine went first and Mommy messed up a few times but eventually she got it. Ms. Christine stayed focus and only messed up like one or two times. Then it was my turn. The crazy thing is, I was the only one who didn’t mess up at all! Mommy made a mug cup, Ms. Christine made a tiny bowl. I made a medium size bowl. Then Tia went and she made a special kind of plate for food. It was so fun that I wanted to do it again. When our pottery clay was drying I didn’t know that it would take a week and a half to dry! Once we finished pottery we walked to an amazing music restaurant and I had a burger with fries and we played a lot of cards. So then when we got home I took a shower and then I hanged out in the sala/living room for a bit then went to bed.

Today I woke up at 7:15 and ate scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then Mommy and Tia went to the market to get supplies for Maggie’s friends and her coming for lunch. We had spaghetti and meatballs. You might be wondering what me and Ms. Christine did…well, we watched a movie called Leo. Once Tia and Mommy got home they prepared food for Maggie’s friends to come over. Then me and Ms. Christine continued to watch a movie, Leo. Once the food was done it looked so good. I played baseball with a stick and ball before Maggie’s friends came over and they were super tall. We had lunch and played the piano. It was the best lunch. I give Tia’s cooking a TEN out of ten! Ok, once they left, I did Duolingo with Ms. Christine but then Maggie’s friends and teacher all had to go to the bathroom and their teacher forgot their cheese so they came back and did what they needed to do and then left. Then it was time for the most important event of all, the soccer game !!! So we took a tuk tuk to the place and I sat in the very back where the engine is and once we got there there was a gigantic line where all the people wanted to watch the soccer game. The teams were Antigua vs. Marquense. Once I got here I had potato chips and the best part, Antigua won 3-0!!!!! Woohoo! #20 on the other team got hurt six times but after the 5th time he refused to leave the bench, but after the 6th time, he really was hurt and injured. A lot of people kicked each other and the game was so crazy in fact that one player got ejected, and that was #3 on the Márquense team. There was a lot of music from the band because we were rooting for our home team Antigua and they won so that’s great !ok, we left ten mins early because it gets so crowded in fact we can’t take an Uber. We didn’t get an Uber and so we walked home and pitch black and we could see something but basically we couldn’t see anything. Luckily we made it back home safely and then I took a shower and I was so tired I had to go to sleep.

Today was the most important day of Spanish school. I had a presentation about chips and salsa. But first I woke up at 6:45am and had cereal for breakfast. We walked to school and first we learned about feelings first and then we had to make the salsa. It was a Guatemala’s salsa called Guatemalteca. We had to cook the tomatoes until the skin was black and soft. Once all the tomatoes were black and soft we crushed them into small pieces and then we did it again and again and again. The rest of the ingredients for the salsa was cilantro, red onion, and lime. Once it was all finished it looked so good to eat with the chips. Then it was time for the presentation. Everyone in our family participated but not Mommy because she already knows Spanish. I went first. My voice was super nervous and I was about to stop but I pushed through it and once I finished I was so happy I got it over with. Then it was Ms. Christine’s turn and hers was so funny 😂. Then it was Tia’s turn. For some reason all the adults had a lot of words to say and including Tia. She did super good and all of us did super good. When everyone went the most favorite thing of all that I loved was chips and radish salsa!!!! That was so good! Then I got back to learning in school and I played a bunch of games with my teacher. Once I was finished with school we walked home and ate lunch. Then we chilled and then at 4 o’clock we walked to salsa lessons and I brought my word search because it was too advanced for me. Once we finished we ate dinner at the most fanciest restaurant in town and we had the best view because we had a light show where the projector projected really good stuff on the ruins. I talked to grandma and she just wanted to say that I did good at the presentation. Then we walked home and took a shower and went straight to bed because I was so tired.

From the minute that I got here, I was completely amazed at this Airbnb Spanish mansion built in the 1500s. What an absolute treat! Let’s take a tour, shall we?

Whether it’s sitting in the courtyard patio to drink, coffee, hanging out in the living room and playing ping-pong, cooking in the kitchen, or just sitting and having a glass of wine, it’s completely fantastic.

Patio by the courtyard

Inside the front door, you can park your car here

Bedroom i’m staying in to the left of the bench

My bedroom, bathroom to the left. It’s so cute!