The 10 Best Things of the Past 5+ Months

1. Taking a day-trip to Lake Atitlan and visiting Pura Vida with my teachers of Chiquilá. The day was dedicated to learning about sustainable environmental practices and the potential of using plastic bottles filled with plastic, inorganic trash as “bricks” to construct walls for our pending kitchen expansion project.

2. Turning 25! I’m a quarter-century old. I came into Peace Corps when I was 23 and suddenly two birthdays have past me by. I look back on pictures from my 24th birthday and it feels like a lifetime ago – everything about my Guatemalan livelihood is different now.

3. Briefly crossing the border into Mexico for a quick vacation to San Cristóbal, Chiapas. Another PCV friend and I made the trip for a little diversion from Guatemala. Neither of us had been out of the country for over nine months.

4. A week-and-a-half-long visit from a close college friend. Miriam, was here researching service organizations and getting glimpse of Guatemalan culture, experiencing everything we could pack into ten days. We talked about vocation, life and laughed at pictures from our freshman year of college. And of course I celebrated another U.S. Independence Day in Guatemala, so Miriam participated in the epic Peace Corps Fourth of July party.

5. A nearly two week visit from my parents. After nearly a year of not seeing each other, my parents landed in Guatemala for a whirlwind adventure for their second time (their first visit being in 2007 when my sister and brother-in-law were PCVs). We set out for a brief visit to El Salvador and lounged on the Pacific Coast, before heading back to Huehuetenango, where they stayed in my site, visited a school and traveled down rough roads with gorgeous views. We laughed and cried – both crucial for the full experience.

6. Racing, racing, racing. I ran a half-marathon in Antigua, followed by a half-marathon in the mountains of Huehue, followed by a 10k in Chiantla. Perhaps the second of the three races was the hardest…of my life. My parents were still here, so I sent them up to the summit of the Cuchamatenes (the mountain chain in Huehue) with a Spanish-speaking taxi driver (my parents speak English of course), while I ascended 4,500 feet (reaching an altitude of 11,000 above sea-level). In a word: painful.

7. An epic day trip with my site-mate one weekend to Copavic recycling center in Cantel, near Xela. Copavic is the only place (at least relative to where we live) that recycles glass, so we went with two filled bags (“bags” being large grain sacks) of recyclables in tow, watched artisans blow glass and returned with our own useful blown glass dishware. In all regards the day was an adventure with stories that would likely only be funny if you had been there.

8. Sharing culture. This has been part of my job all along, but the number of English classes I’ve been teaching in site has exploded. I can never get enough of the conversations in the streets, meals with friends, or runs with Guatemalans who have rarely run for pure enjoyment before.

9. Independence Day lands on September 15. It’s a hard time to get anything done in school, but spending Independence Day in my community (as well as any other major celebrations) was exciting. My site-mate and I took pictures of all the kids in the parade and mouthed the words of the Guatemalan National Anthem that we knew.

10. Everything that has happened via candlelight. The electricity has gone out a handful of times in the last few months, but pass time spent in the dark is always more charming. Being without lights is a time for games, food, conversation and innovation. I’ve eaten tamales in the dark twice. I might think differently if the electricity was out all the time.

It’s been a full five months. I imagine the next five will be even more packed.


Re. point #4: My friend Miriam and me after a day of singing and lesson-observing at one of my schools.


Re. point #5: Part of my American family and part of my Guatemalan family merged during my parents' visit in August.


Re. point #5: My parents and me in Antigua before they returned to the U.S.


Re. point #6: Peace Corps friends and me at the Antigua half-marathon.


Re. point #7: My site-mate, another Peace Corps friend and me at the Cantel recycling center, practicing for our wine and cheese parties when we're stateside with hand-blown stemware.


Re. point #9: The Independence Day parade in San Se.