Bartering, Trading and Paying It Forward

My time in Guatemala is dwindling down to the final months. On a U.S. timeline, I might still have a pretty long haul forward, but in my Guatemalan mindset, I’m beginning to know what will get done and what just can’t be completed in the next seven months.

So though I wouldn’t really say I’m wrapping up, I’d say the big picture just isn’t such a far off eternity from now. And as I’m thinking about the end, I’m starting to think about the best parts of Guatemalan culture and wondering how I can incorporate those into my American lifestyle.

During training, we spent a long time examining culture and forming strategies for integrating once we landed in our respective sites. I remember reading about individualist versus collectivist concepts of self. The individualist puts his or her needs before those of the group and values self-reliance. Meanwhile, the collectivist depends on the group’s wellbeing to uphold the individual and values the importance of relationships.

Living with a host-family has been my most important experience of Peace Corps. I was hesitant to continue living with a family, wanting to regain some independence; however, it’s the interdependence of each other that I’ve learned to love. They help me. I help them. Everybody benefits.

Our typical collectivist interaction might follow this pattern: one of the kids uses some of my supplies for a school project, or one of the adults asks me for a couple of cloves of garlic for something she is cooking. Within a couple hours, the family invites me to sit down for afternoon coffee (a Guatemalan tradition, after the day’s work is done and sunset approaches) and fresh baked bread. Or perhaps I cook some kind of strange American dish for dinner (and it’s always fun to see their reaction when I say that a recipe like curry is Indian, but is popular in America…or any other variation on a dish that was imported into American culture) and give someone in the family a taste, someone else will turn around and give me a taste of their own tradition.

I know it will be different, but if I can have an open door with tangible and intellectual resources alike, to share in America, I know we’ll all have a better global understanding and compassion toward humanity, as long as our bartering and trading all circles back to paying it forward somewhere else.


Four of my Guatemalan roommates and me during the September 15 Independence Day celebrations.