Foreword: The students are now in Guatemala beginning their month-long travel seminar. This is the first of many blog entries that will inform us of their experiences abroad!
In an attempt to be energetic and take advantage of a crisp Xela
morning, last night I set the alarm on my phone for 7:30am. However, when the time came, and the alarm sounded, I realized just how ambitious I had been the night before. To quote one of my favorite songs, I slid out of my bed like a baby out of a nurses hands onto hard floor of day at around 8:30. I was still recovering from our long but beautiful van ride from Guate the night before. After a pleasantly warm shower, I ate breakfast and headed over to the DESGUA/Café
Conciencia office for our two morning meetings. The meetings went quite well, and we all did our best to absorb the vast amounts of knowledge that were being thrown down. I´m not going to go into what we talked about in the meetings, I feel like any attempt to relay that information to you would result in a watered down version that would do it no justice. Instead I´m going to tell you about what I did with my afternoon. Although the other BSPers went on a hike to the Voha (volcanic steam rooms), I went to visit some friends. Four years ago I spent a month in Xela at a language school, and I lived with a wonderful family. So to day I took a taxi from the Parque Central to their house, and dropped in for a visit. Although the abuelos were not in Xela today, I still got to catch up with the boys (Fernando and Ricardo), and their parents. Fernando met me at the door, wide eyed and grinning from ear to ear. I asked him if he remembered me, and he replied ¨Claro, y el pato Lucas?¨ referring to my brother Luke, who also lived there with me. I spent the better part of 2hrs at the house, catching up, drinking watermelon juice, and helping with math homework. At the end of our chat we took some fotos
hugged and I left. I was struck by the great hospitality that I received there. I was greeted with a smile, watermelon juice, and quite frankly love. They took in a person from a far away land, who was out of his element, and made him feel as though he was home.
So I write you today, from xela, with love.
morning, last night I set the alarm on my phone for 7:30am. However, when the time came, and the alarm sounded, I realized just how ambitious I had been the night before. To quote one of my favorite songs, I slid out of my bed like a baby out of a nurses hands onto hard floor of day at around 8:30. I was still recovering from our long but beautiful van ride from Guate the night before. After a pleasantly warm shower, I ate breakfast and headed over to the DESGUA/Café
Conciencia office for our two morning meetings. The meetings went quite well, and we all did our best to absorb the vast amounts of knowledge that were being thrown down. I´m not going to go into what we talked about in the meetings, I feel like any attempt to relay that information to you would result in a watered down version that would do it no justice. Instead I´m going to tell you about what I did with my afternoon. Although the other BSPers went on a hike to the Voha (volcanic steam rooms), I went to visit some friends. Four years ago I spent a month in Xela at a language school, and I lived with a wonderful family. So to day I took a taxi from the Parque Central to their house, and dropped in for a visit. Although the abuelos were not in Xela today, I still got to catch up with the boys (Fernando and Ricardo), and their parents. Fernando met me at the door, wide eyed and grinning from ear to ear. I asked him if he remembered me, and he replied ¨Claro, y el pato Lucas?¨ referring to my brother Luke, who also lived there with me. I spent the better part of 2hrs at the house, catching up, drinking watermelon juice, and helping with math homework. At the end of our chat we took some fotos
hugged and I left. I was struck by the great hospitality that I received there. I was greeted with a smile, watermelon juice, and quite frankly love. They took in a person from a far away land, who was out of his element, and made him feel as though he was home.
So I write you today, from xela, with love.
Very nice, Sam.
ReplyDeleteFrom KC, with Love.
Dad
I really can't believe Fernando recognized you, he was so small and you've changed so much since then, but the heart knows a friend. And did you "fut en la calle?" with him? Enjoy every day and learn lots from the beautiful people of Guatemala.
ReplyDeleteMom
Sam. Que. Nuestro. Dios este.contigo y todos tus companeros Dondequiera. Que se encuentren
ReplyDeletePato lucas, hilarious.
ReplyDelete