Sunday night I was packed and ready to get to Guatemala. At 10 pm, checking email in Atlanta, my departure city, I learned that my Spirit flight had been cancelled. The frustration that followed for the preceding two hours became a faint memory when I boarded a Delta flight at 9:30 the next morning with straight confusion that my seat number put me in first class. Thanks to my constant savior, Mama Lake, and her delta points I was able to not only reach my destination, but get spoiled while doing it. Mimosa, please. After boarding I looked at my jean cut offs and tank top and at the business man next to me and felt very underdressed.
Guatmala. It feels so good to be back and not just good but almost normal. Everything has just been so easy this time around compared to my first time arriving in this country a year and a half ago and so much of that is thanks to Corinne. When we arrived together the first time I can honestly say it was mainly her fault and her self proclaimed organization that lead us to wander around Guate like lost foreign souls. But this time, she really did it right.
Today I went into the field with the God's Child project to a small town that was flooded by the recent tropical storms. The water or mud lines on the walls of the home where we worked were well above my head. A lot of it has been cleared over the past few weeks, but it is still far from livable. For 3 hours I shoveled mud and passed buckets down a line, buckets full of mud. It was hard work and I felt like a wimp when I left the local families and workers, exhausted, after three hours.
Tomorrow I start volunteering in the classroom. The school and all facilities with the organization are like an oasis in a city of loud motorcycles and smog. It has beautiful gardens and colorful buildings. I'm so happy that it is my place of work for the next 5 weeks.
I love being here. Love it.
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