Many Blessings

The first work week is done.  I have started my orientation…sort of.  I found out that orientations usually start on Mondays, but since mine started on Wednesday – I’ve kind of started at the end and on Monday will start at the beginning (I did what was scheduled for the last three days of my 2 week orientation: Wed, Thurs, Friday already).  Even though I haven’t had an official tour yet or introduction to everyone (that happens Monday) I have already had the pleasure of working in different areas of the site.   I dabbled in construction on my day off just to meet some people and do something in the morning.  I used muscles that haven’t been used for awhile, but had a blast.  There were five of us on the site working while the rest were out building a home.  Three women including myself (2 Guatemalans, native Spanish speakers) and two men (one volunteer from London – learning Spanish like me; and one volunteer from El Salvador – learning English).  So, imagine what a morning would sound like with two native Spanish speakers, two native English speakers learning Spanish, and one native Spanish speaker learning English – that’s the morning I had.  What fun!!  That’s actually been my whole week.  I am constantly switching between languages depending on who I am around and what I am doing – it makes for quite a brain game.  I am loving the opportunity to speak Spanish so much and I can tell I am using it a lot because in some given moments it comes out faster than English!  This is not to say that I am fluent and everything is going perfectly in the language.  I have already asked if there is any “make-up” when I meant to say “butter;” I have been the recipient of and the producer of the blank stare of incomprehension; and I’ve referenced a guy as a girl and vice versa a couple times (words are gendered in Spanish if you didn’t know).  Needless to say – I have been complimented on how good my Spanish is and it’s wonderful the improvements I am already seeing in myself.

As I knew from before, but am still pleasantly reminded of daily – the people here are of a caliber of kindness that has never been matched in my experience.  I love being on the site during the day and meeting and working with new people.  Everyone is so welcoming and really desires to get to know you.  I am amazed at how quickly everyone has picked up my name (and wish I could say the same for all of theirs!).  Though, I have about three names going around here: Teresa, Terri (they’ve already picked this nickname for me :) ) and Teresita (which is a endearing nickname of “little Teresa” which I have been called before…this one has been started because there is Guatemalan woman who volunteers here, older than me, whose name is also Teresa).  It has been fun to see familiar faces from other times I have been here and many, many new faces.  An exciting moment when I was working in the library with the children one afternoon was when I realized that the boy I was helping do homework and the girl and boy that were playing checkers at our same table are the little siblings of Jennifer, the girl Elizabeth and I write to!!!!!  I didn’t recognize them at first because it’s been 2.5 years since I’ve seen them last, but when Juan José said his sister’s name “Heidi” all of a sudden it all came back to me!  It was so cool to see their faces light up when I explained who I was and they recognized me too.  Heidi ran to tell her mom and asked me right away, “When are you coming to our house?”  So, I need to get that on the calendar! :)

Back to what I’ve been working in thus far: I have chopped up all kinds of vegetables in the kitchen, dusted and cleaned a few rooms, and pruned some bushes all the while learning about the different people and programs that do these jobs.  I have also learned a little bit about the collaboration that Common Hope has with six of the Guatemalan schools as they work with these schools to improve the quality of education that the children receive.  I will hopefully get to go on a tour of one the schools in the coming two weeks.  I also was able to be in the youth program on Friday afternoon.  I sat in on a “charla” (which is like a workshop/speaker) for the 15-16 year old youth.  The topic was about motivating them to choose a career that they have a passion for so that they will have the drive and motivation to finish their studies.  These students are in their last year before they have to start their schooling that is directed at their career.  Therefore, they already need to be thinking about what they want to do with their life – at 15 and 16 years of age!!  I am still unsure what I want to do for a career and I am 22!  Yet, this is a reality for them, therefore Common Hope wants to help them to choose careers that fit them and motivate them because there is a problem here with students dropping out of school when they begin their career studies because they do not like what they are pursuing.  At the end of the workshop, the students were given a form to fill out with questions about what career they wanted to pursue and why, etc.  Some were able to fill it out very quickly, but others, like the boy next to me, just stared at the sheet of paper.  This boy eventually went up and talked to the director to ask a question.  When he returned, he returned to staring at the paper while his leg tapped up and down.  He didn’t know.  By the end, he had filled in part of the form, but not all of it.  He rolled it up – a nervous habit – and quickly unrolled it before turning it in.  I really felt for him.  Again, I cannot imagine trying to make that decision at that age.  Thankfully, Rigo, the director of the youth program, is a very powerful speaker and truly has a passion for the youth.  I am excited to work with him and learn from him.

Besides the many blessings during the work day that I have received, the big blessing of this week has been all the wonderful connections I have been able to make outside of the work day.  This week there was a mission trip team that was staying on the Common Hope site (but not directly working through Common Hope) and I had the pleasure of getting to know them as they kindly invited me into their evening hang-outs and meals.  It was wonderful to have other people around after everyone else left after the work day ended.  It was fun to hear of their experiences of Guatemala as for many of them this was their first time here, and it made me reflect on my impressions from my first visit.  Also, because of them I was able to meet a few people who live here including members of the families of both of the leaders of the group.  I was also able to meet their driver and his family who live in a nearby village and have children of all different ages near mine.  They are a beautiful family, and I am excited to get to know them as they have already welcomed me to their home anytime.  I already have contact information for two of the children.  Friends, companionship = an answer to prayers.

The housing search is still on.  I have a couple leads that I am working on.  The difficulty is that I want to find a roommate because I do not want to live on my own, but I haven’t been able to find another volunteer that is looking for a place or has an open room.  Though, I still have time and can stay on site as long as I need to.  Staying on site is definitely comfortable and the commute to work is wonderful :) but it is a bit isolating after the work day and on the weekends being so far from town and the walk not being very safe on your own.  I have no doubt I will figure out something in time.  I’ll keep you updated!

Well, a relaxing day on the site today after playing with some youth in the morning.  Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with some other volunteers for a walk/hike to some restaurant I've never heard of and then a little shopping in the afternoon for a volunteer who's leaving.  I hope you are all doing well in your homes and routines.  Much love from Guatemala!

My new Guatemalan family

New friends and companions! Thank yoU!