Culture shock: noun. The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.

A feeling I came to know well last week, and I would think that my fellow vols would agree to having felt this as well. The cultural differences in Guatemala were very apparent to us upon arrival to Sololá. However, I think my fellow vols would also agree that the humbling feelings that overcome us after bettering the community of Chaquijyá couldn’t be overshadowed by some silly feeling of disorientation. We are one week in and nothing is stopping us at this point!

Our classes vary, but the sense of fulfillment at the end of the day is the same. To me, even the simplest things matter. Whether it is a child drawing a robot house for art class because we encouraged imagination, a woman remembering how to turn on and off a computer, or a student learning how to correctly answer “What am I doing?” in English, the feeling of accomplishment is more than I could have imagined. I knew coming in to this that I would be helping teach different classes, but the gratification that would come with it was not something I prepared for. In addition to working in the community, my time spent outside of Chaquijyá has been just as incredible.

-Kathryn

Our Summer Interns are here! We're letting them run the blog for the next several weeks while they're here. Our first blog comes from Rachel, who is one of our 8-week volunteers... so you'll probably be hearing from her again :)

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Thursday night, a bunch of the volunteers got to experience one of the many forms of Guatemalan transportation on the way back from an evening in Pana.  We had seen Guatemalans in the backs of pickup trucks, but considered it more of a photo-op than as a realistic form of travel. 

After the chicken buses stop running for the night, however, the pickups are really the only option.  I’m glad, because I might not have tried it otherwise.  So after dinner and shopping in Pana, everyone piled into the truck bed, held on tight and swerved up and around the mountain passes all the way back to Sololá.  It was an amazing experience.  The air was fresh and cool, the stars were out – it reminded me of a cruise ship excursion that tourists would be suckered into paying hundreds of dollars for – all for 5Q (less than a dollar).  And it was real. 

It has only been six days and Guatemala has blown me away.  We’re experiencing things I didn’t even know existed a month ago and getting to know some of the most amazing people I’ve ever seen.  Here, construction is done by hand, water is carried up and down mountain roads, and overcrowded chicken buses make each commute nothing short of an adventure.  I’ve never seen such hardworking people, and there is never a complaint or a question of why the work must be done.  They just do it, with the strength and pride they have inherited from those that came before them.  The children have no problem cleaning the school bathroom, using a machete, or carrying jugs of water on their heads.  And they’re some of the happiest kids I’ve ever seen - all the more reason to be here.   

-Rachel