I just returned from a 10 day vacation to the US, which was my first vacation back to the states since I left in August 2009 - yup, a year and a half. To be honest, I am really glad that I saved all my vacation for Year 2, although I definitely felt the distance after returning home. My parents' house looks different and even has TWO flat screen TVs now, everyone has high-tech phones that I can't quite figure out how to use, people look older, college friends gotten engaged, moved in with significant others, received promotions at work, and siblings have babies :) But all in all, it was an amazing vacation and I got to see so many family and friends.
Of course I enjoyed the obvious things like taking long, hot showers and eating Thai food, but what I really enjoyed was re-connecting with people, face to face. It is so hard to stay in touch and I feel that it was super important for me to not let too much time go by between the time I left the US and when I am finally done my service. I feel fortunate that I have had lots of visitors here in Guate, and more to come, because that definitely helps people to understand what it is really like here. But no worries for those of you who won't be visiting...that's why I try to keep this blog!
My first bit of "culture shock" occurred in the Houston airport, where I heard more Spanish than English spoken, but for the first time in a long time saw people of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. It really feels strange to walk in a public area without feeling like you're in a "fishbowl" as we Peace Corps volunteers often do. I felt the blast of cold wind as soon as I stepped out of the Philly airport, but was so excited that I didn't even care. It felt so amazing to be back in my house. I could have sat on the couch with my dog the entire trip and been perfectly content, but it was even more awesome to see so much family and friends and get to introduce David to everyone. Soon after I arrived to Philly, we drove down to DC to visit Andrew, Steph, and my little niece Gianna, who was only 3.5 weeks when we first saw her. I fell in love just holding her and looking at her peaceful little face. David and I even got to babysit while Andrew and Steph went to the gym, which was fun. In the short time I spent with her, I quickly learned her favorite way of being rocked, and also that she loves the sound of the blender. It will be awesome to see how much she's grown and changed when I return to visit in June.
During the DC portion of the trip, I got to see my closest friends from college and do a surprise bachelorette party for Marielle. I couldn't help but tear up when I saw those girls for the first time. It was crazy to think that the next time we would all be together wouldn't be until her wedding. I think that we definitely made the most of the very short time we were all together and had a memorable bachelorette night for her :)
One of my other favorite parts of the trip was giving a presentation on Guatemala with David to a group of 5th graders at Elkins Park Middle School (where I attended 5-6 grades). In the limited amount of time that we were able to speak to the class, we discussed things like the different foods, forms of transportation, volcanoes and touristy places to see in the country, what the homes and schools are like, and of course ending the presentation with a photo of fried ants, which the kids found really gross (and therefore cool). Even though it was the last period of the day and the kids are, well kids, they were really attentive and asked some awesome questions. Like when we discussed the volcanoes, they asked "why do people want to live at the base of an active volcano?" And when they asked about the money, I just so happened to have 10 quetzales in my wallet, so they asked what could 10Q buy. We wanted to bring up issues about development and poverty without making the discussion too "heavy" so, for example, I told them that in Guatemala, many schools only provide education up until 6th grade (which these students enter next year). They all cheered and said, "I want to move to Guatemala!!" but when I asked them if they'd feel ready to get a job after 6th grade graduation, they all kinda shook their heads in defeat. Interestingly enough, two of the kids were adopted from Guatemala, so you could see them paying extra attention during the presentation. In the end, I hope to get similar experiences to share about Guatemala, and definitely felt some pride while discussing Guatemala, as if I'd lived there my whole life.
Thanks to everyone who made the effort to visit with me...I look forward to seeing you again in June! And to everyone else who I wasn't able to see, I know the time will pass quickly before my next visit!
PS My internet is too slow to upload pictures to my blog, so check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2247593&id=7400486&l=f26663f3c2
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I'm guessing that some of the girls in the class were imagining themselves doing something like you're doing, and the boys were paying attention to the edgy parts like the ants and the volcanoes. You opened a door that some might decide to go through because of your example.
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