Valió la Pena

Notes from a wandering soul.

[thewanderersnotes]

"...if the experts as a whole are discredited, we are faced with an inexhaustible supply of quackery." Christopher Hayes's 2012 book, "Twilight of the Elites", is a critical look at the deeper causes of current social and politic discontent, whose words ring so true to today's world. I highly recommend this sweeping work of social criticism to anyone who wants to better understand the "meritocratic elite" and the "fail decade". #educateyourself #readmore

[thewanderersnotes]

Prepas y piñatas #jocotenango #guatemala #educationforthechildren

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Sábado por la mañana #antigua #guatemala #jornaleros (at Antigua Guatemala.)

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Many of our students have already been sponsored, but we're still looking for sponsors for 79 children!

Sponsor a student in Jocotenango, Guatemala today! Help us break the cycle of poverty by giving students the opportunity to receive a good, quality education and the chance to obtain a higher-educational degree. As a sponsor, you are more than just someone far away supporting a child's education - you are also a mentor and a friend. It’s a life changing opportunity!! For only $15/$35/$50 a month you can change a child’s life and help make a difference in the world.

[thewanderersnotes]

Sunshine, water and a whole lotta hippies

My good friend Bee had an extended layover in Guatemala on her way back to LA from Chile. For me it came at such a great time - I had just moved into my new place, was settling into my new job and starting to feel quite comfortable living in Antigua. It was a quick week visit, but we packed in as much as possible. We went to the Earth Lodge, a hippie haven in one of the cerros above Antigua. Completely sustainable, the Earth Lodge is a nice day getaway complete with good food, better beers and live music. You can easily go there alone and instantly start up a conversation with a stranger and leave with a friend. Total buena onda, it’s a place I will definitely escape to time&time again throughout my year here.  

But the real reason I’m writing is to talk about my first trip within Guatemala I’ve made. The last weekend Bee was here we got up at the crack of dawn and headed via shuttle 2.5 hours to Lake Atitlán. Lake Atitlán is in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range, located in the Sololá Department of southwestern Guatemala. When I say lake, you’ll picture something relatively small. However, this lake is not only immense in size but in depth as well. As the deepest lake in Central America, is boasts a maximum depth of about 340 meters, and is roughly 12X5 km with around 20 km3 of water. So, yeah, it’s pretty damn big and deep. Alos, fun fact, Atitlan means "at the water" in Nahuatl and the lake is surrounded by 3 active volcanoes.

The main town is called Panajachel, or as Chapins (Guatemalans) call it, Pana. While Maya culture is predominant in most lakeside communities, Pana, has been ‘overwhelmed’ over the years by Guatemalan and foreigners. In the 1960s it attracted many hippies and, although the civil war caused many foreigners to leave, the end of hostilities in the late 90s brought on a renewal of the foreigner boom. Today, the town's economy is almost entirely reliant on tourism, which was completely evident.

As the main town, Pana hosted too many foreigners and night life for my taste. Since it was little dirtier and louder than we wanted, we headed by lancha (boat) to San Marcos, one of the 10+ villages that surround the lake. San Marcos is arguably the “hippiest” of towns around the lake. As soon as we disembarked from the boat, we were met by dreaded guys selling hemp jewelry and yogis asking if we would like to join their sunset yoga session that evening. We walked around the town, “window” shopping and exploring the plethora of cafes and, of course, organic restaurants. We grabbed a couple strawberry margaritas, soaked in some sun and enjoyed the chilled out sounds of music featuring dijiridoos before heading to our final destination, San Pedro.

San Pedro, like Pana, was the best place for night life, but was quainter and cleaner. At the base of the San Pedro volcano, it is home to foreigners and locals alike, all clearly searching to have a good time, or at least escape a bad one. We explored a bit, looking for a good hostel or hotel. We ended up finding a room, with a balcony, hammock and garden where we could lay out for the low low price of $12 each. We went for more drinks - don’t judge, it’s vacation - and food. As we dined on nachos and tapas and soaked in more sunshine, we grew quite tired so we retired to our place where we chilled out, hammock style, before we went out for the night.

We were lucky that we were there the weekend “the bar” was having its birthday party. When we walked in the door we instantly received free shots and began to dance the night away to live DJs. Since the Antigua community is freakishly small, we ran into people I had met previously and hung out with them. Sharing stories and cocktails, Bee and I were social butterflies for the night. We ended the night around a fogata (bonfire) down by the water. That night I met people from all around the world but also met people who knew exactly where I was from in the US. It just showed me how large this world is, but also how small it can be. As we walked back to our hotel, accompanied by a nice Dutchman, we ordered tacos - because there’s nothing better than greasy street tacos to soak up alcohol - and passed out until the morning. 

We woke up to the sun shining, birds chirping and the breathtaking view of the lake. We both took a minute to truly appreciate where we were, to recollect our thoughts and feelings. Swinging in the hammocks looking out over the immense lake, I thought about how appreciative I am to have the opportunity to live in this country, to know this country and to help better this country, while also bettering myself. It’s truly a blessing.

After a delicious breakfast with a view, a walk around town and an hour of sunbathing it was time to take the boat back to Pana to catch the last transport out to Antigua. Whilst it was a quick 36 hours, it was a refreshing 36 hours. I got to get out of Antigua and discover a new area of Guatemala. It’ll definitely be a place I can escape to - to recollect, breathe and realize just how beauty this world is, and how beautiful Guatemala is.

[thewanderersnotes]

Feelings about my weekend // Pura buena onda #lagoatitlan #guatemala (en Lago Atitlan)

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Pues sí, este lugar ain’t so bad #lagoatitlan #sanmarcos #guatemala #chilero

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Went up to the mountains for a little escape #earthlodge #guatemala #sundayfunday (en Earth Lodge)

[thewanderersnotes]

Bendiciones

Hoy, tuve el placer de conocer nueve familias y entregarles despensas de comida. Después de dos largos días de coordinación de las despensas y haciendo las finanzas, que como cualquiera que me conoce sabría que no es mi cosa más favorita, estaba feliz de haber terminado. Pero cuando conocí a las familias, mi corazón se derritió. Ellos estaban tan feliz y agradecidos de recibir una caja de comida. Todos me contaron historias sobre cuánto la comida que recibieron significaba para ellos y me hizo darse cuenta de lo increíblemente bendecido que soy. Nunca he tenido que preocuparme acerca de si comería, mucho menos, mi familia. 

Son estos momentos los que me hacen darme cuenta que este es el trabajo que he estado buscando. Tengo una conexión tangible con el trabajo que estoy haciendo. Es lo que me da inspiración. De conocer a la gente que mi organización ayuda y escuchar sus historias es lo que me hace querer seguir ayudando mejor a esta comunidad.

Un breve ejemplo de la necesidad de la que hablo: Una señora, cuando estaba listando lo que estaba en la despensa, jadeó ante el hecho de que había papel higiénico y jabón en la caja. Su familia no había tenido papel higiénico durante algún tiempo y tuvieron que usar una toalla. Y seguro, aunque suena ecológico y todo, ella me dijo que no tenían jabón ni agua para limpiar estas toallas sanitarias. 

Esto me golpeó fuerte, de saber que los estudiantes que veo todos los días están faltando necesidades básicas. Estos niños sonrientes, tan llenos de amor y risas, que estudian duro y hacen todo lo posible para tener éxito en la escuela, están sufriendo en casa. Así que a medida que termino mi primer mes, me siento increíblemente bendecido de poder trabajar con esta organización y conocer a estos niños y sus familias. 

Tengo la bendición de vivir mi propio sueño - ayudar a cambiar al mundo una persona a la vez.

English: Today, I had the pleasure of meeting nine families and delivering them food baskets. After two long days of coordinating these baskets and doing the corresponding finances, which as anyone who knows me would know that that is not my thing, I was happy to be done. But when I met the families, my heart immediately melted. They were so happy and grateful to have received these baskets. Each family told me stories about how much the food they received meant to them and this made me realize how incredibly blessed I am. I’ve never had to worry about whether I would eat, let alone if my family would eat. It’s these moments that make me realize that this is the job I’ve been looking for. I have a tangible connection with the work I’m doing. Knowing the families my organization helps and hearing their stories is what makes me want to continue to help this community better. It’s what gives me inspiration. A brief example of the need of which I speak of…One lady, when I was listing what was in the pantry, gasped at the fact that there was toilet paper and soap in the box. Her family had not had toilet paper for some time and had to use a towel. And sure, although it sounds environmentally friendly and all, she said they had soap nor water to waste on cleaning these sanitary napkins. This hit me hard, knowing that the students I see everyday are missing the most basic needs. These smiling children, so full of love and laughter, who study hard and do everything possible to be successful in school, are suffering every day at home. So as I finish my first month, I feel incredibly blessed to be able to work with this organization and get to know these children and their families. I have the blessing of living out my own dream - helping to change the world one person, one family at a time.

[thewanderersnotes]

.75 centavos #papaya #antiguaguatemala #comidasana

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Poolside chillin 🌞 #elpilar #antigua #guatemala #naturalsprings (at Antigua Guatemala.)

[thewanderersnotes]

Bienvenidos a mi (nueva) ciudad

My eyes brimmed with tears as I looked out over 500+ students with their parents. The, entirely too long but nonetheless beautiful, Guatemalan national anthem playing in the background. It was in that moment, today, that made all my worries dissipate. 

Fue un verdadero, vale la pena, momento...

On NYE I set off on a new adventure, this time to Central America’s own Antigua, Guatemala. Unlike Chile, I’m here to purposefully pursue my dream of working for an international NGO. I came with the mission to work, learn and advance my career in the realm of international development with a focus on education. With that anxious knot in my stomach, I said goodbye to my parents and boyfriend incredibly too early and boarded the plane. Before I knew it, I landed in a foreign, in all facets of the word, country with no friends and no clue what I was doing.

The sweltering morning sun beat down on me as pushed my way through the crowd, avoiding hundreds of taxi drivers screaming in my face “Para ti, solo 50 quetzales bonita gringa!” Eventually, and with an immense feeling of relief, I found my coworker and supervisor waiting for me. We hoped in the car, and off we went. Within 45 minutes, and one McDonald’s trip later, we made it to the colonial town of Antigua, my home for the next year.

It’s always that first impression that’s the everlasting one. And I must say, so far so true. When I arrived to Antigua, I was in complete awe. Not only was it colorful and bustling with people, it smelled clean- though a bit like street vendor food. Surrounded by volcanoes and rolling green hills, it breathed a sense of vitality into me. As I walked, very carefully, along the cobblestone streets, the locals actually smiled at me and said “buenas tardes”. 

After a few days, I realized how touristic the town actually is. Though, as I’ve learned, it can be overwhelming at times, the tourism has a lot of positive aspects. There is a plethora of restaurants and cafes of every variety, health food stores and hard-to-find products in any other country (cough, Chile, cough) are readily accessible here.

It did take me a good week, but now I can navigate my way around town without a map. I know what’s north vs. south, east vs. west. I’ve seen many of the ruins around town, hiked (half) of Volcano Pacaya, volunteered at a garden NGO and have visited a beautiful local farm and its bountiful farmers market.

So far, Antigua seems like a place I’ll really enjoy living. The people are nice, the town feels quaint but has endless things to explore ( and places to spend money) the weather is incredible and I can actually understand the Spanish, SCORE.

As for the real reason I’m here...after an intense 2-week orientation at school, I’ve begun to really dig into my work and am becoming more comfortable with my new position. I work with a refreshing mix of foreigners and Guatemaltecos, and while we mostly speak Spanish at the school I can also fall back on English when need be. Last week, I had the opportunity to take part in assessments- where our staff visits our students homes to assess their needs and current conditions. 

These visits really brought to life WHY I am here. I was able to confront true poverty, visualize the importance of what we do and why I was called to come here in the first place. When you are there in the flesh, in those impoverished conditions, you gain a whole new perspective on your own life while also gaining a new level of empathy.

Today the students started back at school. It was truly - beautiful chaos. I’ll have plenty of more updates along the way, but so far, I am completely impressed with this NGO’s organization and incredibly happy with the choice I made to come to Guatemala and take on this position.

And whilst I’ve had my moments of sadness, anxiety and complete uncertainty, I’ve also felt and feel elation at having the opportunity to help make - be - a change in the world. “Porque en el fondo esto es lo que quiero hacer.”

[thewanderersnotes]

Because this plate was too beautiful not to #instafood #comidasaludable (en Caoba Farms)

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Un comienzo saludable para #2017 #antigua #instafood (en Bagel Barn Antigua Guatemala)

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Colores de otoño #centralpark #nyc #paseando (en Central Park)

[thewanderersnotes]

Gracias a todos por venir ayer a mí #despedida. ¡Estuvo la raja, con los mejores amigos, caleta de comida rica y pura buena onda! #santiago #chile #chauatodos (en Parque Bicentenario)