Arrival in Guatemala

La Aurora International Airport

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Trapped at the airport

Well, I thought I would be. When I arrived in Guatemala City, I was tired, anxious, cold, and excited all at the same time. I stepped outside of the airport and stood face to face with streams of people waiting for family and friends. A few random men came up to me and asked loudly, “Taxi? Taxi?” or “Señorita, quiere hacer una llamada?” (Miss, do you want to make a call?) I said, “No, gracias” to all of them and searched anxiously for a representative from the school (Maximo Nivel) holding a sign with my name. 10 minutes passed, then 20, then 40. Soon it was 9:30PM local time, and I started to worry. I couldn’t get in contact with anyone from the school because it was closed, and I didn’t know yet who my homestay family was. Just when I was about to exit the airport to ask that a taxi drive me to a hotel in Antigua, a guy called out, “Hey, excuse me, are you Deborah?” He was also traveling with the school and had been waiting for about as long as I was for the same representative. Apparently, there was a ton of traffic because of the holiday, so that delayed the rep’s arrival.

Guatemala City, Guatemala

My ride from the city to Antigua and meeting my homestay family canceled out all of the negative events from earlier that day. On the way, I saw fireworks in a park that were being set off to celebrate Christmas (la Navidad), smelled the wonderful familiar smells of the country (not exactly sure how to describe the smells; they were a mix of pollution, food from the street vendors, and other things), saw the familiar sights of people walking about exchanging loud chats in Spanish, and spotting a motorbike every other car. I also forgot about the cobblestone streets of Antigua and how bumpy car rides had been. I arrived at my homestay around 10:30PM where I was warmly welcomed by Cecilia (Ceci for short), the helper of the house, and another volunteer from San Francisco, CA. My host mother, Olga, was visiting her family in the capital (Guatemala City) for the holiday.

Christmas in Guatemala
At 12AM it sounded as though the skies opened in anger; fireworks thundered throughout the small town. I was invited to go out to a fiesta to celebrate the holiday but I had no energy. I was very jetlagged. I plan to celebrate the New Year though (el año nuevo).

Christmas in Antigua, Guatemala

Christmas in Guatemala is celebrated the day before. It doesn’t mirror the US tradition of waking up early the next morning to open presents under the tree. Instead, here they exchange gifts and throw festivities on the 24th. The 25th is a day of rest. No shop, library, school, or anywhere else is open.

Gratitude
One very important thing I have realized upon entering my humble home for the next month (and that we all have realized at some point but should ruminate more on it) is that we take a lot of things for granted. I remember it was just a few days ago that I was complaining at home and mindlessly chattering about how I wished my family had a more privileged background, lived in a better house, came from a nicer neighborhood, etc… But even though we don’t live in the best of the best conditions, we’re still better off than many others, including millions of those from developing nations. So we need to be grateful for everything that we have – our education, our iPhones and preppy technological gadgets, our fashionable, comfortable clothes, and the thousands of opportunities available to us as citizens of the United States – because there are millions who don’t have even half of the things that we do.