I´ve only been in Guatemala for five days, but I feel a timelessness as if I´ve been here for ages. The nervousness and anxiety I was feeling before I arrived has completely melted away. Papa, you were right. I was ready.

A driver named Donal and a staff member, Lisa, from Long Way Home picked me up from the airport. Donal forgot his sign that says Long Way Home, so if Lisa hadn´t been able to recognize me it might have been a whole other kind of experience. The trip from Guatemala City to San Juan Comalapa is about an hour and a half. Lisa asked me if I wanted to stop at Taco Bell and I was like, “um, of course!” The drive through was called Auto Bell and they served potatoes as a side. It was a really awesome first experience in Guatemala. Afterwards, we drove to Comalapa in the rain and thank goodness Donal is such a good driver because traffic in the city is insane! Huge buses that they call chicken busses weave in and out of traffic cutting off motorbikes, cars, and bicycles. I´m sure accidents happen all the time, but Donal is an expert, so we made it safe and sound.

For now, I am staying in the volunteer house in an aldea (a tiny village) called Chimiya. But now that I´ve been here for a little while, I am seriously considering staying with host family. I really want to feel connected with the city and the people. Some past volunteers have told me that is the best way to be accepted into the community. They said they can put me in touch with some families, so we´ll see how that works out.

As for work, I am still trying to find my place within the Long Way Home crew. Their Volunteer Coordinator left unexpectedly right before I arrived, so they are in some transition. I am going to ask if I can take on some of that position´s responsibilities because that is where they have the most need. So far, I have been doing some construction jobs and working with the Guatemalan crew, which has been amazing. Most of them are indigenous Mayans and they have been teaching me their language, Kaqchikel. In return, I´ve been teaching them English. My Spanish has improved already and I am fully enjoying speaking in another language. I actually feel like a bit of a different person when I speak Spanish. I don´t know how to explain it, but it definitely feels different.

My first weekend here, I traveled with some other volunteers to Lake Atitilan and Antigua. We took the chicken buses, which are such an experience themselves that I think I am going to write a whole blog on them. For another time. Anyway, in Atitilan we stayed in a small village called San Marcos. There isn´t much of a night life there, but there are many yoga and meditation retreats. We ate some delicious curry and found a girls soccer game to watch with the locals. The next morning we left pretty early to travel to Antigua where we stayed at a hostel called Earth Lodge. Ay chicas, what a place! There were travelers from all over the world; Europe, Australia, Israel, Chile, and New York. I met so many cool people for example this guy Marcos who lives in Guate City. He drew me a map of all these places to go and things to do. His friend, Mariela, was visiting him from Chile and we all hung out together for the night. In the morning I did yoga from the top of a mountain looking out over Antigua and two volcanoes, Fuego and Agua. It was a beautiful experience.

With the weekend at an end, I am back in Comalapa ready for my second week of work. I have already done and seen so much I´m not sure where to go next! But thanks to people like Marcos, I have plenty of suggestions.

The internet here comes and goes, so hopefully you all will be hearing from me soon. Hasta que, cuidale.

Shannon