Guate Guate Guate

Sitting in three hours of traffic, scrambling, cursing, not having time for dinner, leaving my phone (and therefore music) somewhere (hopefully the car), barely making my flight, and sitting on a freezing cold plane. Let’s just say that the trip did not necessarily start out well. Thankfully by the time I stepped outside the airport in Guatemala City and the cool breeze hit me – everything else became simply a memory. Hello Guatemala.

Today was a beautiful day. I woke up early, of either my own accord or the bright sun peeking through the window, and walked down with my boss to get coffee and breakfast cookies. Yes breakfast cookies. I then wandered down on my own to the park down the street and the big church on the corner. It is the giant yellow church with elaborate white sculpturing on the exterior. The inside smells exactly like what a church should smell like (old, musty, slightly blessed).

We worked this morning with the windows open throughout the apartment and the sun was shining all morning. Lunch was nearby (super yummy sandwiches) and then we were back at it this afternoon, albeit with a quick rain shower interrupted the sun. It is so nice to work through some of our issues from the season in person. There really is nothing like talking in person, all at one table, as opposed to through broken phone calls and back and forth emails. Plus when you can end the day sorting through the last issues over a glass of wine … it makes it just that much easier.

We ended the day by walking down to a Thai restaurant that had piano music and a warm interior – no air conditioning to spoil the night breeze. There are some mosquitoes so I guess it isn’t entirely perfect. But in all seriousness I see how people come here to volunteer for a month and then find they are not able to leave. As for me – I’m looking forward to exploring tomorrow afternoon (work in the morning) and on Sunday. I’m sure I’ll be excited to head back to the states on Tuesday, especially since that means heading to Seattle for more fun, but for now I’m really enjoying this time away from my normal comfort zone.