October 28 - 31, 2024
Angelina’s little eyes darted around the café as I walked in. Her year-old brain was trying to place me, yet it couldn’t; she’d probably never seen a blonde-haired & blue-eyed person before.
She ran back to her parents, burying her eyes in her dad’s t-shirt. Slowly, she peeled herself away and turned back to see if I was still there. Her dad and I laughed. Angelina’s eyes crawled me up and down, deciding if I was ok to come into the family shop. Cautiously, she inched closer and closer to me.
By the end of the next 30 minutes, we were laughing and playing with a cup while sitting together on the wooden floor of the café.
In my past 18 days of living in Guatemala, every moment has felt like I’m little Angelina.
There’s the initial shock of everything being so new: my hilly bike route to work overlooking the expansive Lago Atitlán, meeting at “la puente” (there’s just 1?), brightly colored & run-down store fronts, using a pila to hand wash my clothes, learning slang Spanish “futbol” terminology, smells of food cooking on the street everywhere I go, a cat waltzing into my kitchen, constant shrieking from kids, avocados growing in my house, trying jocotes for the first time, camionetas…(stay tuned for week 10 :)
Just like young kids, I walk around with my eyes peeled, excited by the women pressing tortillas on the side of the street, loud live music erupting from my neighbors’ house, and parades of motorcyclists with balloons passing by my front door at 8pm on a Sunday evening.
Simultaneously, I’m adjusting to living alone (until my housemates returned!), cooking most of my own food, and finding communities to join in a new country and environment. It’s thrilling and exhausting all at once.
While I stand a blonde head taller than everyone else here, I know my way to work and La Despensa grocery store like small elementary schoolers know the way to school and their favorite ice cream shop.
Similar to how it took Angelina a bit to warm up to me, I didn't immediately love everything here either. The texture of jocote was tough; my back was sore from bending over to wash all my clothes by hand; everyone stared at my hair and freckles leaving the house each morning. But in just a couple weeks, I’ve found myself with a new favorite fruit, a deep appreciation for washing machines, and humor for the people in Santa Caterina (town where I work) who ask me each day how long I will be coming as a tourist.
My 18-year-old “childhood” continued again during lunch at work one Monday when I asked a group of adults playing soccer on a big field if I could join them. Instead, they told me I could play volleyball with the 12 year olds. Despite initially feeling defeated, I decided to go join the elementary schoolers. We ended up having the best time.
Kids are amazed by everything, but that doesn’t mean those of us who have “outgrown” numerical bounds of childhood can’t embrace a similar level of excitement in new experiences. Certain people say they’re “young at heart”, but in reality, we all can be! Immersing myself in a place where everything is foreign can feel so exciting (even when everything goes every way except according to plan) with a small mindset shift.
In both literal and figurative definitions, I’ve felt like child exploring the world for the first time while also adulting at home with hungry cats, immortal fruit fly larvae and power outages. (!!)
I’m working for a sanitation startup called Mosan if you’re curious!
<3 gapping & yapping
Love following your journey! Excellent writing! Those soccer adults don't know what they are missing! ❤️
Stay young as long as you can!