Dear Reader,
Today was my last full day in Guatemala and honestly I'm just trying to process it all. How did time go by so quickly? It feels like we arrived here just yesterday and now we're already leaving?! It's funny that's how high school felt (well everything except junior year. I'm convinced I spent a whole decade sitting in American Studies class). I guess the point I'm trying to prove is that time flies when you're having fun and now I have to leave this beautiful place that I've come to love. I don't really know how to feel about that quite yet, but before I get into the emotional gushy gushy let me talk about my day.
I woke up this morning at 7:00, got dressed and ate a nutritional breakfast of banana pancakes. Today Kit and I were on a slightly different schedule on account of having bought all of the donations yesterday. Instead of heading straight to the shelter like every other day, we headed for the A Broader View office to pick up the donations and (with Petra's and Cœn's help) drag them all the way to the shelter to pass out and distribute to the girls. We got to the shelter at about 9:30 and then they made a catalog of all the items we donated. They'd also just recently received donations of shoes and were sorting those out as well so while they did that Kit and I proceeded to film our A Broader View goodbye videos. These are required by the program and are an opportunity to enlighten others about the benefits of the program, what to expect and any tips that we have. Kit and I both filmed our respective parts, both of which were about 3 minutes each. After filming we went back inside to check and see if the staff needed any more help with passing out donations.
We were ushered into the office to begin the donation process. Essentially what would happen is that each girl would come up the desk in the office and say what item of clothing they need the most. It was then Kit and I's job to write the girl's name on her garment (to avoid stealing) and then give it to her. All the girls were grateful for their new clothes, but some were more nervous then others about taking them. Petra had been saying through out most of our time at the shelter that we were models and inspirations for the girls (Being American sometimes gives you that persona in foreign countries for reasons I don't completely understand). It never really hit me until today. I saw it in the way the girls watched us and how embarrassed they were sometimes to admit what they needed. They were afraid of us judging them and their situation.
The whole time we volunteered I considered the position of myself, other volunteers and even the kids, but I never completely considered the positions of the girls, being placed in the shelter so that they could learn and be able to provide for their children. In the beginning it's probably very scary to come to this new place and try to trust these new people even though the people that you trusted in your past may have betrayed you. Also, one probably has a lot doubts and regrets about their pasts as well. Some days Kit and I would come to the shelter and find that some of the girls had cried or that their eyes were really red-rimmed. I don't pretend to know at all the entire situation of the girls in the shelter, but when I really think about it I can empathize with the situations they are in. I can only hope that our time and donations has gone to giving them hope about their situations. I hope they believe in themselves and their abilities, learning to shed their pasts for a beautiful future.
After passing out supplies we went to talk to the nurse about being able to visit the sick baby in the hospital. These plans had been in the works for the last few days, but today seemed to finally be the day when we would be able to see him. Unfortunately luck was not on our side as our schedules did not permit us the time to visit the baby. The nurse however, showed us pictures of the baby to tell us he was in better health. I was happy to note he'd grown and gained back all the weight he'd lost while being sick.He was still on the ventilator and they had to tube feed him, but the nurse assured us that he was in the best hands and was continuing to improve his condition everyday. Kit and I then went back up to the baby room to finish out our last day of volunteering. Today was an easy day. There wasn't a lot of crying or poopie diapers. It was just a day surrounded by kids just being kids. Kit and I noticed how some kids were already wearing the socks we'd just given them and shared expressions of glee. Today was more of a reflection day for me. I realized that even through my frustrations, I was really going to miss the shelter and the kids. This experience has changed me in more ways then I can count. It's given me an opportunity to grow and develop as a person, to see the world though the eyes of others. I'm glad I did this.
Once work was over, Kit and I walked home for lunch. Lunch was the most amazing food I'd ever had in my life. We had the Guatemalan version of chili with rice, guacamole and tortillas. It was a lunch that reminded that I was definitely going to miss Senora's food. I took up seconds and thirds on this meal just because it was that great. Yeah, at this point I was convinced that Senora needed to write a cook book so I could make these things at home. After lunch I went to study for Spanish. Jaime had given me another 20 verbs to learn and memorize and this time they weren't as easy as Recomendar, so I actually had to put some effort into it. At 2:15 Kit and I walked over to the cafe for our last Spanish lesson.
We started off learning more verbs, but very easily got off topic, especially when I had to tell Jaime that it was my last day of Spanish class. When Kit and I changed our flights from Monday to Friday, he's one of the people I forgot to give the information to, so we had a long conversation about that or more like an misunderstanding. I now know that if you agree with a negative statement in Spanish you are supposed to say Correcto instead of si. Apparently if you say si, you are disagreeing with the comment. So when Jaime said, "Nosotros no tenemos la classe de espanol manana?" (We don't have panish class tomorrow) and I replied "Si," I was actually saying, "Yes we do have class" when I meant the opposite. It's safe to say that that was a 15 minute conversation no doubt heard by the whole cafe (frustration makes people loud). We also talked about popular spanish music and stars like Shakira, Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and more. I also learned more about Jaime's family today. He told me that his parents and grandparents were indigenous Mayans and that he knew 3 different mayan languages: K'iche, Kaqchikel and Mam. I got him to speak all 3 of them to me all of them differing completely from any language I had ever heard before. For the last hour of class we played games with Kit and Salvador, namely Spanish apples to apples, memory and charades. It was a lot of fun! The perfect way to spend my last Spanish class!
Overall today was a great day, better then I could've asked for. It's really sad thinking that this is my last day in Guatemala. I've really enjoyed my time here, but I'm also really happy to go home. By this time tomorrow I'll be back home sleeping in my bed. For the next week Kit will be doing presentations for various Spanish classes, while I'll be brushing up on some last minute research, continuing my spanish (You gotta use it or you lose it right?), and gathering more donations for the shelter. I can't believe how fast this project has gone, but I'm excited to finish it out in the best way that I can.
Sincerely,
Journey White
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