It is Tuesday, and another week has flown by! This past week
has been incredibly eventful, and I have had my share of
“so-far-out-of-my-comfort-zone-I-can-hardly-believe-it” moments. I thought that
college had gotten me used to those; but I am now realizing that ‘contentedness’
is a feeling that never comes when a challenging situation presents itself.
However, I do believe that my time at Creighton helped me break out of my shell
and learn to cherish those moments, which has definitely helped me squeeze
every ounce of laughter and learning that I could out of the past week.
First off, a quick update on the Spanish: things are going
well! Most days I learn a lot, and some days my brain decides it has had enough
and turns off for a while. I am realizing that learning a new language may be
one of the hardest things I have ever done, and that is a little intimidating.
It has been a great ride so far though, and I have a great group of people to
share the joys and frustrations with. I am starting to understand a lot of what
people are talking about on the radio, and I even watched “The Hunger Games” in
Spanish (without subtitles!) the other day.
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| Helping make chocolate from raw cacao last week. And then we got to eat it. Yummmm. |
Now, a little bit about the title of this post (which
translated, says: Rocks, Clowns and Red Wigs). I had a free weekend in Xela,
which turned out to phenomenally eventful. On Saturday, I explored the city
with my group and we found a rock climbing/bouldering complex. I cannot tell
you how excited this made me; I started getting into this sport with my friends
last spring and love it! I am still a little sore but definitely plan to go
back later this week.
On Sunday, I attended the much-anticipated birthday party of
my 10-year-old host sister, Dulce. I was absolutely blown away. Over the
past week, I would usually come home to half a dozen people in my house working
away at things for the party: making party favors completely by hand, baking
cakes, creating decorations, filling piñatas with candy. And this Sunday, it
all came together with over 100 people at the outdoor party. This is where the
clown comes in – my family got one to host the party for a few hours, and it
was hilarious! He had us laughing and making fools of ourselves…and then he had
ME making a fool of myself in front of a hundred Guatemalans, most of whom were
friends of my host family that I had never met.
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| My host parents and Dulce at the birthday fiesta...just a few minutes before I got volunteered to dance in front of everyone! |
I got selected (and also ‘volunteered’ by my family) to join
my host dad and five other Guatemalan men in a dance competition. The
competition involved putting on a red wig and strutting around the party
showing off your best moves – which, if you know me, are fairly limited. I was
the last to go, which helped because I was able to get a few ideas from the
other guys. Before I knew it, I was wearing a red wig dancing like the biggest
gringo (a.k.a. white American) in front of a lawn-full of people. And the even
crazier part? I loved it.
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| Dulce and I at her fiesta :) |
This moment – and the birthday party in general - ended up
being a lot more influential than I was expecting. As I was making a fool out
of myself, somehow the inherent barriers between myself and the people around
me – cultural, linguistical – started to melt away. I have never felt more like
a part of the family and a part of their lives down here. And that makes me so
happy and proud that I took that risk to make a fool of myself. It makes me
wonder…what would happen if we were all willing to do that, all of the time? I
think one of the biggest things that holds people back – myself included – is
the fear of failure or looking like a fool. But, if we could let that go and
just go for it, I think the world would be a more open, inviting place.
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| A view of Xela from one of my friend's rooftops. How gorgeous is this?! |
This Sunday marks the end of my first month in Guatemala.
Time is flying by, relationships are growing deeper, and I am having the time
of my life. Tú estas en mí mente y en mí corazon. Nos vemos pronto.
Paz,
Nico
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