¡Feliz martes, todos! It has been another exciting, chaotic,
adventure-filled week in Guatemala. Things are picking up at the clinic, I am
discovering some of the keys to teaching kids, and I am now officially
scuba-certified.
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| A parade through Parque Central for "Dia de los Niños" (Children's Day). We need to start this up in the States! |
Volunteering has been going great, and I am finally settling
in to the routine of early mornings (most days before 6 AM! That’s quite a bit
of progress for me…). It continues to be challenging but rewarding, and I am
starting to realize how much energy it takes to teach classes a few days per
week. This time is definitely helping me develop new relationships, learn a lot
about Guatemala’s culture, and reflect deeply on my life and the ways in which
I perceive the world.
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| Fútbol in the street outside of the PEILE center . |
Things at Llanos (the rural clinic) have been picking up,
and as I get to know the doctor and nurse better I have been able to get some
good hands-on experience. I am realizing more each day how large of a task the
medical staff have at the rural clinics in Guatemala; in addition to trying to
gain the confidence of the community (since many of the clinics have started up
in the last few years), they also have to spend a lot of time and effort to
help patients follow through with their treatments. It is a very different
dynamic from the U.S., and it is good to see a different side of healthcare. We
see more pregnant women than any other group of people, and I have gotten to
listen to a few babies’ heartbeats in the last week --- so cool!
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| I'm working my way up at the clinic...they gave me my own jeep last week! (okay, not really...) |
I woke up at 4:30 AM on Friday morning to meet up with a
couple of the girls in my group, Vanessa and Katrina, to catch an early
chicken-bus to Lago Atitlan to finish our scuba certifications that we started
in Belize last month. It was a crazy few days: we spent around five hours in
the water each day and another five or six in the classroom. It ended up being
a really nice weekend away from the city, and we finished the certification! Watch out uncharted waters, here I come.
My biggest realization this week was probably the
least-expected thing I could imagine; it happened during our weekend trip to
the lake. Before leaving for Guatemala, I remember talking with a few people in
Residence Life at Creighton about a 2010 graduate, Laura, who was spending two
years in Guatemala with the Peace Corps. However, I had completely forgotten
about this until a girl came up to me at Lago Atitlan and asked if I went to
Creighton…not something you hear every day down here. It hit me immediately that the girl I was talking with must be Laura, and sure enough, it
was. We had a good talk and realized that we only live around an hour from each
other. What are the odds?!
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| The sunrise on Lago Atitlan on Saturday morning before we got in the water for scuba training. |
That encounter with Laura at the lake reminded me that, although the world is often
a big, scary place – especially for a new college grad throwing himself out
there for one of the first times – it really is smaller and more inviting than we
give it credit for. Out of the 15 million people living in Guatemala, I
happened to run into Laura. And, even though we don’t know much more about each
other than names and where we live, it felt like I was seeing an old friend for
the first time in years. I think that the more we are open to the world, the
less intimidating and more inviting it can become. I am also convinced that
even though there are billions of people sharing our planet, we are never too far
from someone that we can connect with.
Middle of October, here we come! Here's to another week. Te extraño y te quiero.
Paz,
Nico
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