I have never been out of the United States before, so before I even got to Guatemala I had both very little and very high expectations of how my experience would go. My arrival to the airport was quick, it was a literal stamp of my paper and passport and then I got my luggage and was off to Antigua. The car ride was quiet, there were about six of us and we all knew of each other because we had a whole semester worth of classes together, but none of us really knew each other. I arrived to my homestay and I was greeted by Doña Ana. Before arriving I believed I had a very intermediate knowledge of the Spanish language, unfortunately that wasn’t so true. She spoke only in Spanish and I could understand a good amount, but I was also very lost. When I went down for lunch the conversation was very broken and choppy because of the language barrier, but we managed to have a full meals conversation. After lunch I went through the trials and tribulations of finding my way around the city with Ali and JJ. The following few days were filled with consistent new experiences, some were as small as eating three meals a day, every day, which I don’t normally do and some were as large as climbing Pacaya, a volcano.
I would like to highlight some of my favorite so far. My first is that I think I have one of the best homestays. I live with JJ, Vero, and Hayley and I would’ve never guessed we would’ve meshed so well, but living together has been great and we have built good friendships fairly quickly. Another experience was climbing Pacaya, I definitely recommend it, but always remember to eat before you start, bring cash for a horse just in case, and be cautious and prepared if you have asthma because the altitude is different up there! Shout out to Vero for letting me ride her horse half way up and everyone else for taking good care of me and making sure I made it to the top and didn’t pass out! Lastly, I would like to highlight how the way of life here is so different from the United States and it’s evident around every corner. I am so fortunate to be able to have a glimpse of what life in Guatemala is like and I would highly encourage people to go to new places and discover new ways of life!
