Zompopos de Junio

Long time, no talk. It's been a busy few months but I'm committing to the recap now! So in these next three posts I hope to catch you all up to speed in my Guate life as best I can, thanks for your patience...

June was a blur mixed with various workshops, traveling, and confronting this half way point in my ETA experience. But I certainly have many new highlights to share:D

Amatitlan Recovery:

Aguas termales to heal the body and amigos to heal the soul

After a month well spent, busy with different workshops, activities and preparations, I headed to Guate for a Summit event of a new language program for public school teachers. Just before the chaos of the week, though I had some free time on the weekend for a little relaxation. Some friends of mine went to visit aguas termales. The only other time I had done this was in Xela after a volcano hike, but this experience was very different... They had various pools of different temperatures and we had to enter them for certain amounts of time. As a New Englander, growing up with cold winters, I value hot water above all so I was very excited when we entered into a pool of 41 degrees Celsius. But then after a while I felt like I was the protein being cooked in soup... it was toooo warm. As we went through the process however, it was nice to change from temperature to temperature and a new unique experience in my life.

BEE Program Summit

When the weekend was over it was time to get back to business. As I mentioned, I had travelled to Guate for that week as it was the mid year vacation from classes. Aprovechando this time off from school, this teacher training program was taking those three of those days to host a summit to end the training with a bang. It was called the BEE Program and to my knowledge, was supported by the Ministry of Education and The US Embassy. Teachers from the English Language Programs where I work, had been working alongside public school teachers to share pedagogy and other techniques to improve English Language learning across the country. 

The program was great. The teachers were so inspired and motivated and it reminded me of my days in Miami, participating in professional development trainings. Those trainings provided me with the support I was deeply lacking being alone in the classroom back then. So I was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work with these teachers as they embraced the process too. Although I felt a bit strange presenting to people who have been teaching in classrooms for years and years that I have never even visited, I got to work with the other ETA and we created something that I felt gave space for teachers to share among themselves in a productive way. With summer camp season starting in the US we aimed to share activities that encourage experiential learning and flexibility in the classroom and I must say it was funnn! On top of that, it was amazing to see the expertise in action of all of the participants and presenters and I certainly learned a lot from it!

"Teacher Anna" making adults play silly games:)

Then on the last night of the seminar, the English Language Programs celebrated their 10 year anniversary in Guatemala. Alumni from the programs working all over joined the BEE Program teachers and guests from the Embassy and the Ministry of Education to celebrate the occasion. It was a beautiful experience to see all of the connection between these people and the amazing work they have done in Guatemala. I felt inspired and sad at the same time to be such a periphery piece of the whole experience. I think I came to realization that I have been craving to be a part of this all in a way that I will never be. I will never have been a student in these programs, or gone through the struggles and achievements of becoming a teacher through it, or have had childhood relationships with these teachers that last into my professional life. But, I also realized that it doesn't mean I'm not a part of it. The space I take up in this program is valuable, unique from the other experiences, and I can feel proud for my contributions to it. (But don't be fooled by this realization, of course I'll always be in a state of crisis about my future plans).

Our royalty photo

Cobaneros- all the people I get to work with daily... Minus the guy on the end...

(and if you're wondering about my outfit, those were the best shoes I had brought...)

ETA pic- shoutout to my partner in crime<3

and me trying to hide my shoes again

Colombiaaaa

Finishing with the BEE Summit Program was a mix of emotions as it was sad to say goodbye to this productive and energetic space of teachers but, it meant I was off to Colombia! Staying in Guatemala for these months has been stipulated by a tourist visa, and as I have mentioned before, there are certain requirements that come with this. One of which is leaving the country every 6 months to renew it. So I took advantage of this time to visit my dear friend Andrea in Colombia! Her family was so kind and welcoming to me. Even though it was a short trip, they made sure to fill it with experiences that made it unforgettable. So excuse this part of the blog that is no longer Annita en Guate... but I believe this trip gave me the fresh perspective in returning to a place that is beginning to feel more and more like home.

No better way to face the jet lag than morning Aguila at the parade with your old pal!

The time that I arrived there was during their feria and San Juanero festival (which I was quickly educated on how to dance it by Andrea's hilarious tía) where there are many parades, selection of the "queen" and lots of other festivities. I got to visit the many beautiful places around Neiva where she lives like the huge reservoir, large ríos, and the desert! I was in awe of the beauty around me and it made me think more about our naturaleza and how I can learn more about it (foreshadowing for next post...)

The reservoir in Neiva- Andrea was very excited to dress me up for the festivities

Afrocolombiano concert

Can you spot the baby dragon fruits?

Tini, Andrea, me, and the desert!

Palomo giving us a tour (who knew there would be so much horse back riding in my future?)

Chimba! Getting ready to watch the soccer game (luckily Colombia won!)

This month can be described as nothing less than a great time and while the end of June in some ways felt like a harsh awakening to the fact that I am halfway through this precious year, it was also a nice way to celebrate the first beautiful 6 months of my life here and reflect more deeply on how I want make the most of the rest of my time.