Part 2: Rainy Season

 Hello again. After my most recent burst of blogging motivation many more things happened (as I'm sure you can imagine with the passing of time). And now here I am coming upon my last month of this grant. So I wanted to do some sharing/recapping/reflecting before I reach the true full stop that has been patiently awaiting me at the end of November.

Since I reached that half point in July, the end felt like a dark cloud looming over me. Fulbright was kind enough to host a midyear seminar for Post grantees in Central and South America, which was essentially three loaded days of deep reflection. Coming out of those three days and back into this temporary reality of my ETA Guatemala life, I felt the clouds breaking open into the infamous rainy season that begins to take place around August/September here. And these rains have marked this time in both a literal sense of daily grey skies, cold temperatures, wet shoes and in a metaphorical sense as I simultaneously have felt some turbulence in my own life but also a rupture of this ominous cloud. Now I am reaching a state of truly just enjoying and appreciating this time and what I get to do with it here.

Anyways, time for the highlights!

 

On our way to Uruguay for a whirlwind of a seminar!

Fulfilling my maté dreams

A nice night of music and dancing Candombe

August

Returning to my ETA life in August I had some new insights. I was offered to create a cultural exchange workshop series of my own with Academy students which became a fun passion project. After studying anthropology in University, culture is a love of mine. Being able to share it as a lens to look at the world through from everyday life to music, food, and even social issues has been a very enriching experience for myself and hopefully students as well. And of course was a nice add on to my usual tasks and responsibilities. But on top of work life, if you hadn't noticed yet with my patterns, I also of course decided to take on some new adventures for the coming months!

...starting with the Cuchumatanes!

Here you can see me enjoying my 3 hour suffer session up the 19k of pure ascenso to the top of the Cuchumatanes in Huehuetenango

BUt when I arrived I saw the view was well worth it! 

(Not to mention some nice rocks to climb on;)

And of course of course nothing better than to share 

in the adventures with great friends<3

We were feeling extremely badass

Then with our mindset of being unstoppable we found ourselves doing some light volcano climbing a week or so later!

Halfway up Pacaya!

With the beloved Felixpek friends

And of course enjoying Tortrix...

Then as the month came to a close, I had the special treat of visiting with a coworker from Rubel Chaim to her family's aldea called Chamil Sun. We spent the weekend with her parents, sister, and children/nieces and nephews. It was truly a weekend of love and joy for me playing hide and go seek around the house, tasting delicious sopa of guisquil. All day there were many laughs and smiles. By the end when we were all out of energy, the abuela asked the children, "Quien quiere dormir con la gringa?" I laughed as she was being friendly pointing out how much fun the kids had and how they all wanted to stay with me at night too. But then one of the children said "no es gringa" I asked him what am I then? And he just said "sos Anna". To me this moment was very special as it reminded me behind all of the identities that shape us and affect us day to day, at our core we are human and having someone see that in you is something special.

September

September was a month filled with its own excitement. Guatemalans celebrate their day of Independence so you could definitely see a growing sense of national pride all around and consideration of what freedom implies. Watching some of these traditions was very special though.

                And even more special, right around this time I had the treat of a visit from my Dad!

 Don Jorge made it to Guate! While I was of course extremely embarrassed to hear him practice his Spanish with quite literally every person he encountered... it was something very special for me to spend time with someone from home, here in and around Cobán, where I have been living a very unique chapter of my life. Not to mention, my Dad in particular has been a great inspiration to me to learn more about the world around me, take on new adventures, and be brave throughout the journey. 

And of course the month wouldn't be complete without a volcano!

October

October came and as I looked at the calendar I realized I had agreed to compete in a triathlon. I had not been training much just some light running and I had been biking 20k a week to volunteer at the Cloud Forest Conservation in Chamelco. But otherwise, the month before did not include much dedicated training. But I was eager to see what it would be like anyways.

We arrived to Base Naval of San Jose where they were hosting the triathlon and I went to put my poor little 1 plate working mountain bike next to those fancy mountain bikes... I was nervous then and more so when I saw all these people in their professional wetsuits. But anyways the race was starting so we had to go for it!

And somehow we made it to the finish! I swam well, but the biking was slow due to my bad equipment lol and by the time we ran it was so hot I was melting but we did it!

Then in the evening we got to enjoy the playa of San Jose to experience the beach life of Guatemala's black sand and big waves. (Just be careful of the undertow if you ever visit)

Then to top October off I had my Birthday Adventure: Acatenango y Fuego!

Since before I arrived, I had heard from a fellow teacher in Miami about Acatenango. She had climbed it on a trip to Guatemala and said it was no joke but totally worth it. I remember then my excitement when I received an invitation to join this volcano climbing group of teachers. I was in anticipation for this challenge for a while! And it was tough...

But of course well worth it! Here you can see Fuego erupting from the safety of base camp:)

And here I am trying to stay warm with the cool windy temps. (This was probably the most difficult task as you have to balance between warming up, getting sweaty, and then very cold...) Overall this hike will stay with me forever with many special memories.

From watching friends propose...

To special friendships

Despite the freezing and suffering, there was a whole lot of love on that hike<3

And one of the greatest highlights: a special surprise from many of you! I thought this adventure concluded my birthday excitement until I received an incredible video that of course made me cry...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tgv6ft-oo6w6gsubLlUDJd2fWrdverS3/view?usp=drivesdk

 Thank you so much to all of you who sent your messages, it was a nice reminder of all the love back home and I am excited to see and share with you all soon enough! Hopefully I will fit in one final blog before my time ends to catch all of my reflections of this year but until then thank you for reading and I look forward to connecting again soon!