Struggles – Page 3

La Capacitación | (The Grit and the Polish of Training) 75 Palabras in Guatemala

December 17, 2016December 17, 2016 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

Week 3 of training, I ate 5 tortillas during one lunch because I loved them so much and came home and broke the key to the house. Out of all the things I’ve managed to[…]

Week 9+10: Divine Unwind + Wind Up + Swear-In + Socios + Adios

December 17, 2016 First Person ForeignCultural Difference

So here’s the thing, week 8 was so much better than the other weeks. You wanna know why? It was week 8. One week from the end. On Thursday of week 7, Thanksgiving, we got[…]

Week Seven: Thank Heaven You’re Done.

November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 First Person ForeignBeauty

Week Seven was a pile of dung. Not really. It was like a roller coaster and I came close to high-fiving Heaven’s gates and dragging my shoes through piles of poo every on a 4-hour rotation.[…]

Piropos | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

November 17, 2016November 20, 2016 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

I went to Guatemala City for a doctor’s appointment. As I waited for my ride, a gentleman named Hector introduced himself to me. He was the guard in the building I just left. He asked[…]

Weak Sicks Week Six

November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 First Person ForeignChanges

Nothing came out how I thought it would. At the moment, I feel fine. Not too stressed or overwhelmed, but I am aware that the events of this week were all at stormy sea. Week[…]

Week Five: A Clearing

November 6, 2016November 7, 2016 First Person ForeignBeauty

It takes five weeks for an embryo to look like this: Yep, that’s right, a weird ass octopus the size of a sesame seed. At five weeks “You may notice some pregnancy-related discomforts already. Many[…]

Week Three Came in like a Wrecking Ball

October 28, 2016February 19, 2017 First Person ForeignChanges

Two weeks in and come Tuesday of the third week, I was NOT feeling it. Not feeling training, not feeling the other volunteers, the staff, the classes, the tone, the schedule, the emphasis, nada. NOT[…]

Machista | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

October 26, 2016February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

La cultura machista has come up several times, with my host mom and my first Profe Eduardo. Our Training Director doesn’t ever use that term, she only says that there are defined gender roles and[…]

HOW I FEEL (in Guatemala) | Tragedy in Threes & Ceremonies in Three Hours

October 22, 2016October 22, 2016 First Person ForeignBeauty

One time, not too long ago and not long enough, I came home from work and a realization unhatched with great gusto: Carlton, my cat, had fleas. I’d been noticing him itch more than usual but it[…]

Oops and Ouch | History Lesson Gone Sideways

October 20, 2016October 21, 2016 First Person ForeignChanges

I’m an American woman, a Gen Y-er, a reflective feminist and an Independent. I am in a new country on a different continent. Why are the deeply rooted issues of my own culture intensified now that[…]