It did not hit me that I was traveling to new country until I stepped off of the airplane. My friend of 11 years looked over at me, with both joy and fear in her face, as we walked towards a man holding a yellow smiley face sign. We were told by the organization that someone would be sent over to pick us up from the airport and that we were to look for the yellow smiley face. It was relieving to see that promise fall into place for us.
We were soon greeted by a Spanish speaking man named Diego. He was incredibly kind, and his behavior was welcoming to two 17 year old females who had just arrived in a foreign country alone. After what felt like the longest and scariest drive of our lives, we stumbled into the cobblestone streets of Antigua, Guatemala around 3 in the morning. Diego brought us to a home that was tucked so tightly into the walls of the street, and a lovely woman answered the door. I remember feeling terrible for waking her at such terrible hours of the night. We took a look around and began to get a sense of what our new (temporary) home would feel like. The host lead us through an alley to a pitch dark room that clearly had others sleeping inside, and we uncomfortably climbed into bed to shut our eyes.
After only 3 hours of tossing and turning, it was time to wake up. The small, but inconvenient time difference was adding to our feelings of stress and worry on our first morning. Since we had arrived so late into the night and the whole world was dark and quiet, we struggled to find our way back to the home for what we hoped would be a good breakfast. Our host mom, Patricia, was cooking an American comfort food: pancakes. She served them with maple syrup and fruit, and although the taste and appearance were far different than what I would be used to in the United States, I was grateful for it either way.
It was after breakfast that we began to explore the city, and we located the other volunteers that we would be working alongside. It was intimidating to walk through the streets and feel as though almost every man and woman were coming at you trying to sell their goods, and I felt as though every car that drove on those unpaved streets would knock me to my death.
I finally decided to step outside of my comfort zone and utilize my Spanish skills to speak with the local men and women on the streets. This is when I began to put my pride and discomfort aside in order to embrace a brand new culture. I would not be in Antigua for very long, so I knew that I wanted to make the most out of my trip. I realized that my purpose was to eventually serve others, and being uncomfortable when arriving in a new country was all a part of the experience. I think that there is a lot of value in stepping outside of our comfort zones in order to better understand people in the world around us to create more peace.
Thank you.
I enjoyed reading about your trip to Guatemala. I think the amount of details you added to your writing made it easy for me as the reader to picture events you went through. Additionally, good job on connecting being uncomfortable in the last paragraph to the whole thing!
I really like that you were able to step outside of your comfort zone to try to embrace the culture around you. You portrayed the feeling of discomfort throughout the whole story, but also how you overcame most of it. Although it was scary, I hope the trip ended up being memorable
I really like reading your trip to Guatemala. The one thing that I liked while reading this piece was the amount of detail that you talked about your trip to Guatemala which is something that I enjoy as a reader. Overall this was a really nice piece I liked how you step outside your comfort zone while in another country.