Passing the midpoint of the semester also means passing the midpoint of the Guatemala intercultural group’s trip. Over the past 10 weeks, we have experienced many new things and learned a lot about the complicated realities of life in Guatemala. On our first day here, we heard a presentation about the paradoxes and paradise found in Guatemala, and we have seen those realities played out before our very eyes. We’ve learned a lot about the history of Guatemala and various topics including human rights, environment, religion, justice, economy, and more, but focusing largely on how migration plays a role in all of it.
Until now we have been taking Spanish classes through CASAS, Central America Study and Service program in Guatemala City. We live with host families spread across the city and use public transportation to travel to CASAS every day. In the afternoons, we have field trips and speakers about various topics (as mentioned before) and the evenings are spent with our host families. Most of the weekends we also spend with our host families. Some weekends we have taken trips to Huehuetenango, Flores, and Tikal. The break of spring break was spent in small groups free traveling to various places. Two groups went to El Salvador, one to Belize, and two stayed in Guatemala, visiting Lake Atitlan and Semuc Champey.
Host families and Spanish classes have been the largest part of our trip and a big highlight for all of us. We moved in with them during our first week of classes and have lived with them for seven weeks now. The blessing of living with host families is, as sophomore Maria Longenecker says, “as time goes on, it’s fun seeing the realness of my family.” She has loved getting to see all of the parts of everyday family life and feeling like she is part of the family. One of our leaders, Nathan Barge, noted an important difference between the US and Guatemala: “The way you’re taken in as a part of the family is impressive. As a member of the family you really join in. It’s very different from how we treat guests in the US.” Sophomore Naomi Kratzer noted that she has enjoyed “seeing how their view of family and the importance of family is acted out everyday. It’s easy to feel like a part of the family.” We heard so much about the hospitality of Guatemalans before leaving but coming here and getting to see just how hospitable people are is very different.
While living with host families is fun, and we have felt like a part of the family, there have been growing pains, as is usual with any intercultural experience. Overcoming the language barrier and figuring out how to communicate when we do not have the Spanish vocabulary for it has been challenging at times. There have also been awkward moments where our host families have a specific perception of the US and we have another because we live there. One thing we have learned a lot about and then seen in our host families is a glorification of the US that can be awkward to experience at times. However, we do not hold this against our host families, as like us, they are learning about a different culture while hosting us.
We finish up our time with our host families this week and for the remainder of semester have various trips throughout the country. We will spend Holy Week in Santiago, San Juan La Laguna, Antigua, and Chichicastenango. After that, we go for ten days to our community service placements where we will be living in rural areas of Guatemala serving with various organizations and living with host families. We will finish out the trip with two weeks in Cuba, returning to campus during finals week.
To read more about our learnings and adventures, check out the intercultural blog at emu.edu/now/intercultural/.
