Sofia Somewhere

This past week, Chris and I did our first "visa run." Upon arrival in Guatemala, tourists are granted a 90-day visa that is valid for the C-4 countries of Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras. After these 90 days are up, you can renew your visa at the Immigration Office in the City for another 90 days. After the second set of 90 days are over, you then have to leave the C-4 area. Most tourists make a quick border crossing to Mexico in what is popularly called a "visa run." I don't know how long you technically have to be out of the country for; there doesn't seem to be a set law or rule that people refer to. Some say it has to be 72 hours, while others have said they've had luck crossing the border and coming back on the same day. Since we were on our mid-year school break, we decided to make a vacation out of it (and not take our chances) and visit San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico for a few days. It's possible to make the trip cheap...

After moving to Guatemala, the question I get asked most often is (naturally), "Why Guatemala?" At first, I wasn't specifically looking to land myself here. After leaving Spain, all I knew was that I wanted to go to another Spanish speaking country. I looked at several countries in Central and South America, and in the end, finding a job at UPAVIM pushed me in the direction of Guatemala. So it wasn't a dead-set vision of coming to Guatemala that brought me here, but over the course of my first year here, I came to love it. Traveling around Guatemala introduced me to the country's captivating culture. Living in La Esperanza and meeting so many wonderful women and children exposed me to the warmth of the Guatemalan people.  And my every day life in the city manifested Guatemala's similarity to the Philippines -- from city and provincial life to government and politics to quotidian habits; I've lost track of how many times I've said to others, "Just...

The other morning, I looked out the window of my room, and a got a view of the house across the street hanging up their laundry. I spent some time taking in my surroundings; the simple houses in the community, some made with cinder blocks, and the rest with just metal sheets; the children playing on the street and the laughter that carries; the taxis beeping their horns waiting for passengers; the several tortillerias making fresh tortillas . La Esperanza is a simple community, unfortunately sandwiched between rivaling gangs. Throughout my time here, I have been exposed to hearing about family members of my students get shot, people I know being extorted, and different stories about the hardships of the community. Violence aside, I’ve also had to deal with cultural differences, the way people go about doing things, the seeming lack of efficiency, disorganization, chaos, and other little things. But despite all that, I’ve also been exposed to the beauty of the life and the will of the ...

So the pattern I'm sensing among my posts is that they happen once a month! Truth be told, life in Guatemala has become very routine and steady for me. Between working and living in the city during the week, and spending the weekend in Antigua with my boyfriend, there's nothing that exciting to write home (or on this blog) about. It is a good life though, one I enjoy a lot, and here are a few tidbits and ponderings from life lately. Just like last year, I've been spending this year volunteering at UPAVIM, which is located in an impoverished community on the outskirts of Guatemala City. While I have become a little normalized to some things here (and there will be days where I don't even leave the roof until the weekend), the environment can be tough. Coupled with work which can be really taxing, life does gets exhausting, but one thing that makes everything a lot more positive is my fellow volunteers on the roof. Getting to go through daily life with them makes things...

It's been a little over two months back in Guatemala and back to waking up to this view: This view never gets old Thanks to a generous donation, our living quarters got a lovely renovation. We now have concrete walls all over and tiling on the floor. We have a new sink big enough to wash dishes, but strangely, I'm missing washing with the pila . We also got a new roof crew! From last year, only Natalie and I stayed on. This year we have Heidi, another English teacher, and Stephanie a visiting Montessori teacher. Community dinner with the new crew I had my first weekend getaway on the second weekend of February. It was my boyfriend Chris' birthday so we took a quick trip to the lake with some of his friends.  Weekend at Santa Cruz School has been going, with its ups and downs. We aren't allowed to bring our phones in the classroom anymore, which means I have less pictures from class. The kids continue to be (mostly) enjoyable (haha). At the end of...