Back in November, I was sitting in my office when Hannah burst in my doors to tell me about a trip to Guatemala she just got accepted into. She asked me to apply, and I looked her like she was crazy. A foreign country? All by myself?
Next thing I know I am hugging my mom in Ogden airport, chocked up, boarding the plane to LAX for the first time on my own.
I flew into LAX and thankfully had Hannah with me to board my next flight to Guatemala. We got to Guatemala City, where a large amount of uncertainty set in real quick. That first day came a huge wave of shock that I wasn't in Utah anymore. I was really apprehensive if I wanted to stay all ten days or not.
Being to a foreign country really changes your perspective on the world.
You hear all the time about the kids in Africa that are going hungry. You see their dirty faces on a lit screen, with people voicing over how a donation could help them. But nothing could have prepared me for this.
What they don't tell you on TV is the happiness that these people just carry with them. How smart these people are, how innovative they are, and how much they love life.
Many in the U.S. will be quick to say that these people need help, they don't. They need change.
I watched a kid lift his shirt, and his back was covered with scars from a parasite. I watched waste get thrown in the middle of a road. An old woman tried to sell me a scarf for less than a dollar so that she could feed herself. A mother feed her child under cooked chicken, and parents feed their children before they fed themselves.
I thought to myself "How are these people happy? They have nothing compared to what I have."
They find happiness in the smallest of things.
I sorted beans with a woman that sang the entire time, joked with me about boys, and we laughed until we cried. What was she doing again? Sorting coffee beans.
A 14 year old boy named Amos told me that he enjoyed working on a coffee plantation. He looked forward to it daily. How old was he? 14 years old.
I laid in bed at night, and for the first time in my life I could see the millions of little reasons that I could be happy.
You don't have to have it all to have it all.
Having each other was all these people needed.
The day I had to leave Guatemala was miserable. I had slowly been shoving my bag full in preparation, but when I had to zip it up I lost it. I contemplated extending my flight.
I wanted to live in this world a little longer. Take it all in 15 more times. I wanted to play soccer with the little boys on the street for one more game. Learn how to throw tops in the market with the little boys. Pick coffee beans with Amos. Run up Pacaya with the locals. Sort coffee beans with Karina. Tour with the infamous Carlos. I wanted to hear Jose's rusty laugh one last time followed by his crooked grin.
I wanted to live with all the people that were grateful for everything they had just a little bit longer.
I thought I wouldn't miss the cold "electric" showers. The beans, rice, and tortillas we ate twice a day. The smell of raw sewage. But right now, I'd go back in a heart beat.
Guatemala will always have a special place in my heart.
To the Guatemalans that changed my life,
I promise I won't forget about you.
Sincerely,
The Blonde Gringo
