Transition to the Next

After an incredible summer working at Wilderness Trek in June and July, August has proved a month full of transition from one thing to the next. I closed out my summer at Trek in time to attend the wedding of one of my good college girlfriends. Incidentally, it was the first time everyone from our college “group” had been back in Nashville since graduating and splitting ways. It was a beautiful time of celebration; we all were thankful for at least 12 hours all together before we went back to our respective homes. Personally, I was especially thankful for a week of hanging around family and friends and relaxing prior to my transition to Guatemala to begin working again in Quetzaltenango.

I left Nashville rejuvenated after a summer of Trek, and excited to finally be heading toward a routine. As much as I was able to do and see this summer (including a family reunion, a few weddings, a summer hiking mountains, a few weeks of catching up with friends, and many other things), I was too busy to look forward to returning to my life here in Guatemala. I knew however, that I did not regret my decision to return, and was in fact excited about all the prospects a new school year in this country brings. Once closing out all of the other areas of life from the States and from the summer, nothing but joy has come from my return to, and beginning of, life in Xela.

My trip here was basically uneventful, unless you count learning that the Schnyders are pregnant in the airport in Fort Lauderdale, seeing another teacher at customs in the airport in Guate, having our bus break down 45 minutes outside of Xela, and returning to an empty house that still smelled like dog despite the absence of the dog for the entire summer!

School began two weeks ago. It seems like an entirely different year. The students, while much the same, are changed—hopefully for the better. The teachers/staff have changed also—while many old faces are missed, it’s been great fun getting to know the new faces that we see around. They are the newest part of the “family” here, and much like last year, only time will cement the relationships that we form. My job has changed, and much for the better. After all the time and effort spent last year reading textbooks, taking notes, and planning classes, I am able (finally) to relax in the afternoons. Classes are more fun and easier to plan because the ground work is already laid out from last year. And of course I have also changed. A summer in Colorado always serves to strengthen and rejuvenate me in a way that few other things can even hope to achieve.

So it is with fresh perspective that life continues here in Xela. We teach, walk around in the rain, and enjoy the culture of this beautiful place and the people we have come to love in it.