The Home Stretch

Things have been pretty tranquilo the last couple of weeks. It’s my last week in Guatemala and it’s funny, because I wish I had a stronger sense of sadness about it. But the truth is, I can’t wait to get home. In a poorly timed twist of fate, Scott gets on a plane for Switzerland at the same time I get on my plane back to LA. In spite of missing him for two extra weeks, I look forward to the small things: a bowl of cereal (oh how I miss milk and real ice cream), my couch (I’m sure it’s missed me too), my television (though I am vowing to spend half of my television watching time on the Spanish-language channels), my car (I grew up in Michigan; cars are an integral part of my existence!) I’m also starting to get preoccupied with my future existence. I came to Guatemala to work on my Spanish and to experience another culture. Check and check. But it’s also felt a lot like a long vacation and it’s time to get back to work. Of course, I need to find a job and also figure out if I’m going back to grad school.

I’ve also started to reflect on my time here and a question I’ve been asking folks here is: Is Guatemala a “Third World” country? I guess that’s not really the correct term though. I think nowadays, it’s more appropriate to label it a developing country. It certainly has a lot of developing to do. Last week, I got to see one of the public middle schools here, and it’s in a pretty sad state.
My friend Mike volunteered to teach English at the school for a month. You can’t see it in this picture, but the room is pretty decrepit. There’s graffiti all over the walls and desks, the lights barely work, the students don’t have books, and it’s generally pretty dirty.
The kids were very amable, but the school seems to be pretty loose with its rules and regulations. There were 35 kids on the roll for this class, but only about 20 were actually in the room. My teacher tells me that the private schools are much better, but frankly not very many people can afford them.

I’m going to do one more “reflections” post when I get home next week, but this is all I’ve got for now. This is my last day in Xela, so tonight is going to be a big fiesta with my amigos. Tomorrow morning I head to Guatemala City to check that out a bit, then I fly to my Home, Sweet Home Saturday night. Count your blessings, y’all!