Querida Guatemala

Dear Guatemala,

I’ve never seen you at rest. When I arrived in Guatemala City, you were full of life as if it were mid-day and it was just after 5AM. As I ride in the taxi going back to the airport, my experience is the exact opposite of what I expected. There  are families on motos starting their day. It’s barely 4:45 AM. and big trucks are already on the road and there are lots of horns honking as we enter the airport.

To Antigua and Quiche and Chiquimulilla and all the towns in between, thank you for welcoming me and allowing me to get to know you in a special way. Thank you for the all smiles shared through the eyes because the whole world still wears masks for protection from la pandemia. I sincerely appreciate you allowing me into your communities to get to know your families and what life is like in far away places. I’m grateful that you taught me to appreciate the bumps along the unpaved roads and shared the  beauty of the mountains and rivers and sunsets and sunrises with me.

Thank you for the timeless charm of Antigua and teaching me the sweetness of a well placed gracias, muy amable. I can’t forget the people I met, friends I made and all that I came to understand in new ways. Thank you for encouraging me to embrace all of what it means to be alive including sorrow, sharing and the universal joy of laughter. Guatemala, I am returning home with a renewed awareness of the ease with which my breath rises and falls. You showed me that life doesn’t have to be a complicated endeavor and gave me the time and space to consider and appreciate how lovely life can be.

I can’t possibly bring myself to say goodbye, so until next time. Hasta luego!