Being far away from home only the semester after I graduated high school has proven to be more challenging that I had thought. Many 18 years old cannot wait to leave home, get out of the city they had grown up in their whole life, and start a new life. A new life in a new place where they don’t know anyone. However this was not me. Even before I discovered the race I already had my heart set on going to a private university in my hometown, only 11 miles from my home.
Living in Guatemala, I miss my family and friends back home far more than I would ever let on. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my life here in Guatemala. I have even fallen in love with the village God has placed me in. The people here are amazing, village life is better than I imagined, and life here is everything I could have wanted. And one of the biggest blessings of life here in Guate is our host family that loves us.
German is the padre, and in case your spanish isn’t very great, that means father. German is a godly man with a huge heart. He leads us in nightly bible studies, builds us bonfires to sit around and worship God, prays with us and over us, and has done nothing but love and care for us. I have grown to love this Guatemalan man with a huge heart and an even bigger faith.
Susie is the madre, or mom, and she runs things around here. Since she is nearly always in the kitchen, having to cook every meal for 21 americans, I love nothing more than to sit in the kitchen and help her. Her little english and my little spanish always come together to make for really interesting conversations. Nearly every night I go into the kitchen an hour early just to be with Susie because I love her sweetness, her gentleness, and just the beautiful woman she is.
Emily and Natalie are the two oldest daughters, one being 16 and the other 18, who I have become best friends with. We go into the city to eat taco bell, watch movies together, have dance parties, and also spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Natalie is hilarious and often really sassy. So we get along great.
Emily speaks really good english, and we share a love for basketball. Together we will go into the town square, laugh at how bad the two of us are a basketball, and then sit at the fountain and talk. I love these girls so much, and they mean the world to me.
Louis is the second oldest son, 21, and is awesome. He tags along on many of our girl days and never fails to make us laugh. He will sometimes start wars where he throws bouncy balls at us and is always fun to be around.
Oscar is the oldest son, 22, and works a lot of the time but still makes the effort to talk to us. He is more of a calm guy and always nice. Dillon is the youngest son, 12, and is so adorable. He has great style and is your typical cool middle schooler. And in case you don’t think those two words should ever be used together, it’s because you haven’t met Dillon. He is awesome.
Gracie is the baby of the family, clocking in at only 3 years old, and is a show stopper. Being the cutest 3 year old, she runs around the house making us laugh and demanding attention. She will play crazy games with you and usually speaks way too fast to even comprehend (well mostly because she speaks spanish). Everybody loves Gracie for the little ball of energy she is.
So this is my family away from family. The family that God has entrusted 21 american kids to, and they do a great job at loving us. I know at the end of this 3 months will be a whirlwind of emotions, but this goodbye will by far be the hardest. No amount of words would do this family justice with how much they mean to me and the impact they have had on my life. I love them so.
