Guatemala Wrap-Up, Part 2:
Things that Don't Happen in America
1. Eating beans every. single. day. (Mom, you'd love it)
2. Me, sewing a Little Red Riding Hood Cape, on an actual sewing machine. And it not turning out half bad.
3. Zip-lining down a mountain.
4. Hiking up an active volcano.
5. Relaxing in thermal pools heated by an active volcano.
6. Being OVERLY excited when my bowel movements are solid.
7. Sleeping on concrete floor, and actually not minding it.
8. NEVER NEVER NEVER opening your mouth when you take a shower. (Did this once in Mexico… never want Montezuma's Revenge AGAIN–told my mother I thought I was dying)
9. Putting your used toilet paper in the trash can instead of the toilet (This still grosses me out)
10. Answering questions in Spanish when the question was asked in English.
11. Getting REALLY excited when we see another Gringo (white person) walking around. (P.S. Don't assume that every Gringo speaks English. This is false. Apparently people besides Americans like to travel??)
12. Putting a red streak in my hair with oil-based paint to make my squad-mate feel better about accidentally dipping her hair in a paint tray. Hey, when in Guatemala…
13. Hearing "Sweet Home Alabama" in public and singing it at the top of my lungs and not caring who is giving me crazy looks. (All right, let's be honest, I'd do that in the States too.)
14. Skyping with my family and friends becoming a totally normal mode of communication. I don't even miss my cell phone. WHAT?
15. Eating more *PAN* (bread) and MANTEQUILLA DE MANI (peanut butter) than is humanly healthy. (Hey, it's my daily piece of America)
16. Showering every 2 days, and getting annoyed when it's my day to shower, because showering has now become a time-consuming hassle.
17. Becoming best friends with my eye mask and ear plugs.
18. Talking about our bowel movements is normal dinner conversation (I'll be honest, I'm still not 100% about this, but my teammates sure are…)
19. Praying for healing over headaches, stomach aches, body aches instead of taking medicine.
20. Never tiring of brazos (hugs) or besitos (kisses) from sweet niños (children)
21. Bumping and grinding and hanging on for dear life in a "chicken bus" (painted, pimped-out school buses, which are the main mode of public transportation) with 100+ Guatemalans squeezed inside.
22. Making up songs about everything from amoebas to "lumpy drink" (the oatmeal/rice beverage we have for breakfast each day) to the tune of Disney songs, pop songs, or hip-hop songs.
23. Becoming addicted to orange soda (hello middle school!) to mix up my beverage intake from water and hot tea.
24. Trying liver (can't handle the texture), sardines (can't handle seeing a whole fish, scales, bones & all sitting on my plate), and *FIAMBRE* (picked meats and sausages–actually quite delicious)
25. Becoming like family with a team of gringos (World Racers), niñeras (nannies) and children who are handicapped who I hardly knew a month ago… and knowing that they've all changed my life forever.
Sorry this post is a little late, we have been without internet until now! I will post again soon about what's going on in Honduras. We are safe and having an amazing time so far! Much love to you all!
