These children made me stop in my tracks when I was hiking through the remote villages in Guatemala—I can just exactly picture my three nieces and nephews in that same exact position and shooting those incredibly sweet grins (well, that baby’s not grinning, but the girls—too cute!). Part of what I love too are …
As someone who’s bargained my way through markets in Southeast Asia, haggled in the bazaars of Africa, and even negotiated a steep discount on my rental car in Ireland, I can tell you that the art of bargaining is an exhilarating dance, one that tests your wits, language skills, and understanding of cultural nuances. There’s …
At the sound of the fireworks Xela and Guate City jogged onto the field, the entire team nearly wholly obscured by the smoke billowing across the grassy football (soccer) field. Some were the pretty and colorful fireworks you’d expect but the vast majority of the fireworks were actually more akin to a huge flare and …
It’s the warmth and sheer, innocent love that emanates from children that draws me back to volunteering over and over again. My first ride to the guardería, or day care center, took me 20 minutes outside of Xela and into the significantly more petite town of Llanos del Pinal, a small village nestled under the …
There’s a certain magnetism to tales of my time teaching English to young monks in a Nepalese monastery. The interest always humbles me because, let’s face it, recounting those moments reignites a fervor in me too. In Nepal, as in Cambodia, volunteering emerged as the cornerstone of my travel experiences—vivid tapestries of connections and insights …
As I glanced up from my task of delicately descending the roughly cobbled steps I noticed a group of six Guatemalan teenagers below thrusting small cameras and cell phones in my direction. Giggles and huge smiles on their faces, this group was clearly excited over something far bigger than just the presence of this sweaty …
I have a confession: I deeply love Antigua, Guatemala. Why a confession? The town seems so tourist-purposed and overrun by westerners that it feels like a place easily shunned by snobby tourists. Antigua is such a marked contrast to the dangerous and grittier reality in nearby Guatemala City, and far more developed than Xela in …
The chicken bus bumped to a stop in front of the Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm and I offered a first glimpse of Emilia and Lorenzo, an expat couple who have created an entire movement in this region Guatemala toward assisting indigenous people in developing self-sustaining agriculture. The Valhalla Experimental Station—a macadamia nut farm, restaurant and …