Sorry for the cheesy title. I’ve always wanted to use that lyric, but I’ve never had the chance to travel until now! As you may or may not know, I’m going to Guatemala for a week to build farms and kitchens.
For about a month leading up to this trip, I went through a roller coaster of feelings. I was excited, then nervous, then scared, then stressed, then worried, then motivated and now calm. I guess I have to be since I’m flying out in 2 hours!
It worries me that the first thing all my friends and family are telling me is to “be safe”. Guatemala may not be the safest place to travel, but when everyone is re-confirming that fact, it freaks me out! The more I research about it, the scarier things get. For example, I talked a guy at Mountain Equipment Co-op whose buddies just went to Guatemala. He said that the people there can tell that you’re foreigners and if you’re carrying really nice stuff, they’ll drive up to you in a car and point a gun at you until you give them all your stuff.
Yeppppppppp. That’s why I’m ditching my fancy gadgets and leaving them at home.
As much as that worries me, BUGS/SPIDERS/SNAKES/SCORPIONS worry me even more. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of all bugs (except for ants, those guys are adorable). I would stay up in bed until the early AM looking at picture after picture of all the different kinds of bugs, what they can do to you and what happens when you get bit. If you’re feeling extra courageous, search “botfly” in youtube. I dare you.
It took me a while to finally push those worries aside, but I finally realized that worrying about these things are only going to ruin this trip for me. Fears are only gonna hold me back from fully immersing myself into the culture. I want to embark on my trip with excitement and an openness to try everything. The important thing is to help as much as I can. I mean, that’s why I signed up for this trip right? I absolutely can’t wait to meet everyone! Our coordinator in Guatemala told us that everyone is excited for our arrival!
I realized something else too: Chocolate originated from Central America. Central America is where I’m going. I’ll have an excuse to dunk 90% of my food into chocolate. WHOO.
Alright, here I go, off to my first flight in 12 years!!! See you guys in a week 🙂
yayyy!!! Have oodles of fun and def. enjoy all that chocolate ;P
thanks kayle!!! i did have OODLES of fun, too bad i didn’t get to shop for chocolate though 🙁
Have an amazing time! I can’t wait to hear about it!
julia!!! omg it is so nice to hear from you!! i had a blast and ill be posting up some pics soon!
I’ll be praying for you and your team!! Have a WONDERFUL experience!
thank you britt! i was exposed to so many new experiences. i even went to a church for the first time! though im not religious, i felt how powerful faith can be