Personal Narrative: My Family In Guatemala

Ever since I was a kid I remember going to my grandparents’ house. I went there ever other summer vacation. The climate was a big reason of why I enjoyed visiting Guatemala. The tropical weather made it sunny most of time. I liked the pleasant feeling of the sunrays hitting my skin. But at the same time the weather was very indecisive, in a blink of an eye the clods came rolling in and the downpour of rain began. The rain came down fast and hard, the sound of it hitting was like that of soldiers marching in unison. The intensity of the rain made it feel like if you were standing under a waterfall.

My life since childhood was very quiet I was born in Honduras I grew up in a healthy environment with my family my dad, my mom, and the neighbors were very good people but just always had to be someone bad in our community but in the end most people of that community were very good people we help each other.

There in guatemala I thought about my present and my future as something inextricably tied to a rotten fate and decadent survival without opportunities for educational excel. When I was 3 years my parents left and I was raised by my grandfathers and other family members. Even though water and food was always on our table the extremes levels of poverty were seen outside of my house. Poverty rather than a situation became a way of life that arises as a result of the difficult access to resources to meet the basic needs of the population such as food, housing, education, healthcare, and drinking water. The lack of sexual education and family planning that exists in there in Guatemala created and established sexist standards,where women are degraded to a materialistic level exclusively for procreation of children. There in Guatemala, those dirt trails that social dissolution, broken dreams, and fall illusions was the ground of my steps for many

The person I interview was a female from el Salvador. She was born here but she was raised by her immigrant mom and aunts. Her guardian never spoke English and she has always been the translator for her mother and her aunts. She grew up speaking two language and basically lived two lives one with her family which was more tradition and cultural to her heritage and one outside her household where she lived like a regular American citizen.

From the moment I arrived, Guatemala presented me with great responsibility. Traveling to a rural part of Guatemala where medical care was more of a luxury than the norm, I was lucky enough to have been a medical volunteer, giving me the opportunity to conduct patient interviews and formulating differential diagnoses for the lead physician Dr. Reyes. Excited as I was, my initial experience was nerve-racking. Yet I had to calm my nerves the day a short and slender woman in a bright, multi-colored Mayan dress stood next to the entrance of the free VIDA clinic waiting to be called. “Come in next ma’am,” I said to her in Spanish. I quickly glanced at her chart and back at her before saying, "Tell me about your headache." The patient reported having intermittent, diffuse, and moderately intense, headaches for several weeks.

I’m a migrant born and raised in the heart of the civil war in Liberia that lasted for about 14 years. I grew up in a family of eight and living in an unstable country with the hardship wasn’t easy. We went about some days without food or surviving on a little of nothing. Our live was basically from bush to bush escaping form the rebels. As kids we were expose to malicious behavior on a daily basis but with all those predicaments our parents always stood with us. Both of my parents are high school graduates but with their little knowledge they inspired and encouraged me to be positive and have my thrust in the Lord. The war ended in 2003 and they got petit jobs but their salaries wasn’t enough to support the entire family. They couldn’t further

I have traveled various times to Guatemala in Central America to visit my parent’s families that were living there, since I was child in elementary school. I mostly visited my mother’s family since most of my dad’s family was here, though I did visit my dad’s house and family that was still there once. One thing that is true for all my visits over to Guatemala; I always had some culture shock every time I visited. As time passed by and I visited again and again I became accustomed to the shock, sometimes the shock was not that bad. Next time I visit Guatemala, I will probably have a bit of culture shock again, though now it is not that much, and I think that anyone traveling to Guatemala for a vacation will have a great time

My parents first went to Guatemala in March 2014. Then my dad went with a men's team in March 2015. When he returned from that mission, he really felt God calling our family there, but for a longer time, not just one week. He was thinking about six months. When I first heard this, I will admit, I was completely opposed to the idea. There was no way I was going to live in another country for that long, especially when I had never been there, and wasn’t even sure if I would like it. Then in August 2015, God provided the opportunity for my whole family to go together for a one-week mission. That week changed my life. Returning home, I knew God wanted us there, and I was excited to see what God had planned for our family in Guatemala.

Thank you for the birthday wishes! Also, thank you for letting me know that I did not include why I want to go to Guatemala. I would like to go to Guatemala for several reasons. First of all, I would like to experience the Guatemalan culture and daily life. I am interested to see how this experience would help me grow as a person and as a Christian. I have never had the opportunity to serve in a developing country and I am excited to see how Christ would transform the lives around me as I have been transformed. I believe that this trip would be very beneficial for me to learn the Spanish language with more depth. If I were accepted to go on this trip, I would hope to gain a lot of knowledge about the language and culture. I would

The airport has always been one of my favorite places, it symbolizes adventure and new beginnings. The sound of people, the shops and the anticipations of the flight about to take place filled my mind. I lugged my suitcase out of the trunk, there was no better place than the airport over summer break. My Mom, Dad, and sisters, Emily and Gracie, escorted me into the Denver International Airport. After entering through the sliding glass door, I studied the crowd of people for my youth group, finally spotting the group of light blue shirts by the United Airlines ticket counter. My youth group's name was “6twelve”, and the blue shirts all had the words 6twelve Missions on them. I conversed with some of my friends as the rest of our group began

During my freshman year in Costa Rica, I developed an interest in indigenous peoples in Latin America. Two classmates and I designed an independent study project to travel to Ecuador and observe its robust indigenous rights’ movement. Our research was divided into three parts; modern communication in indigenous politics, the effects of strip mining, and my focus, political organizations used to advance the indigenous agenda.

I was able to go to Mexico last spring break to go build houses for some misfortunate people. While I was there I got to build relationships, play with kids, and also experience a reality check for how good I have it back at home.

Fun fact from the trip: The least expensive fuel was $2.70 per gallon in Panama City, Panama.

Have you ever traveled and it changed your view on things? Traveling anywhere is a blessing, and it enables a person to experience new cultures, unfamiliar languages and it lets you see the things you usually aren’t used to seeing in your everyday life. My trip to Central America was an experience of a lifetime, and it’s a trip I will never forget. It changed my view on life and everything I take for granted. My vacation was magic within itself; I realized things that I never knew I even had. Seeing the things that I saw were truly riveting.

As I mentioned you in class, I have to travel to Guatemala the 23th of April to 1st of May. I chose my date according our fist syllabus which that week corresponded to week 15 Final Exam Review, but the other day I was checking the new syllabus and it has a clasless changing our Final Exam week to Week 15. I would like to ask you if there is a possibility to have my final exam this Friday (04/22) any time is fine with me or the week 16 the original Final exam week which is 02/05-08/05.