Somewhere over the rainbow….

There is always something wonderful waiting to be found. I think you just have to look hard and not forget to keep looking if it seems to be eluding you. I was not sure what I was looking for when I decided to move to Guatemala for six months but I am certain I was seeking wonderful. My time here has been nothing short of that and I have found it in the people that I have met, the job I worked, the food, the scenery, the motorbike rides, lasting friendships, the seemingly endless bus rides, the confusion, and within my own heart and mind. 

As I rode through the drizzling rain on a backhoe tractor, down the main highway, I was thinking of how in the blink of the eye, I will find myself on a plane and POOF! I zoned back in to my co-worker asking me if I had ever taken a ride of the sort before. It blasted me back to the days of roaming the Caterpillar Tractor Dealership my family owned in Mississippi. We used to go for short rides in the parking lot, but not down the highway with buses and trucks zooming past. In so many situations, Guatemala just takes it to the next level. 

It is true that amazing jobs often pay little. In fact, mine has paid none at all but the experiences of a lifetime have no monetary value. I couldn’t be more pleased with my final days of work as a Habitat Profiles Volunteer. I visited nine houses and dealt with all sorts of obstacles and moments of frustration in the final two days. Some say that when things are not going your way in this country, it just simply can be stated as “Guatemala” or that one word can be used to take your blame. I frequently found myself thinking, “oh Guatemala!” and “are you really going to do me like this on my last days?” After a few house visits and wanting to scream Guatemala at the top of my lungs, I came back to the beauty of it all. I had an amazing interview with a family who for the first time ever has a safe, secure, warm, dry home. They were all smiles and made me feel silly for getting so worked up and frustrated. 

With two interviews left (that had to be done that day), I squeezed into an over packed minibus to start towards finding the homes. I stared dreamily at the clouds shrouding the mountains all around us. I thought back to my first week in Guatemala when I took my first chicken bus ride down the same road. I was legitimately scared and thinking, maybe I am not cut out for this and how will I survive to tell the tales if all the roads are this bad? After months of travel around Guatemala, I now know that it is actually a pretty sketchy section to travel and of course I quickly became desensitized to the impending dangers lurking around the bend of most Guatemalan roads. I actually grew to love the jerky, shall I say “unique” bus rides that carried me in all directions and the motorbike rides that made my butt numb but let me be a part of the landscape. I can’t seem to get enough but soon it will have to enough, at least for now.   

I like memorable endings or happy lasts. It leaves more to be desired and that is the best time to go. The last house we visited made me truly appreciate the work I have been doing. Being 45 minutes walking from the main road into the ever entrancing highlands, I was hopeful to make it out before dark and a torrential downpour. Of course the road that never has traffic had a truck pass by and give us a ride. I seem to get picked up at just the right moments, at least by fast moving wheeled objects. Better than nothing I suppose. 

The next ten minutes in the back of that truck was a moment I want to remember and summon when needed. There was an elderly woman, around 70, with a physically deformed man, about the size of a ten year old, swaddled to her back, like a baby. She smiled, asked where we were headed and thought nothing of her circumstances. She got a ride a few miles down the road and waved us goodbye. She was going to walk all that way and probably does most days. For the second time that day, I felt silly for stressing over the inconveniences of my day. Sometimes you just have to open you eyes and change your perspective to realize that life is not bad or even that difficult. It is actually quite wonderful and around so many unlikely corners is that reminder of how good it is. 

At the final house, the family hardly spoke any Spanish so my co-worker translated the interview from Quiche to Spanish.  They were radiating the joy and happiness that their few days in their new home had brought them. I felt blessed. Blessed to have seen and known so many families all over Guatemala (around 100). Blessed to be apart of an organization that is truly doing great things.  It makes me want to find ways to keep giving to others, always. It has filled me with a love that is bubbling over and made me realize the human spirit is an amazing force and I am infected with its beauty and kindness.

old house

new house

As we walked the 45 minutes back to the main road, I was blissed out in my borrowed, highland terrain. I said a prayer of thanks to the highlands for all the beauty cradled in its nooks. I said thank you for showing me light and giving me hope and bringing me back to a life filled with love that is truly wonderful. My days of travel through the highlands have often made things seem so clear or just so perfectly fine.  I will always carry gratitude for them like one does for a close friend that lets them confide. 

Upon getting close to the main road, I heard music coming from a house and stopped. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was playing and at that moment, everything made sense. By that, I mean, I was certain that I had found wonderful and everything I was looking for without even knowing it.   The journey had been successful. We hopped on a back hoe tractor and started the two hour travel back to my hotel. It was dusk and the rains had held all day. There was a light drizzle that started to fall. It was a memorable ending for sure.