Guatemala Revisited....If Only

So, this time last year I would be sitting in a circle with about 30 other students, professors and community professionals all interested in social justice, humanitarian work abroad and changing the way we view the world and the people in it, in a gated compound in Zacapa, Guatemala talking, playing cards, swatting away vicious mosquitos and reminiscing about the day we just had going into the city to see a pediatric nutrition center and the city dump.

At the dump where we handed out food to people that lived in the dump

About an hour ago, this time last year those same 30 people and I were probably all wiping the tears from our faces after handing out rice water and bread to the people that had been forced to move from their villages and relocate to the city's dump to live.

Kids at the nutrition center playing with latex gloves used at the medical clinics

About this time 2 years ago, I was leaning on the shoulder of the man who is now my fiance during a similar meeting described above. On this day 2 years ago, a not-so-different group of like-minded students and professors started the week long service endeavor with the traditional Sunday excursion to a nutrition clinic where we were introduced to Adiel. Adiel was a 13 year old boy who weight 22 lbs at the time we saw him. He was confined to a bed because he didn't have the strength to lift his weight against gravity. It was 2 years ago today that Stephen, my fiance, followed me, alone, onto the bomberos bus to talk with me, cry with me and be a shoulder to lean on, a friend to sit with and someone to eventually fall in love with (Refer to the tab "Crazy in Love" and "How we Met").

Adiel; 13 years old and 22 lbs

The thing is, I've been a part of the annual university trip to Guatemala for the past 2 spring breaks. It's all I've really known and part of what I would call a turning point in my life. And well, tomorrow officially starts my spring break and I'm sitting at home in my bed, in my huge room, in my comfortable house, typing on a laptop, drinking purified water and realizing how weird it is to know that several of my friends and favorite people are all in Guatemala right now, in a big circle crying with each other and holding each other after experiencing "la basura" and the nutrition center.

Stephen and one of the boys.. oh they loved the big "gringos"

It feels surreal to be on the "outside" this year, to not be with them, to be sitting at home and knowing that they are there and I am here...