03.07.09
Posted in Central American Adventure, Guatemala, Making a Difference, Uncategorized at 12:42 am by Administrator
I flew to Guatemala Tuesday. It´s a place of amazing contrasts. Antigua is a lovely colonial town in the highlands. It´s quite cold at night and in the morning. It warms up a lot during the day. There are beautiful hotels and restaurants, and also hostels and mercados. Both mestizos (latin americans) and indigenous people wander the streets.
I signed up for Spanish classes at La Union and have a private instructor for 4 hours every morning. I´ve also moved in with a family for the next week. It´s intense – I thought my spanish was better. I´ve got lots of bad habits to lose but it gets better each day.
I will be doing my strategic planning workshop at the school of some of the instructors (in spanish) next week. Then I head out to some of the surrounding areas and plan to do the same in some of the indigenous villages.
I think that brings you up to date. It´s Friday night and I need to head home for dinner with my family…. We had an interesting conversation last night about politics and religion. We realized that the whole world faces similar problems in different degrees, but people are people. We all hope for good things in life.
Love and miss you all!
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02.23.09
Posted in Central American Adventure, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Making a Difference, Uncategorized at 8:36 pm by Administrator
I’m getting ready to leave tomorrow for Costa Rica and Guatemala.
It’s very exciting and also a little scary. But I trust that the universe will take care of me and that everything will work out. It sure seems that way. I don’t have a lot of plans in place, but here’s what I do know.
I land in San Jose, Costa Rica tomorrow night. I’m renting a car so that I have freedom and flexibility to move around. I’ll stay in San Jose that night, then plan to head out to the coast. I want to learn to surf.
I went to do yoga the other day, and asked the instructor about Costa Rica. It turns out the studio is doing a yoga retreat in CR the week after I’m there – with a one day overlap. I took a look at the website for Vida Asana and it looks fabulous. So I’m going to drive out there and see if I can negotiate a good rate as an independent traveler. That’s how I like to think of myself – a traveler, not a tourist. If that doesn’t work I’ll try somewhere else. The good news is, the waves are gentle at Playa Hermosa, and I’ll get to do some yoga and maybe even see a few of my yogi friends!
After that I fly to Guatemala City. I will be in Guatemala for 6 weeks doing service work. What that will be is yet to unfold. But again, I am trusting it will all work out. I’m also planning to attend a language school to improve my Spanish. Many of the schools have you study in the morning, and set you up as a volunteer in the afternoon. I hope to work with women, teaching life skills, self reliance, and helping create a better life for themselves and their families. It’s not that I am “better off” than they are, in fact, I believe their simple lives may hold many lessons for me to learn. It is something that calls to my heart – to give back, make a difference, and serve others.
I have a lot of contacts in Guatemala, so something is bound to work out. In particular, another life coach there is picking me up at the airport and taking me to Antigua, the old capital of Guatemala and a world heritage site. I’ll spend a few days there and work out my next step. As it turns out Rosa, who is picking me up, her brother started the Presidential Commission on the Front Against Hunger in Guatemala – which has now expanded beyond Guatemala to other Latin American Countries. Given my love of The Hunger Project, I expect there will be some way I can make an impact or connection there.
As Oprah says, that’s what I know for sure. I am letting go of my need to control it, and just letting it unfold as it should. It’s a real lesson for life. It’s fun. And I can’t wait to see where it takes me!
I’ll keep you posted! But not too often so don’t worry about me! :)
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