Reflection #1

When one´s time winds down in a country in which they´ve lived for a year, a lot of reflection takes place. Also, when one doesn´t have a boyfriend who´s around all the time, a lot more SELF-reflection takes place. Haha. Which is wonderful! I love it. I really do enjoy my alone time.
(Sidenote. One also loses 15 pounds when said boyfriend is no longer around all the time! I think because there´s no man shoving food in one´s face!)

But anyways! I´ve decided that I need to start getting some of these reflections that just randomly come to my mind down on paper. And then, while I was doing that, I figured, why don´t I share some of these self-reflections with my friends and family? And instead of scribbling them all down at once, I am going to try to do one a day, from now until the time I leave. (Which is, sadly, 20 days from today.)

Which brings me to my first reflective topic. I have 20 days left in this country. (When I wrote this. Now, publishing it, its actually 18 days)
Last week was my one-year anniversary in Guatemala. 365 days ago, May 24th, 2010, (two weeks after college graduation,) I came to Guatemala.
I knew what I was getting into, I knew the language, the culture, the country, the bus system, the politics, the violence, the amoebas, etc. I knew it all.
What I wasn´t prepared for was how time would fly. How much I would literally became a part of this culture. How I would change as a person throughout a years time. A year is a long time, folks. It´s not only an entire SCHOOL year, (September to May,) it´s an entire YEAR. A year. That is a long time. Especially when I think of it in light of my college years--a college year seemed SO LONG. But a whole entire YEAR year? I hardly ever measured my life in year years before, because it was always measured in school years. Now, for the first time ever, I am measuring my life in year years.
And I cannot believe how fast this one flew by. When I think about the version of myself who arrived in Guatemala a year ago--with my too-short hair-cut, my college-girl tendencies, (which were quickly forced to disappear,with a lack of 6 Blarneystone roomates and Joe-town) and my good-but-not-great Spanish, I really can´t believe how much I´ve changed. And I don´t know if trying to explain it here will even do it justice. I guess that is the purpose of all these reflections I want to get out, to describe my personal journey little by little.
So, for now, I´ll leave you with the first of reflections--a year has passed. A whole year. I have matured in more ways than you know. Beyond my years. Which, actually, I think will be my next reflection.
Peace and love from Guatemala. ¡Que disfruten la vida!, porque todo se puede cambiar en cualquier momento.