Spor utveksling

5 months ago I went to Guatemala. I didn’t know what to expect really, I just knew I had an unwritten adventure ahead of me. 5 months seemed like a whole eternity, it seemed like I was going to stay in Guatemala forever. Before I left Norway I remember I was told to enjoy every second, because apparently “time was going to pass by so fast”. And it did.

5 months later I am left with the experience of a lifetime. I would never have guessed how much this colourful country on the other side of the word would stick to my heart. My time in Guatemala has been the most adventurous, fantastic, challenging time in my 19 years of living. I have matured more the 5 months in Guatemala than I have done in several years back in Norway. And I am eternally grateful to Fundated, the Peace Corps and Vennskap Nord Sor for giving me the opportunity to do so.

Living in a different culture, on the other side of the world is both a terrifying and exciting experience. In a couple of days, you are kicked out of your comfort zone, and replaced in a totally new setting, with a new language, a new family, a new culture and a new way of living. You have left everything you know, and you are ready to start learning a new way of life. It’s like starting all over, learning to do things in a different way. Learning new traditions and learning to know a new family.

First I learnt to know my host family in Patzun, my mother Marga, my father Fransisco, and my three smaller siblings Angelita, Brayan and Abner. Staying with this family taught me a lot about valuing the small things in life. I have never seen a 1 year old laugh so heartily when playing the simplest games, like drawing or throwing a ball. My mother should have gotten a medal for making the most diversified dinners with the same ingredients day out and day in. And my father, who travelled nearly 3 hours in bus every day to work in Guatemala City, who left early early in the morning and returned late in the night to be able to feed his family. My host family in Patzun was truly a source of inspiration, and I am hoping to take their hard working attitude and stand at will with me home to Norway.

In Patzun we all worked at a vacation course for children called “Aprendo jugando”. The first weeks were a little though, as we were supposed to teach classes in Spanish only. I didn’t have any experience in Spanish before I came to Guatemala, so for me this seemed like an impossible task. Although, after a couple of weeks it got better, and teaching in a different language was suddenly something I did every day without even thinking about it. Nevertheless, we all have a couple of language bloopers on our record, and I would recommend to all future SPOR participants; don’t mix up the words “puntos” and “putas” when you are teaching a math class for 8year old Guatemalan children. It is not a good idea.

Discovering Guatemala was one of my biggest wishes before I went here. Living in Patzun was the perfect gateway for doing this, and nearly every weekend we jumped on a bumpy chickenbuss to visit a new place. Semuc Champey, Lago Atitlan, Tikal, Flores, Tajumulco, Antigua, Reu, it all become part of our Guatemala experience. Travelling in an overcrowded chickenbuss with latino-music on the speakers made me fall in love with Guatemala. I have never visited a country this diversified, with such a breathtaking nature and friendly people. Nevertheless, home is where the heart is, and the heart definitely lies in Xela. This is thanks to meeting the friends of a lifetime, which made Guatemala feel like home. Getting new friends is always exciting, and getting new friends on the other side of the world is even more exiting. These are people I wish I could take with me back home to have them in my everyday life. On the other hand, I know I will see them again soon, and as we said “no es un adios, solo es un hasta luego”

We didn’t save the world. That is one too big of a footstep to take. But we left, as we say in Norwegian; our “SPOR”, our footprints in Guatemala. I know my host family in Patzun is eating “grøt”, a traditional meal from Norway. I know they say “puedes pasarme el “kniv” y “gaffel” instead of cochillo and tenedor. I know the children at Agua de Dios in Patzun are playing “Fisken I det røde hav”, a Norwegian game I used to play during my childhood in Norway. I know my host
brothers in Reu are playing with cards filled with pictures of Norway. And I know my friends in Xela are listening to Norwegian folk music when they teach their salsa classes. I know I left my footprints in Guatemala. And my fingers are crossed that they will never get washed out.

What I know for sure is that the footprints Guatemala left in my heart are there to stay. Guatemala affected me in a way I never thought was possible. It left its footprints everywhere, in the form of music, culture, people and nature. This beautiful breathtaking country on the other side of the world will always be in my heart. It will always be a part of who I am, I will always be proud to call Guatemala my “home away from home”. I am hoping to take parts of its culture, its friendliness, its diversity and its colour with me home to Norway. Guatemala left its SPOR, and they are there to stay. On my last day in Xela one of my Guatemalan friends said to me; “Mina, you are a guatemalteca now…” It is the biggest compliment I could ever have gotten. I am proud to take this country and culture with me, wherever I go, wherever life takes me. “… even though you wore Converse with your traje, and you don’t eat Tamales.”

Hasta pronto Guatemala!