Today was day 2 of working on the sites. Today, the working groups switched sites in order to get oriented faster. The site that my group was on today was the type of site that I had always pictured of these volunteer work sites. It was outside and there was a lot of space surrounding it compared to the first site that was pretty much caged up and cramped. Because of the open area, children from the surrounding area were able to come say hi, communicate, and play with us.
One thing that happened today was that I had met a little boy named Juan Carlos that lived diagonally from the site. He was eight years old; however, he looked to be the age of 4 or 5. The family that was eventually going to move in the house that we were working on had a little boy named Eric. He’s become close to me, and he is the age of 5. He was much bigger and taller than Juan Carlos. It was such a shock to see how different children get brought up here versus in the states.
Lastly, another difference that I noticed was that I saw dogs on the rooftops of house. Yes, rooftops. I learned from the locals that they keep roosters on the roofs or dogs as a safety precaution/guard. This was so intriguing to me because I haven’t seen anything as such in the US. People keep their pets within the households.
Well, this is only day 4 in Guatemala and day 2 on the work sites. Already, I have learned so much, and there’s still much to go.
Written by LeAnn
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