By Eliza Cash
After our three-day orientation in the city of Xela—where we explored the tiny side streets, filled up on street food, celebrated Guatemala’s Independence Day, and worked out in the courtyard of our hostel—we piled into a tiny van and made our way up the mountains to begin our first week together.
Our adventure began as we rumbled down the cobblestone street to La Escuela de la Montaña. As we pulled up to the bright yellow house, engulfed in trees and multicolored flowers, Amelia, the coordinator of the school, greeted us with a warm smile. Shortly thereafter, we settled in and Amelia led us back down the cobblestone path to the small communities where our host families would be. We were definitely taken aback a bit as she began to assign us to host families one by one. It was a true push of our comfort zones to be immediately thrown into a fully-immersive Spanish experience without a fellow group mate to lean on.
Yet, within a few comidas, this soon became the norm, and we were so thankful for the opportunity to fully immerse ourselves in their lives.
Reflecting on this week’s experience, there is one phrase that rings true: siempre uno más—always one more.
This exemplified itself every day, during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. No matter the meal, you could always count on piping hot, handmade tortillas piled high in the basket on the table. Throughout everyone’s experience, it seemed like no matter how fast we ate them, the pile never diminished. We were persuaded to always have one more: siempre uno más.
After incredibly delicious and very filling meals, we waddled our way up the cobblestones every day to the smiling faces of our maestr@s (teachers). Day after day, they welcomed us into their rancheros: small thatched huts where we had one-on-one classes, intent on filling our brains with everything we didn’t know or thought we knew about the fantastic and intriguing Spanish language. We studied hard and enjoyed the process of learning. Whether it was one more piece of grammar, one more word of vocabulary, one more worksheet, or one more game, there was always room for more Spanish: siempre uno más.
But perhaps the epitome of our week was the news that came during a typical afternoon thunderstorm. Amidst the torrential downpour, we got word that we were going to receive a new member to our group! Due to the recent events in Cuba, the Carpe Diem trip there was canceled, so we were going to be picking up one of their members who was waiting in Miami. After telling us the news, Alex left for the capital to retrieve our new friend Jacob. Everyone was super stoked to meet him the following day (Friday). Minutes before our journey down the cobblestones to dinner Alex and Jacob came walking through the gate. We all rolled out of our hammocks to greet Jacob with a human tunnel. We’ve been sharing stories and tips with Jacob ever since, as we get to know him more and more.
What was once a group of 12 students has now become 13: siempre uno más.
