In early December, I hopped on a plane with the rest of the Denver Gap Year house and traveled to Antigua, Guatemala. With the exception of skydiving earlier in the semester, I had never been on an airplane before, so for me, even the flight itself was an adventure. Shortly after returning, I saw a clip of a Disney Channel short I remembered watching growing up called “The Time I…” in which kids told stories about the first time doing something. I realized I had a lot of these stories just from Guatemala, but rather than sending them to Disney, I’m writing them here. So, here’s the story of the time I…
Swam in the Ocean: Growing up about 1,500 miles from either coast, I never made it to the ocean in the first 18 years of my life. My first thought upon stepping out onto the black sand beach was, quite simply, “The ocean is big.” When I walked into the water the first time, I was unaware that you are supposed to dive under big waves when they come towards you, not go straight into them, so I was forced into an underwater backflip by the first wave. Once I figured it out, however, the next few hours spent enjoying the water and laughing both with and at my friends were well worth the sand and soreness that would be unpacked in the days to come.
Hiked a Volcano: We spent the Saturday of our trip hiking Pacaya, one of Guatemala's 3 active volcanoes. On the way up, we were joined by other travelers as well as the “Uber de montaña,” or the donkey and rider offering rides. Once we reached the top, we roasted marshmallows on the volcanic vents and ate s’mores in the field of lava rock from an eruption last June. As we made our way back down at sunset, the sky faded from blue to a vibrant orange as it disappeared beneath the clouds, creating one of my favorite views and a great ending to a great day. I would 10/10 recommend hiking a volcano, but would not recommend doing so in white shoes.
Did mission work and made and ate a bunch of new foods: I put these two together because more often than not, the two came as a package deal. We did several home visits during our trip in which we brought families baskets of food and stayed a while to visit. During almost every one of these visits, the family we visited had food prepared for us as well. In one visit, our hosts taught us to make tortillas, laughed with us as several of those tortillas fell to the ground before making it to the stove, and shared the food we made together. At another home, we installed a new stove, helped make empanadas on that stove, and enjoyed them around the table. In both these instances, our visits concluded with our group praying for them and vice versa. I love cooking (and food in general), so being invited into this part of their daily life and culture was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The time we spent together was so wholesome because it never felt transactional or forced. We weren’t strangers, we were just people caring about, talking with, eating with, and simply enjoying the presence of one another.
I did a number of other things for the first time, like watching small bursts of lava erupt from a volcano, picking and eating a fresh coffee bean, and just learning to play the card game rummy. Even the things that weren’t entirely new, like simply sitting around the dinner table sharing and listening to stories, formed great memories. These new people, places, and experiences were a remarkable ending to 2021, and they’ve left me excited to discover what the new semester brings.