¡Saludos desde Guatemala! For the next several months, I will be living in Xela, Guatemala’s second largest city, and volunteering as a trek guide for Quetzaltrekkers, the only all volunteer-run, all non-profit outdoors organization in Central America. Quetzaltrekkers (QT) leads treks through som[...]
Author Archive
Think Fast: Are “Hunger” and “Poverty” Experiments Legitimate?
Approximately 1 billion people currently experience hunger. According to World Vision International, about 1 in 4 of the world’s children suffer from malnourishment, and about 5 million children will die this year from hunger-related causes. Hunger is a formidable issue that fuels civil unrest, a [...]
December 18th, 2011 - 6:00 am § in Careers, Guatemala, Looking for Opportunity, Volunteer, Volunteer Spotlight
Trabajo: Job Hunting, Working Abroad, and “Real World” Work
“So… when are you going to get a real job?” I think many people, especially of my parents’ generation, see working abroad as a filler for the time period between college graduation and the entry into the American professional world, as a way to productively delay the start of adulthood. [...]
December 5th, 2011 - 6:00 am § in Guatemala, Nonprofit Spotlight
Que Será, Será…
Sometimes, we experience glorious, serendipitous moments in which everything clicks into place. In these moments, we stand at personal, academic, or professional “crossroads,” and suddenly, we find one path illuminated before us, often a path we had not yet perceived. Through magic, fate, or div[...]
Leaving the Nest: Thoughts on Culture and Living at Home
Every time that I reconnect with old friends or greet new acquaintances, I dread that inevitable moment in the conversation, in which I must admit that I currently live at home with my parents. A large pit swelling in my stomach, I avoid eye contact, I euphemize (“I’m crashing on my parents’ c[...]
August 29th, 2011 - 6:00 am § in Guatemala
Locals, Wanna-be Locals, and Tourists: No Competition Needed
Though it pains me to admit it, I am sometimes guilty of the foreign development volunteer snobbery directed at tourists. Working or reading on my balcony in Sololá, I often see tour groups who have come to experience the town’s market day, one of the biggest in Guatemala. I know that I am not as[...]
