Anthonyt Benitez - 6/15/18

I played more Jenga here in Guatemala than I have back in the United States. The Jenga scenario here started with one of my fellow roomates buying a knockoff jenga game at a random shop near our homestay. We played a game or two in our room when Santiago, the son of our homestay mother, came in to join us. Santiago is a pretty smart five year old, so I asked him if he’d like to play. He gladly accepted the offer and we played a dew more games. He then suggested we play on the dining table, so everyone else could join. This lead to almost the whole house joining or watching the Jenga games we had. I especially have played with almost everyone in the house. The first to join was Daniel, Santiago’s older brother. At 18, he is already great at playing the bass and other instruments and has even played in shows. Then came Jonathan, our homestay mother’s nephew. He is only a bit older than us at 19 but loves Jenga almost as much as Santiago does. Afterwards, Melanie, our homestay mother’s niece, joined us in our Jenga games. She is only a year older than us and joins us after coming back from school. Our games of Jenga have lead to various different conversations. Whether they are about music, the World Cup, or our day so far, Jenga allows us to connect with one another. These conversations have showed me that families in the United States, where I live, can be just as close as those here in Guatemala.  Who knew a simple game could bring people together so easily?

Like most of the family, I also enjoy music. I have been trying to teach myself how to play the piano for a while now, but have been slacking on practicing. Daniel on the other hand practices everyday out in the courtyard for at least an hour. He plays along to different songs, filling in the bass in the music. Jonathan also knows how to play the piano, though he is still having trouble playing. He at least practices more than I do and has improved because so. Daniel playing the bass is usually a welcome for the rest of the family, like his sister Lourdes, to join in by singing whatever song he’s covering. this leads to the music being loud enough to hear from anywhere in the house. Seeing the amount of effort Daniel and Jonathan put into their music has inspired me to continue teaching myself and to catch up on my practice.