Sampada Pokharel - 6/14/18

A warm, humid air hit me as soon as I walked out of the airport. As I observed my surroundings, I felt like I was home, in Nepal. There was a crowd of people waiting outside the airport. My first thought was oh they are waiting for a famous Guatemalan celebrity but as I looked around, I realized that they were waiting for their family members. A school bus came to pick us up and honestly I knew I was going to enjoy my stay here. Sure, I was worried about the volcano and all but I was not going to let that stop me from truly enjoying my stay here. The only thing that I was worried about was the kids and my home stay family. However, my home stay family is so nice and kind. Mama Yeya really displayed her chef skills in cooking us some bomb food.  Eduardo, her grandson, is a cute and intelligent 4 year-old boy who is in love with animals. The first day we were chilling and getting to know each other. 

Next, Wednesday we helped clean the ashes of the fuego volcano and I genuinely enjoyed it. Now, Thursday was the day I was pretty stressed about how my classes were going to be but Abby and I kept it positive and did the best we could to teach the kids. When I left my last class the first day, I felt good and accomplished because the kids there were really welcoming and open to us. It warmed my heart. The next day, Abby and I were more cautions of the time and started the class teaching our lessons since we just had 7 days with them. In both classes, 2A and 2B, the kids were super friendly and welcoming. They genuinely wanted to learn and I wanted to teach them something new. I loved them and they seemed to like me as well. So far, I am liking my stay here and I am looking forward to teaching them and getting to know them for the week that we have left. Lastly, on Saturday, we went to clean up a small town, San Juan Gascón, outside of Antigua. I like helping people and painting the community and cleaning up the ashes that were left was a fun and unique experience for me. Everyone was helping and friendly. My roommates just make this trip a hundred times more enjoyable. We lit out here ;) More updates coming soon!

Sincerely,

Sampada Pokharel