begin again...

I'm back in Guatemala, back in the guest house where I met our fall semester students, here to meet our spring semester students. They arrived today. The dining room buzzed with awkward 'getting to know you' conversations. And as wonderful as they may be, there's probably just no way to get through these first few days without some pretty uncomfortable moments. That being said – they seem like decent kids, thus far.

It's good to be here, but if I'm honest with myself it's been a more difficult transition than I expected. I laid awake last night thinking through future plans and the coming semester and the past few years and I just felt unsettled. I'm not sure why exactly. Many people in my life have taken paths that can seem more 'logical' or more 'settled' than mine - and don't get me wrong, I love my life here - but occasionally, aspects of their paths can seem appealing.

I have fabulous coworkers and talked through it with Joe this morning. I feel more at peace with it all now as I write this, but I am certainly missing home and that centered feeling I'm blessed with when I'm surrounded by family. I'll write again soon, hopefully with something slightly less introspective once we get moving - Guatemala City is not one of my favorite places. By Wednesday afternoon we'll be back in Xela.

quick stop in Nica...

I feel like I just got back, and in a few days I'm headed out again.

Christmas break went quickly and was, as expected, wonderful time with family and friends. I had a harder time adjusting to a few aspects of my life in the US, but processed it (with the help of my mother), accepted it, and feel like I squeezed a lot out of a couple of weeks. Definite highlights being: a jigsaw puzzle afternoon with the family, a lazy day with my brother Seth, various thrifting trips with Tory, a night at the Herkimer with my girls and a kickin' New Year celebration with friends.

And as much as I loved being home, coming back here felt right. This doesn't feel like home by any means; and after seeing Joe and Eliett (who kindly picked me up from the airport) I could say that I had caught up with all of my close friends here in Managua. But I realized, even more deeply while being home, that I really do love what I'm doing.

I worked with a week long trip this last week - took another trip to the country side - and in a few days will head toward Guatemala to greet our next group of semester students. Hard to believe they'll be here so soon. I'm starting to miss last semester students more, the longer they're gone; but I am excited to meet the next group.

(Thanks for continuing to read! Oh - almost forgot - various people had told me they weren't able to post comments. I changed the settings, and anyone should be able to comment now - just make sure you sign your post so that I know who you are!)