New Nickname

Guatemala has many nicknames. It has been called "The Land of the Eternal Spring", "A Country of Contrasts", and "The Heart of the Mayan Civilazation."

While all those descriptions are certainly true, I'd like to add one more "Guatemala: Expect the Unexpected."

Here's one example:

On Friday afternoon I took a loooong stroll to scout out a potential apartment. The directions seemed simple enough... "Go to the end of 10th calle, the apartment building is right there."

Little did I know that 10th street ends in a deep ravine at the very edge of the city; getting there actually involves crossing train tracks. I was walking for so long that I was afraid I might have accidently crossed into a different country.

I found the name of the apartment complex, therfore, to be a perfect example of Guatemalan irony... "Jardines del Centro" (Gardens at the City's Center).

Exhausted, underwhelmed, and quite hungry I started the long trek back.

I had advanced about 30 steps when I recognized a familiar face... Lisette, a friend and co-worker from my time with Jornadas por la Vida y la Paz (Days of Life and Peace), a progressive Christian social movement organization. We hadn't seen in each other in over ten years! As chance/luck/fate/etc would have it, she lived in Jardines del Centro! She invited me in for a quick tour and a delicious lunch with her three children.

She also invited me to an event organized by el Grupo Monseñor Romero (Bishop Romero Group) entitled "Current Events Analysis and Theological Reflection" to be held the very next day.

The event was simply amazing! I was reunited with friends from my Jornadas days, and had the opportunity to meet church workers from Panama, Honduras, and El Salvador. Also present were two of the people I most respect in Guatemala: Sandra Moran and Hermana Argentina.

Sandra is an amazing musician and brilliant activist in the women's movement. Hermana Argentina is a quick-witted, warmhearted, and wonderfully-radical nun from the Dominican Republic who works for peace and justice, while accompanying Guatemala's excluded majority.

I'll let you imagine the kind of analysis and reflection that these two talented women, in the company of these amazing attendees, were capable of producing. Needless to say, I left incredibly inspired and entirely energized.

So, while my search for an apartment might have been in vain, at the very end of 10th street I found the perfect beginning to my new Guatemalan story.