I'm answering today the most popular questions I get as an expat: What brought me here, do I like it here, and do we have plans to move back to the USA?
Well first of all, look at that view! The picture to the left is not one I took but it is from one of Guatemala's most famous sites known and visited by travelers from around the world, Lago de Atitlan, or Lake Atitlan. It is a very large lake (12 miles long, 6 miles wide, over 1,000 feet deep) surrounded by three beautifully imposing volcanoes. The lake is peppered by various small towns and is a hub of Guatemalan
culture and way of life. If you ever get the chance to go, it will definitely be worthwhile.
However, I did not move to Guatemala for this breathtaking lake, however it does help keep me here. But in fact the expat life had been a dream of mine since high school, however that dream was set in Europe. I even came *this close to moving to France to become an au pair when I was 22 years old. But at that same time I had a job offer to become a worship leader and when it came down to it, I liked singing more than I liked taking care of kids. Still do at times, but alas here I am...all that to say I had dreams for myself to get out of the United States and somewhere, anywhere else. I knew I needed to expand my world-view and I can sufficiently declared that it my worldview has now exploded.
I can thank this world expansion to my husband whom I met through a mututal friend while living in Chicago (which by the way, it is still my favorite city in the whole world). The story of how we met is for another day, but long story short he is from Guatemala but was studying for his masters in Michigan, just a short four hour drive away. As he wrapped up his degree it came time to find a job and although we weren't engaged I had always known he longed and planned to return to his home country. Since Paris didn't seem to be happening for me, I urged him to move up his timeline and begin to look for a job in Guatemala and key part, I would go with him. From there we did in fact get engaged and married and just one day after our wedding I said goodbye to my family and friends and we jet setted to our honeymoon with our final destination being Guatemala City.
When I arrived I had no personal plan of what I would do with myself here. My husband did in fact land a great job, which he began before we were married. This meant he had already been living in the city for six months prior to my move. I had no other "why" other than being his wife. I wasn't a teacher or a missionary, which many, many people assume. It was hard to say the least, as my husband went off to work each morning and I had the next eight plus hours to myself (now that sounds like a dream!). I felt invisible and pretty insignificant and without much of any purpose. It was hard to answer the question that I was so often asked, "How do you like Guatemala?" because the truth was that I didn't.
The left and middle pictures is the view from our first apartment. I loved looking at the volcanoes everyday and they still leave me in awe when I catch a glimpse of them. The right picture is from one of my climbs of Volcan Pacaya at the sumit; it is pretty close to the city and is still active.
This would beg the question then, why did I stay? First of all, because I made the committment to my husband. He had just started a new job and we moved our lives to this county over the course of literal months as I came down various times with multiple suitcases, and sent friends and family coming with me also with suitcases. I could not just pack them all up again, request my husband find a new job, and simply return back to the States. Second, and most importantly, I didn't want to give up so easily. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what no one thought I could. I am not exactly the adventerous type, and no one could have dreamed that I would move out of Chicago, let alone the country. I had to show to myself, and selfishly to others, that I could accomplish the hard thing.
Now that I've been here a decade I continue to stay. I have had two children in this country, and this is their home. We have created a beautiful community and attend a school we all love where I am confident they are well cared for and safe. I have learned Spanish, and I'm certainly not afraid to drive here anymore and so my quality of life has significantly improved from those first few months when I lived here and I was afraid to venture off too far and was exhausted and anxious by the language barrier. But with the comfort and ease I've found in my daily life in Guatemala, I also love the culture and noticing the fact that I did it, I am living out my dream of life in a foreign country and I have so enjoyed being immersed in it and have 95% assimilated myself (because the American efficiency runs too deep in my veins to ever leave). And the community I have formed here, a mixture of fellow exapts and new Guatemalan friends has been the biggest help and blessing. They make me feel not alone and that we are all the same no matter where we're from or what language we speak. A mom is a mom is a mom in any culture.
What's my biggest struggle? The level of security one see's and senses here. It is difficult to be surrounded by walls; to go through various gates to get to basically anywhere; to not be able to walk other than in my own neighborhood during daylight hours; to see guards at every store and the military in full gear - guns are not typically carried by citizens but you see them a lot here and it can be alarming; parks are a rarity, and public libraries are basically non-existent, and so I have to take my kids to the local malls to enjoy playgrounds and activities. All of this can ware on me pretty easily.
Life here is not always easy, as I struggle regularly with the pace and the outdated technologies that help move a country forward. I struggle with the lack of access to any product or service I could ever want that are so accessible in the States (Amazon is not really a thing here...shock and awe!). However, when I return to the States for a week or more, I always find I'm ready to get back to Guatemala. I'm ready for the culture, for my small grocery store with only the necessary options, the beautiful mild weather, and the village we have formed.
To answer your final question: No, we do not have plans to return to the States. We will only do so if God blows that door wide open, which for the past decade He has not.
Tell me, have you ever had the chance to experience life in a different country and culture? What were the best and hardest things?
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