My Independent Reading

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon, is a 636-page quest to escape the Holocaust.  The main character, Joe Kavalier, uses his knowledge of magic to transport himself out of Prague during World War II to New York City.  This novel has won the most prestigious literary award that any book can win, the Pulitzer Prize.  Even the Chicago Tribune called it, "A page-turner in the most expansive sense of the word: its gripping plot pushes readers forward... Chabon is a reader's writer; with sentences so cozy they'll wrap you up and kiss you goodnight."  Like most people, I wouldn't mind being kissed goodnight once in a while, so this is just one of the many reasons I can't wait to read this heart-pounding novel.  Because of its length, I also know I'll learn an enormous amount of new vocabulary.

The persuasive techniques I used are:

1. Facts
2. Humor
3. Testimonial
4. Word choice
5. Symbol

Image citation:  http://a1.vox.com/6a00c2251cb3f38fdb00d414246a093c7f-500pi

Five Favorite Books

I've learned an important lesson about books over the years, and it's this:  there are far more books out there that will bore you to death, than books that will intrigue you and inspire you. With that said, there are still thousands upon thousands of powerful books as well.  Books that have a way of opening your eyes, and even changing your mind about things.  Here are my five favorite:

1.  Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom:  I put this book at the top of my list for several reasons.  To begin, it's about one of the most important topics any of us could grapple with: living a meaningful life.  Tuesdays with Morrie is a true story about a college professor who is dying. Yet, as Morrie Schwartz is dying, he speaks with one of his old students about the importance of living better, more fully even.  This book, more than any other, has had the greatest impact on the way I live, the way I think, and even the way I teach.  

2.  A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah:  (Mature content) Civil wars have become all too common in Africa, and this nonfiction book relays a story about a child in Sierra Leone who becomes a child soldier.  The book describes, in detail, the atrocities that take place during the war, and the manipulation that takes place in order to convert Ishmael into a child soldier.  This is a fascinating novel, but it's also graphic and emotionally challenging to read.  If you're thinking about reading it for class, you must have permission from you parents.

3.  Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli:  Sometimes the most recent books we've read become our favorites simply because they're so fresh in our minds.  This is partially the case with Milkweed.  However, it's also an amazing story about a child during the beginning of WWII, who wanders the streets of Warsaw, Poland, stealing food and different goods from the rich, and even giving to the poor.  A WWII Robin Hood of sorts.  It's a powerful story, and extremely well written.

4.  A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer:  During my first year teaching in California, a student gave me this book and said, "Mr. Topf, you HAVE TO READ THIS.  It's easily the best book I've ever read."  Sure enough, the story was incredible.  A young child, around the age of eight or nine I believe, grows up in an abusive home.  His father and mother are both alcoholics and the mom take all of her anger, unhappiness, and frustration out on her son, Dave Pelzer.  What makes this even more tragic is the fact that it's a true story.  Every student who has read this book has loved it, and been moved by it.  

5.  Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson:  I read this book last year and it inspired me in so many ways. This is non-fiction, and it follows a man on his journey through Pakistan and Afghanistan, trying desperately to build schools in villages where there are none. In the process he gets captured by the Taliban, watches war break out, and risks his life regularly to help the children get an education.  

More Books:  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Alchemist, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Maus I and II, and so many more...

Anne Frank Soundtrack

Drowning in Insecurity 

1.    “I Could Die For You” – Red Hot Chili Peppers

-       Miep risks her life, helping the Franks and the Van Daans stay alive.  She could die for what she's doing, but continues to sacrifice herself for two and half years.  The Red Hot Chili Peppers' song talks about how someone chooses to be with someone, and how they could die for them.  

2.    “In the End” – Linkin Park

-       This song is a bit nihilistic, because it says that in the end, it doesn’t matter what we do, we’re still going to suffer and die anyway.  I disagree with this message to some extent, but it relates to the people in the secret annex since they struggled to survive, but in the end, they were discovered anyway.

3.    “Gone Daddy Gone” – Gnarls Barkley

-       Gnarls Barkley sings about how the love has gone away.  It’s unclear whom the love is for, but I immediately picture Anne lying down with her father, telling him how she doesn’t love anyone but him.  The love she had for her mother has gone away.

4.    “We Didn’t Start the Fire” – Billy Joel

-       The Franks and the Van Daans are caught in a situation they didn’t create, but are suffering nonetheless.  This song by Billy Joel details things throughout history we have had no control over, but that have affected us in various ways.

5.    “The Way I Am” – Eminem

-       “I don’t mean to be mean, but that’s all I can be, is just me” (Eminem, “The Way I Am”), is a line that reminds me of Anne and her struggle to figure out who she is.  At times she’s confident, and at others she regrets the nasty things she does.  Eminem’s song is about accepting who we are, regardless of what that may be.  As Anne matures, she is coming to terms with her own identity. 

6.    “Don’t Panic” – Coldplay

-       Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, tries to reassure us in this song that, “We live in a beautiful world” (“Don’t Panic).  In order for the families not to panic, they had to convince themselves of this as well, and hope that one day they would be saved by the Allied forces.  (Editor’s Note:  In the citation above, the in-text citation does not include the band’s name because it was already mentioned in that sentence.) 

7.    “Paperback Writer” – Beatles

-       Anne aspires to be a writer.  She dreams of having her words published one day, and this song by the Beatles is about different people who want to be writers as well. 

8.    “Young Love” – Chris Brown

-       The song says, “Since we ain’t 21 they be tryin’ to say it ain’t love” (Brown, “Young Love), and this is connects with what Anne and Peter are struggling with.  As they slowly start to fall in love, Mrs. Van Daan and Mrs. Frank question their intentions and their emotions. 

9.    “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” – Tears for Fears:

-       We all struggle for control over our own lives, but it’s obvious that we are at the mercy of others in so many ways.  That’s essentially what this song is about, and it connects to the play because all eight people in the secret annex are desperately fighting to have some sense of freedom.  Anne wants to be treated like an adult.  Mr. Van Daan wants his cigarettes.  Mr. Dussel desires peace and quiet.  They want to rule their own world, yet they must come to terms with the fact that others influence them.

10.                  “Promiscuous” – Nelly Furtado

-       If you don’t know what promiscuity is, look it up.  This song is all about it, and it correlates perfectly with the characterization of Mrs. Van Daan.  She attempts to be a bit promiscuous with Mr. Frank, and he’ll have none of it.

If Only I Understood...

There are so many things in life that I just don't get.  Let's start with cars.  That's right, the thing I drive every single day.  The thing I've been driving for the last 11 YEARS!  And yet, I must confess, I don't understand a thing about how my car actually works.  I couldn't change my own oil if I had to, so you can imagine how I feel when I hear the breaks start making odd noises, or when the engine doesn't sound quite right.  Ignorance is scary.

Let's move on to cooking.  Yep, I understand how to eat perfectly well.  Place anything in front of me, and I'll know whether I should use a fork, spoon, knife, or whether I should just grab it with my bare hands and scarf it down.  But cooking...hah!  Not a chance.  My cooking repertoire consists of egg sandwiches, a couple pasta dishes, and maybe cookies.  (If I followed the directions, I'm sure I could make some mean chocolate-chip cookies.)  You know, I keep telling myself that I will learn how to cook one day, but the days just keep on passin' by.  Ignorance is annoying.  

We'll end with myself.  I must admit, that sometimes I just do not understand why I do some of the things I do.  I'm like Anne Frank.  I know I should do one thing--like learn to cook--but I do the exact opposite.  I make decisions I know aren't always beneficial.  I say things, and immediately wonder, "What in the world was I thinking?"  But, I will say this: I understand more about myself now, than I ever did when I was 13.  I also understand far more about the world than I ever have before.  And the most important thing I've come to understand and accept, is that I will never understanding everything. Ignorance is unavoidable.    

Understanding My Mom

As much as I love my mom, I never thought to take the time to understand her when I was young. I was a selfish child, and I just assumed other people should try to understand me, not vice versa.  If I was irate or sobbing about something, it was my mom's job to come over with kleenex, wipe the tears and snot from my face, and ask me what's wrong.

It wasn't until I moved away from home that I realized, "Wow, I don't know a whole lot about my mom."  I could tell you anything about Michael Jordan as a kid--where he went to 

college, how many times he'd been MVP, how many championships he'd won, and even when his birthday was (Feb. 17th)--but I couldn't tell you a whole lot about my own mother.  It was a sad realization.

So I sat down one day and did everything I could to get to know her better.  What I learned fascinated me.  She grew up loving horses, and rode them frequently.  She began smoking at an early age and regrets it to this day.  Her father favored her over one of her sisters, and it created a lot of animosity between her and her siblings.  My mom admits to loving the attention she received, but had some vicious fights with her sister Sheryl because of it.  

My mom claimed she was not a good student, and that I got my brains from my father.  But when I brought up the fact that he divorced her and left his children, so he couldn't be that smart, she laughed.  I was serious.  My mom never went to college though,  and got pregnant when she was 18.  She married soon after that, but sadly, her first husband died a few years later.  She stayed away from men for a while, but married my father because, as she claims, "He was soooo good looking."  Yuck.  Unfortunately, their relationship only lasted a couple years and he left my mom once I was born.  She said that she wishes she had made better choices with men, but doesn't regret having four beautiful children.

There is so much more to my mom that I could share, but I think the idea is clear: as I've learned more about my mom over time, and come to understand her better, I can't help but respect her 

more, and love her more, knowing all that she's been through.  She worked so hard to raise four children on her own, lost a husband to a fatal disease, and grew up dealing with constant feuds between her and her sister.  And now, after everything she's been through, she has to struggle 

each and every day with the illness she has.  

I'm just thankful I took the time to try to understand my mom a little better, before it's too late.  

Confronting My Fears

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT:

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

I think old Eleanor might be onto something with that quote.  I know that I've been petrified of doing so many things in my life, and had I not taken the risk to do some of those things, my life would be filled with regret and disappointment.  But it's not, because I have faced, and conquered so many of my fears throughout life.

Some of the biggest fears I've confronted have dealt with moving.  

To start off, I left my family to go to college at the age of 18.  You want to talk about nerve-racking; I had never ever lived away from home, and there I was, moving to a city four hours from my family.  Yikes!  What did I know about living alone?  Nothing.  I couldn't cook, I couldn't clean, and I could barely make my own bed.  Of course I'm exaggerating a little, but it was terrifying to leave a place I had known ALL of my life.  

But I didn't stop there.  Once I conquered that fear, I began to gain more confidence, and I moved even farther away.  At the end of my final year at the university, I left the state of Iowa to teach in California.  All the friends I had made...good-bye.  The girl I was dating...adios.  I knew that I wanted a bigger challenge so I packed up and moved.  And it turned out to be perfect.  I taught at a middle school where I quickly became a leader, met students I'll stay in touch with forever, and designed programs that still help the school today.

But I knew I couldn't stay there either, because I had always wanted to teach internationally. So I took on another fear.  I left the U.S. to come all the way here to Guatemala, a country with so much beauty, but definitely with its fair share of negative publicity.  This didn't stop me.  I wasn't going to let the fear of something terrible happening, prevent me from doing something I wanted to do.  And here I am, a year and a half later, loving it.  The school I teach at is without a doubt the best school I've worked at yet, and I couldn't have asked for a better experience.  

So facing my fears has easily changed my life in so many positive ways.  Every one of those situations terrified me at first.  Not knowing anyone, leaving my comfort zone, risking everything just to move to a different city, state, or country.  But, in the long run, each situation also gave me courage, strength, and confidence to continue facing my fears.  

This is why it's so important to start young.  The kids I see pushing themselves to attempt new things, try out for sports, run for student government, raise their hands in class, and even participate in crazy activities like CAG's Got Talent demonstrate the power of facing our fears.  Those that do, those that have the courage and the confidence to push themselves to experience every aspect of life, continue to grow and live each moment fully.  

DON MIGUEL RUIZ:

"Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to be alive and express what we really are."

Nothing to Fear but...

When I was young, I had some really abnormal fears.  I was afraid of dying in my sleep, of putting my shoe on and feeling a giant spider or snake inside, and I was even afraid of one of my grandma's wigs attacking me.  Abnormal, I know.  But one that was extremely strange and irrational, was my fear of something attacking me while I was going to the bathroom.  Like I said in class, it may have had something to do with a movie I saw, but when I was young, I always panicked a little because I thought something would jump out of the toilet and get me when I was the most vulnerable.  Fortunately, nothing ever did, and I've conquered this ridiculous fear, but it was certainly real for a while.

Nowadays, my fears have become more rational.  Like the fear of losing my mom and not being able to say good-bye.  She has Multiple Sclerosis, and has been unable to walk or feed herself for quite a few years now.  My mom lives in a nursing home where she gets constant care, but I'm always afraid that something will happen to her, and I won't have the chance to say good-bye, or to tell her everything I want to say.  It seems logical to just call her and tell her right now, but I'm also afraid to talk to her about death and things like this.  I keep telling myself I'm going to do it the next time I fly home, but it never feels right.  Maybe this is a fear I need to conquer soon.  

I'm also a little terrified about the state of the world.  Just yesterday, virtually every stock market in the world fell drastically.  Four countries--Russia, Indonesia, Ukraine, and Romania--even closed their stock markets fearing the loss of millions of dollars.  Global warming frightens me, as does the loss of drinkable water.  We take it for granted that all this clean, purified water will continue to just show up, but there are so many countries at this very moment losing access to drinkable water.  And these fears are rational.  They exist because there is a good possibility we could all be affected by these things soon.

With that said, I don't waste my day in a state of anxiety.  That's pointless.  While I'm teaching, or eating, or hanging out with friends, I don't break down and cry because the value of the dollar may crumble, or because I may not have clean water one day.  This would be foolish.  For the most part, I live in the present moment as much as possible and deal with challenges as they arise.  This seems the most rational of all.  

Image citation: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/business/newsid_7660000/7660311.stm

The Significantly Unimportant Role of Beauty

Our society is infatuated with beauty.  We love it.  We crave it.  We pay for it even.  Look at the beautiful cars we drive, the people we pay to make our homes immaculate, and the amount of money we throw away on beauty products.  Beauty has become such an obsession that has distorted our reality.  Rather than being content with who we are and what we have, we constantly degrade ourselves because we're not "perfect" enough.  

I suppose this obsession wouldn't bother so much if we shed a little more light on the inner beauty we all possess.  But it remains hidden.  Movies and advertisements are so fixated on polishing up the exterior, that we rarely have the opportunity to see the beauty that lies within.  And we have to be honest with ourselves too, and admit that very, very few of us look like the people we see on TV.  Why?  Because THEY don't even look like they do on TV.  With makeup and technology, anyone can be transformed into something "beautiful."  The problem is, that isn't true beauty.  True beauty is finding acceptance with what we were given, and learning to embrace our imperfections.  Confidence is beautiful.  Unselfishness is beautiful.  Intelligence and awareness are beautiful.  We should work on cultivating these things, and less time trimming our eyebrows or going to the salon.

Oh, and do I think I'm beautiful.  ABSOLUTELY.  I'm confident, I believe in who I am, I give so much of myself to others, and I look at life as a blessing each and every day.  These things make me far more beautiful than any haircut, or any article of clothing.  

Beauty

"Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."

-  Franz Kafka

For the last few days it's been raining steadily here in Guatemala City. As I write this, it's even a bit chilly. (Brrrr.)  Despite the weather though, and despite my overwhelming desire to crawl into my bed and sleep for hours and hours while it's raining, I need to search for beauty.  I have to find at least one or two things that strike me as beautiful.  

But I'm not looking at this as just the completion of an assignment.  I truly believe it's important for all of us to search for beauty every day, because too often we blindly, and aimlessly stroll through our lives without stopping to look around.

When it comes to beauty, there is so much I could write about.  I could write about the little birds that hobble into my classroom every morning as I get ready for school.  They bob their heads back and forth searching for crumbs of food that my students have left behind.  I could write about the way the rain splashes against the pavement, or how it explodes when it falls into puddles.  I could write about the people I see each day that make me smile.  

But I won't.

Instead I'm going to write about one thing in particular that's beautiful, but that I often overlook.  It's a tree.  I can't tell you the type of tree it is, because I really have no idea, but I can tell you that it's fairly tall, fairly green, and fairly unique.  You see, it has these bristles that, when the

 wind blows through them just right, it looks as if there were luau dancers attached to the tree, dancing through the breeze.  I'm sure people have passed this tree, and even looked at it a thousand times without ever picturing this, but sometimes my imagination takes over and I can't see anything but the giant luau. For me it's a very distinct, beautiful tree.

Finally, the view from my apartment is also captivating.  In the morning I watch as the sun rises and changes the colors of the sky from a dark blue to orange.  Then in the afternoon it slowly fades from gold to dark blue to black.  And even the lights are beautiful in the night, as I think about how much the world has progressed over time.

Regardless of what I encounter each day though, in the end, beauty is not so much WHAT we see, but HOW we see it.  

No Stranger to Anger

I think it's rare for any of us to stop and say, "What is it about me that might annoy people?" Or, "What do I do that might infuriate someone?"  But I know there are so many things I've done, and probably still do, that perturb other people.  

Let's start with driving.  I'm not exactly the safest driver on the road.  I have a tendency to go too fast, and I also cut people off from time to time.   I'm usually a very calm person, and even when I drive I'm pretty laid back, but I just really, really like to go fast and have fun when I'm behind the wheel.  The problem though, is that other drivers don't think it's so fun when I pull right in front of them, or speed up behind them.  They get irked.  They honk.  I wave in an 

apologetic way.  Then they scowl, and I feel bad for making them angry. 

 It's something I've tried working on, because I'll probably get into an accident some day, but sometimes I can't help myself.

Now we'll move on to teaching.  I can't tell you the number of students who have gone ballistic because of something I said or did.  But I want to make something very clear:  I have never once tried to make a student angry, nor have I ever enjoyed seeing a student get angry.  But it has happened.  Usually it has something to do with grades, or the fact that I had them call home about their behavior.  I remember one student in particular who was furious with me because of a grade she received on a speech.  She got 59/60 and was heated with me for two weeks because she thought she earned a 100% and I just didn't want to give her that grade.  I can honestly say I've never seen someone get so upset over 1 point, but in her defense she did work extremely hard on the presentation.  I also vividly remember a girl in California who despised me for the first few weeks of school because I couldn't pronounce her name correctly.  Her name was Andrea, and a good friend of mine had the same name, but she pronounced it differently, so I as accustomed to saying it one way, and it took me a while to adjust.  She was not patient with me, and always became angry when I mispronounced her name.  

I suppose the important thing for me, is to realize that my actions do affect other people in subtle ways and in major ways.  And truthfully, I would much rather be the type of person who makes people happy, rather than someone who makes them enraged.  So, as much as possible, I try to minimize the negative things I do to others.  

Good night!

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Universal Theme Entry #1: Anger

"Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools." - Albert Einstein

"He who angers you, conquers you." - Elizabeth Kenny

I remember having a pretty nasty temper when I was younger.  And I don't really like to blame anyone for it, because I know I'm ultimately responsible for my own actions, but the truth is my mom may have taught me a thing or two about going berserk.

You see, my mom used to smoke, so naturally there were ashtrays laying all over the house:  in the kitchen, on the coffee table, even up in her bathroom.  These ashtrays became ammunition for her whenever my brother Nick or I would make her upset, which was more frequent than I'd like to admit.  If Nick and I were fighting or arguing, and wouldn't stop after she'd yelled at us several times, she would grab the nearest ashtray, wind up like a pitcher in the major leagues, and throw it at one of us as hard as she could.  Normally her aim was way off, thankfully, and I don't think she ever intended to actually hit us, but one time I did catch an ashtray in the back of the head.  It hurt.  I may have bled a bit, too.  But while it did temporarily stop me from fighting with my brother, it unfortunately made me think that it was okay to lose control and even to throw things when I was furious, rather than taking a deep breath and coping with my anger.  (Quick note:  Don't take this story too far out of context.  I love my mother to death, and she did a wonderful job raising my siblings and I.  It's just that she did have a temper, and this might have been the result of things my brothers and I had done.  So I don't want to paint a completely derogatory picture of my mother here.)

Luckily, when I started studying at the University of Iowa, I began taking a variety of classes for my teaching degree like Educational Psychology, Classroom Management, and even a class called Quest for Human Destiny.  All of these classes taught me how to not only control

my anger, but also the anger of others.  They showed me how to put my thoughts into perspective, how to look at the big picture, and how to think deeply about each problem rather than reacting solely based on instinct.  These classes also taught me the very valuable lesson that if I get angry and blow up, the people around me will too.  However, if I remain calm and speak softly, so will others.  Now, after five years of teaching, I have never once had to yell at class or raise my voice.  Even in California, where it was sometimes all too common to walk by a classroom and hear a teacher screaming at the students, I never once had to succumb to that.

Once again though, this was something I had to learn.  I don't think I was born with a calm demeanor, nor was I born with the desire to go irate.  We typically learn from what our environments teach us, and I was fortunate enough to step into a new environment where I discovered an alternative to letting my anger control me.

Some techniques I use on a daily basis to control any anger or frustration are:

• Breathing deeply
• Listening to peaceful music
• Putting my life into perspective by realizing how lucky I am
• Taking pictures
• Working out
• Playing basketball or tennis or going for a bike ride
• Painting or drawing or writing
• SLOWING DOWN

Holocaust Interviews

• Interview #1:   Mr. Olsen -  Middle School Principal

-  What do you know about the Holocaust and World War II?

• 6 million innocent people (men, women and children) were systematically murdered simply because they were different and the world stood by and watched. A proud intelligent nation under a deranged leader were duped into believing in their own superiority, and the inferiority of others. The Holocaust must be recognized as an example of the inhumane potential that exists within us all. 
  

-  What do you hope students learn in the process of studying these events?

• There are so many themes exemplified in the Holocaust (nationalism, prejudice, racism, imperialism, hatred, violence, greed) . Students must examine their own value set within these themes, establish a correct set of beliefs and develop the determination to stand by those beliefs when they are challenged by forces outside of themselves. As middle schoolers a meaningful place to begin is simply to establish an ethical base for the treatment of other humans.
  
  I remember a very cool poem - long ago lost that walked along this line;
  
  First they came for the mentally weak and I did not speak up because it did not affect me.
  Then they came for the physically infirm and I did not speak up because it did not affect me.
  Then they came for the Gypsies and I did not speak up because it did not affect me.
  Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak up because it did not affect me.
  Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me.
  
  Every day we witness man's inhumanity to man from Darfur to CAG, and our focus remains on our own superficial issues -clothes, cars, sports and being cool. Kids need to learn what is important and when it is appropriate to speak up.
  

• Interview #2:  

-  What do you know about the Holocaust and World War II?

-  What do you hope students learn in the process of studying these events?

Being a Teacher/Foreigner in Guatemala

This is not technically my home. I was not born in Guatemala, and I have only spent a little over a year living here. However, it amazes me how much I feel at home in this country. Since moving to Guatemala to teach, I have gone "home" to Iowa twice. And both times, upon returning to Guatemala City, I felt so comfortable, and felt so excited to be back, that I truly do consider this my new home.

But living anywhere has its challenges and its benefits. One obvious difficulty in Guatemala is the safety. I have a mountain bike here, but every time I ride around in the zone where I live, I worry that someone could easily steal my bike from me. At night, it's fairly safe in certain zones to walk around, but once again, there's always the notion that something, anything could happen.

It's not just the safety though. Another challenge is the language. It's nearly impossible to become part of a culture if you can't speak to the people, and for the first six months or so, it was hard for me to order food, get my hair cut, and even shop for groceries.  Fortunately my Spanish has improved a great deal, but there are many times when someone will ask me something, and the only response I can give them is, "Que manda," or, "Otra vez," or, if I'm feeling especially brave, "Lo siento, no te entendi."

Anyone who's traveled or lived in different countries knows that challenges exist everywhere, but so do benefits and beauties. The most beautiful thing about Guatemala for me is the people. Sure the weather is nice--when it's not raining--and there are places which take my breath away. But for me, it's the demeanor of the people that has continued to awe me. And I'm not talking about the people trying to sell me camisas, or pens that say Guatemala. Never have I met a vender in any country and thought, "What a sweet person you are." But the kids I've met, the parents, the friends I have who are Guatemaltecos; are incredibly generous with their time, and open to me as a foreigner. They do not automatically hate me because I'm from the US or because I look differently. Each and every day I experience the warmth of the people here in Guatemala, whether it's the lady that cuts my hair, or my Spanish tutor.

Finally, I also love the fact that I can climb volcanoes here, visit the beach in an hour, travel to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and even see ancient Mayan ruins. The amount of greenery and natural beauty makes me realize that I am lucky, for however long, to be a visitor in Guatemala, but also to call it my home for a few years.