Hidden Treasure

In between the green trees and dark mountains of Guatemala lie los pueblos de oro, no, rather, the sparkling diamonds of a beautiful life. What seems at a glance to be concrete and rusted tin and poverty and danger turns out to be the hidden jewels of a simple but rich life. Even largely unrealized to the inhabitants, these treasure chests carry a value more important than money and glamour and luxury. Though few come searching, the rare that mine these fields find a part of the very soul of the earth. And dwelling in eternity, as souls do, the treasure waits to be discovered and rediscovered by any who choose to hunt a different kind of diamond.

This was my journal entry written as we we're riding on the bus out of Xela. At the end of the trip, it struck me that more than one person told me to tell others about Guatemala. Tell them you had a good time, tell them it's beautiful, tell them it's not so dangerous, they'd say. While all those things are true, I found it so interesting that they wanted so badly for people to know the truth about Guatemala, versus the overload of negative ideas out there about the developing country.

Returning from Guatemala has been an exhausting process, but leaving this time was much different from leaving last year. At the end of my trip last year, I was excited to come home and see family and friends again, but something felt wrong about leaving Xela. The trip back this year opened up the wound a bit at first. However, it seemed to have healed in two weeks. Leaving this time felt right, like I had a chance to say goodbye properly knowing my home is not in Guatemala, though I'll always love it there.