A Whole New World by Shamir Desir

     "Phones away, passports away!¨ Ms. Dalton and Mr. Martinez said. Carlos, our bus driver, had arrived to the Guatemala City airport ready to escort us to our homestays in Antigua. The native Guatemalans outside stared at us, observing our clothes, our faces, our moves. On our bus ride to Antigua , I felt like a tourist. I took a picture of every beautiful thing I saw.


     Our second day in Antigua, we met the students at the school in San Pedro. The feeling I felt when I walked into the courtyard full of little Guatemalan kids was something I never felt before. We were excited to see them and they were excited to see us. They welcomed us by performing a couple of pieces and by singing songs including their national anthem. This assembly blew me away by their cordial and organized acts to us.


     My third grade students at San Pedro are awesome. They drive me a little crazy sometimes but they still learn and find a way to make me laugh and smile all the time.


     Saturday, June 11th, 2016. Our community service day was dedicated to planting trees. When I heard it was a 20 minute walk to where we were actually going to plant the trees, I have to admit, I was not so happy. But the walk did not feel so long because although we were walking in a straight line on a thin narrow path, we managed to talk , make each other laugh and check on each other. After planting trees, we were told we were going to climb rocks where a waterfall was flowing. I was so nervous of potential injuries. We made it through by talking and encouraging each other. It was a great experience because not many teenagers can say they did what we did. It was an amazing team building activity.  I learned to trust my classmates more and to expect the unexpected.


     One night,  my roommates and I went on FaceTime with another student at PHA. We shared with her our experiences so far."Oh my goodness, I feel like my friends are in a whole new world!" , she said. It truly does feel like it.