Written by: Tanner Linhard
Last workday. Although we started off with our usual routine—getting our gear situated, heading down to Violetta’s for breakfast, and then heading out to our assigned worksites—everything felt different. Everyone was much quieter than usual. The walk to Violetta’s was almost completely silent, as was sitting down and eating the French toast she had prepared for us. We were all quietly reminiscing about the trip in our heads and collectively wondering how a month-long trip filled with a plethora of experiences could be over in an instant. It was no doubt a bittersweet feeling for me.
During the work day, Team 1 finalized their painting project in Santa Maria De Jesus before converting their bodies into human jungle gyms, as shown by Pablo in the picture below. Team 2 also completed their work in Jocotenango and received thank-you notes from students in the form of drawings and finger paintings. As for Team 3, we put the finishing touches on the water system and bathrooms that we had installed in a house a neighborhood north of the community center in San Antonio. It was some of the toughest work that I have done here and the most rewarding. Working with others for the collective good is quintessential to humanity’s survival and sustainability, and I am very proud to have worked with my teammates to help the wonderful people of Guatemala.
When the workday was done, all three teams rendezvoused for our final meal at Violetta’s. There was some minor chatter, but it was still very quiet in comparison to most of our days. We said our final goodbyes to Violetta, Fernando, and our mentors before heading back to the Purpose Hostel. We did not have Spanish class today, so we had the afternoon to ourselves. Our time off was mostly spent walking around Antigua for the last time, eating dinner at our favorite places, and packing up for the trip home. Our bus to the airport will pick us up at 0300 so tomorrow will come quickly.
I do not have any final words of wisdom, so I thought I would leave you with a few lines from one of my favorite poems, “If” by Rudyard Kipling, which relates to many of our experiences here in Guatemala. Thank you.
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run—
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
