Guatemala Part 1

I know I haven't blogged in a month (exactly a month, actually) but I was doing nanowrimo! I was traveling! I am now going to distract you with lavish imagery about my trip to Guatemala to distract you from being mad at me!

I didn't have Internet during my visit to Central America, so this blog is a few days behind reality. I hope you enjoy hearing about my trip! :)

---

Dec 1, 2010

I am currently sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth airport, about to get on a plane to Guatemala City. I literally have no idea what to expect for the next three days of my life, despite this trip itinerary I have sitting beside me that just sounds like words as I look over it at this point.

But first, let me back up a little bit.

I haven't blogged in over a month, which I feel terrible about, but I had legitimate reasons. First I was at Wrockstock from November 5-8 (which was amazing, as usual) and then I found myself in LA for another five days or so. When I finally got home I was so behind on NaNoWriMo that I pretty much spent the remainder of the month balancing writing my novel and keeping my sanity in check.

I had a lovely Thanksgiving at home with my family and some of their old friends from North Dakota, Justin and I bought a Wii for our house and set it up, and I hit 50,000 words on my novel on November 30th around 2:30 in the afternoon. After the hectic nature of November and touring with ALL CAPS in October, I was kind of really looking forward to a semi-quiet December at home, but as I'm sure you've all realized by reading my blog, such is not the nature of my life.

I got a call from my contacts at Save the Children about a week ago (the same organization I went to Washington DC with earlier this year for Advocacy Day at the Senate) asking if I would be interested in going on a trip with them to Guatemala to film from my perspective what they're doing down there and to vlog about the experience. I figured it would be sometime in the distance future, with plenty of time to prepare physically and mentally for visiting another country with such a different style of living. However, the trip they were inviting me on was not in fact in the distant future but instead only a week in the future.

Nervous as I was, how could I possibly say so? I couldn't, that's how. The excitement I felt at such an amazing opportunity vastly outweighed the slight apprehension I felt about how little notice I had to get ready.

So… now I am about to leave for what I am assuming is going to be one of the coolest things I have ever done. I will be sure to blog about everything. This is an experience I want to remember in rich, vivid colors, and not let any of the details slip through the cracks of my memory. :)