Reminiscing the happy moments!
At the start of the program as we were boarding the plane from Phoenix, I was stressing out on the fact that in just two weeks I would have to work with everyone and write down a report on our experience. The fact that made anxious was that will I be able to enjoy at all or just be working all the time. By the time we landed in Guatemala City and got into our bus, everyone in the group got to know each other and since then, I felt this nervousness slowly decreasing. I realized that it is people with whom I am going to work and have fun too, so I do not need to worry and just go with the flow. As days proceeded, everyone knew everyone in the group and got to know each other’s fun side that helped in breaking the ice. The first eight days of the program were a mix of intense work and relaxation and the anxiety I felt initially was long gone by then.
The last location that we stopped at was Lake Atitlan that is a humungous lake surrounded by tall and lush volcanic mountains. To get to our hotel we had to go around the mountains that were covered with dense fog, but as the mist cleared out gradually we were all mesmerized by the serene blue waters of the lake down the valley with beautiful clusters of villages around it. Lake Atitlan was supposed to be a decompressing destination for us and a place where we could work to bring our individual pieces together and also get a good cultural experience of Guatemala. The purpose and direction of this particular study abroad program was towards happiness and I strongly felt that it was because of that that everyone in the group was able to not only learn something new about others, but also learn something new about them.
Guatemala is supposedly the happier nation and I wanted to witness and understand their source of happiness through this program. What I figured in those ten days is that they are happier because Guatemalans are always cheery and warm-hearted no matter what they are going through. Traversing through the country with an amazing bunch of friends was not only amusing, but also enlightening from beginning to end. Although the study abroad program experience was short, the impact it has had on me will stay for life. The biggest gain from this program was not a better understanding of why Guatemalans are happier, but it was this loving family of faculty and friends that taught me that building strong human-to-human bonds is indeed absolute happiness.
