Feeling right at home in Rabinal

By Emily Cohen

Being in Rabinal has been a big change of pace. Instead of the usual Californian life, the roads are mostly dirt and are filled with motorcycles and bicycles and people squeeze over 20 people in a van or pick-up truck. oh and we eat tortillas at every meal! One of the biggest surprises has been the mobility and spryness of the older population. In the U.S. it’s not everyday you see a 70-something year old woman hop into the bed of a pick-up truck to hitch a ride home.

Being thankful is so important and even though my surroundings have drastically changed, I have found my “family away from family.”  Each day I wake up (aka woken up by a rooster), I am surrounded by happiness and love.  I am living with the Tix family (Francisco and Feliza and their five daughters Claudia (18), Gaby (16), Misshell (13), Heydi (14) and Katherine (5)). Francisco is a nurse and Feliza hand weaves the traditional Guatemalan clothing worn by local women.

Each day Feliza makes fresh corn tortillas with every meal (or corn pillows of bliss). We eat meals together either at the table in the center of the house or in the kitchen on little stools. Meals are not only delicious, but also filled with the joyous laughter and joking of Francisco (which reminds me of my dad) and with the exchange of language and culture.

There are countless gestures the Tix family has done to welcome me into their home. Some of my favorite times are at night when the older girls come into my room and we read books about the history of Rabinal.

I am most thankful to have made my newest (5-year-old) best friend here in Rabinal, Katherine.  I have a friend to hug, to dance and sing with, to laugh with, to imagine and pretend with and with Katherine by my side, I never feel alone. Even though the living conditions are very different from what I’m used to, I have realized that when love and happiness are present, nothing else really matters. I am so thankful to live with the Tix family, learn about a new culture and way of life, but mostly to get to know beautiful and loving people.

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