Guest Post: Alejandra

February's Guest Post comes from my cousin, Alejandra, in Guatemala! She's growing up and teaching me a lesson along the way...

Life Is An Adventure

A couple of months ago, I went to a “Feria del Libro” (Book Fair) that was installed in my university. I live in Guatemala City, and this activity is a way to motivate students from San Carlos University to buy and read books. They don’t only sell new books but also used ones. I went there only to sniff around because my personal budget that day was Q15 (quetzal), which is about $2.00, not really a fortune. While I was looking at the titles I found one, by the cover I knew it wasn’t new, it was very worn out. The title was “Spark of Life” and I honestly don’t know what called my attention. Maybe, its English title – a great source to practice a language I’ve been try to dominate, English – or its irresistible price of Q10 which matched perfectly with my budget, I don’t know exactly why, but I bought it. I started to read it, it’s about people’s life in a concentration camp and their suffering during the II World War. However, the book captivated me for other reasons first of all, it was written in 1952, but I have on my hands the printing of November 1964! The book is about one century old, so when I first opened it I could smell this particular fragrance that is a mix of humidity, old age and experiences. Second, when I flicked through it I could read in the last page a stamp with an address in Puerto Rico, it belonged to someone there. It lead me to imagine the great stories and anecdotes it could tell us if it could talk, imagine all the people it has met and how many of them thought it was interesting enough to read it, imagine how many places it has visited. It was printed in USA, it belonged to someone in PR and now it’s here in Guatemala, with me. 

But why am I telling you this story about the book?? Last month I turned 22 and this is my senior year at University, so it’s a year of reflection and decisions.  I have to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life because I don’t want to waste my time or later regret not doing things, or making mistakes, but then I thought, what if do all of these things?? What if I make mistakes and lose my way??  I realized I’m afraid of growing older… But, then I just got it, growing up might be hard but also exciting because it’s sort of an adventure. I see my grandmother and my mom – Grandma’s younger version, and my older version (hopefully) - They’re women who built their characters through hard experiences, but in the battle with life they won. Growing up is like the book, it’s a compendium of experiences and moments that build you character and make you be who are. I understood that old things are beautiful too in their own particular way because each wrinkle, mark and stain are memories, good or bad they teach you something, and they are the proof that adventure exists, even in a book cover…

{Grandma and Mom}

 So I’ll try to live my life according with what I think is correct, I’ll fight my own battles if I have to, and with God’s help I hope to be able to get something good out of it. If I make mistakes, they’ll just mean a learned lesson for the future and if I get hurt, it’ll just mean I have scars to be proud of. I’m ready, are you??

-Alejandra