After Guatemala, Arizona to Montana

Posted on July 23, 2015 by jehollow
Aisling Force

After Guatemala, Arizona to Montana

By Aisling Force

It’s crazy to think that it has already been nearly two months since the Guatemala study abroad course ended. Since the experience, I have traveled two extra weeks in Guatemala and moved from Arizona – where I resided for the last two years in order to complete my masters program – to Montana. Since arriving in Montana, I have been extremely busy with guiding rafting tours on a picturesque river that floats from Yellowstone north past Bozeman. The impact of my Guatemala experience finds ways to embed itself throughout my raft guiding life in Montana.

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Final destination: Lake Atitlan

Posted on June 2, 2015 by jehollow
Aisling Force

Final destination: Lake Atitlan

By Aisling Force

After almost two weeks together, we made it to Atitlan – a major lake in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. The journey here has involved numerable hours on the bus, connecting with old friends and new. The bus journeys have created many moments of self-reflection on the experiences had in various activities and destinations. Looking out its windows, I have also been confronted with passing sensations from the views as we pass Guatemala’s innumerable ‘pueblos’ and ‘paisajes’.

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Guatemala neighborhoods new and old

Posted on June 2, 2015 by jehollow
Aisling Force

Guatemala neighborhoods new and old

By Aisling Force

I don’t know what it is about the journey that inspires me to write. Today we departed from Zacapa, an area we focused the last two days learning about housing development for communities in need of a dependable roof over their heads. The overall experience was different than I expected. I now feel concretely more aware of what it means to provide people sufficient shelter and tradeoffs likely to be encountered in the process.

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Antigua, Guatemala

Posted on May 27, 2015 by jehollow
Aisling Force

Antigua, Guatemala

Aisling Force

In Antigua, day three on the journey of Guatemalan discovery starts right with a rich strong large latte at a café a block from our hotel. The café opens up to the Parque Central where shade and sunshine mark the continuous crossing of paths of locals and tourists alike. I find this place pleasant for socializing and watching the morning begin. Named ‘El Portal’, this café has become our usual hang out. Pondering the title, I find it fitting– the hallway or portal – the doorway into Antigua.

Central Park, Antigua
Central Park, Antigua

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Leaving on a Sunday jet-plane

Posted on May 5, 2015 by jehollow
Aisling Force

Leaving on a Sunday jet-plane

By Aisling Force

Here I am, at Sky Harbor International Airport, ready to travel down south again, to Latin America, a place I know and love. But this time is going to be different. I am on my way to experience new places, and for that I am excited. I am so accustomed to Costa Rica at this point, after working and living there several times over the last nine years. Just in the last year I have been to Costa Rica twice to complete my applied project for the Master’s in Sustainable Solutions program, where I worked with a company to build a sustainability business plan. Over the next five weeks, I believe I am in store for something quite enlivening, new understandings of how to work in an international context.

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