Baby's First Post

Yooooo! Welcome to the blog I made like fifteen seconds ago! For those of you weird enough to Google me (mostly my friends who thought they were funny-- especially you, Kellie), this is TOTALLY different from the blog from 2009 that talks about my "Jewish identity" in really awful prose. So expect something different, less stupid, and more heartfelt, less bored, and more adventurous (and hopefully more intelligently and sophisticatedly written). And I should probably explain in full why I'm writing this: I wanted to keep a more public journal of my adventures and misadventures in Panajachel, Guatemala, where I'll be filling my mind with Mayan history and my heart with Mayan culture, in a small town/village called Concepcion on Lake Atitlan. Facebook is going to be so far from home with such little time, and sending 9,483,404,982 emails to people isn't on my list of fun things to do. Plus typing helps my hands keep up with my head, and I won't get carpal tunnel from trying to handwrite everything in a tiny diary. 

I also wanted to keep track of how much I change from this trip, because I guess it's inevitable. One of my professors at school told me after spending a year in Mozambique and South Africa, it took her some time to get used to seeing white people around. My stint in Central America is really short compared to her experience, but I'm anticipating monumental change all the same. I thought just moving from a small, private Jewish school to enormous College Park, Maryland made me into a different person, so I can't wait to see how living in an entirely new community in a different country on almost a different continent will change me. I have zero idea what to expect-- Guatemala isn't a third-world country, but I'm also in a relatively remote area with no tourism and a traditional people who have literally been here for thousands of years. 

That said, there are some things I don't see changing so quickly. I'm still a teenager, and I speak with a lot of slang and I curse (but I'll try to be good). I write how I speak, so this blog is going to be basically like talking to me, just over the computer a couple thousand miles away. If I say something that sounds confusing or just a weird expression in general, definitely let me know! I'm going to try to post photos as well, you know, so you can balance out my boring posts with some visual stimulation. Please tell me what you think, though! Don't just sit and listen, raise your hand if you can help it ;)

I'll try to write again soon after I get there, and I'll say more interesting stuff that's not boring, obligatory introduction. 

xxxx