Unforgettable Experience

I came to Guatemala very excited but very nervous, it was my first experience traveling outside of the United States and I had no idea what to expect. Although there were of course some hard moments and struggles it was the best time of my life. There were days when I just wanted to be home, missing family and friends or feeling overwhelmed by being in a new place where things were so different.Those aspects are part of the experience and I really wouldn't change anything about my time there. I loved getting to know a new culture and language while volunteering . I met so many amazing interesting people, and I truly learned a lot, just being immersed in such a different culture, you are forced to step outside of yourself and look at things in a new way and that is just what I wanted. Maximo was a great venue for me to do what I wanted to do.

I loved my placement, I was doing construction and renovation. I was in Antigua for 10 weeks and was able to participate in three different projects. The work was sometimes challenging, I would get frustrated with myself when I could't do something very well. Then I had to remind myself that I had never done the work before , and was learning, and helping people and all I could do was my best. It was amazing to work and be able to see what we had done as a group. It was also awesome to be able to step into the world of the people who lived/ worked at the projects were we where working and interact with those people a bit. I really liked that part.

I loved my life during those ten weeks, I was in a home stay with an incredible warm friendly family, who cooked delicious food every day, three times a day. I had the chance to disconnect from my life at home, slow down and be in the moment with all of these new things. I loved the schedule I was on. I would wake up to an amazing breakfast, I always had other volunteers in the house to enjoy the meals with. Then I would head of to work on the chicken bus which I loved so much. It was such a fun way of traveling around the city. The work was tiring, fun, hard and awesome. By the time lunch came around I was so excited to eat. Lunch is the most important meal there, and in my opinion the best. After lunch I enjoyed relaxing a little, walking around town, to the market, the park, It was great to just enjoy the city. I had class from 4 to 6 pm.Coming to Maximo in the Afternoon was great, it was like home base. you could always connect with other volunteers, use the computers, study in the beautiful courtyard. I felt very lucky to have the chance to work on my spanish, the more spansih you know the more fun your experience will be. You can connect with the people and learn more about the culture, it's fun and exciting! I was able to practice a good amount of spanish during my placement with our director/ foreman, and of course in the home stay. One of the most challenging parts was the language barrier. You are forced to make yourself try, it is scary sometimes. My host family was so patient and spoke slowly. I was absolutely intimidated sometimes, and often If I was feeling tired or down it was exhausting to try and speak Spanish.
My evenings were spent either relaxing, reading/ studying or going out with friends, there is great night life and tons to do in Antigua!

This program is an excellent way to travel, experience a new culture, volunteer and practice spanish, while having a good amount of free time to really enjoy the place you are visiting. I felt very supported the entire time, if you ever need anything the Maximo team will do their best to really help you out.

I am so happy I chose this program and came to Antigua. It opened up my mind and got me excited to do more volunteer work and travel more as well!!!