My exerience al ENTREMUNDOS

BY THOMAS LANG

I visited Guatemala for the first time in December 2016. I ended up there almost by accident: I was on a Christmas cruise with my family that included Santo Tomás de Castilla, in Izabal, as a port of call. This initial contact with Guatemala was short, lasting just a few hours, but was long enough for the beauty of the landscape to enchant me.

When the holidays were over, I went back to college with a newfound interest in Guatemala. I signed up for a course on Latin American politics, and when the Professor asked us to pick a country to research, I didn’t doubt for a minute: I wanted to research Guatemala. This project, which was only supposed to last the semester, became my academic focus for the rest of my undergraduate career. I researched the CICIG (International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala) and analyzed how that model of anticorruption agency was also implemented in Honduras.

The truth was that reading articles and researching Guatemalan politics from afar was not enough to satisfy my curiosity. I wanted to learn more about Guatemala: I wanted to explore its nature, learn more about its rich cultural history, and, of course, get to know its people. I decided to find a way to return to Guatemala, even if for just a few days.

Thanks to Google, I found out about ENTREMUNDOS . Back then, besides training NGOs and community leaders, ENTREMUNDOS also offered group volunteer opportunities.

I reached out to Lila Icks, then the Volunteer Coordinator, and we planned a trip for students from my school who wanted to learn more about Guatemala. We spent a week on the shores of the beautiful Lake Atitlán. The focus of our service project was collaboration with the Guatemalan Housing Alliance, who we supported in the construction of a house in San Pablo La Laguna.

We stayed at a hostel in San Juan La Laguna, where the organization Xe Kuku Abaj opened the doors to Tz’utujil culture for us through tours and cultural excursions. Above all, I remember the unforgettable meals we shared with families who, very generously, welcomed us into their homes to teach us to prepare traditional regional meals. Years later, I still tell the story of how my friends and I tried learning how to make tortillas by hand. While ours turned out lopsided and irregular, I have never had tortillas as delicious as the ones we tried there, prepared by expert hands from freshly-ground corn.

After returning home, I wanted to keep in touch with ENTREMUNDOS and continue to follow its work. That is where my interest in translating for the Magazine began. I have volunteered as a translator continuously since the summer of 2018. Over the years, I have translated articles about innumerable organizations and leaders who fight to protect human rights, the environment, and the dignity of all.

Here in the United States, a new school year is starting—and in my case, I am starting a new adventure: my first year as a high school Spanish teacher. It’s an opportunity that fills me with excitement, but at the same time I feel a heavy weight on my shoulders. My new responsibilities are taking up a lot of my free time, and I can no longer give the translation of Revista ENTREMUNDOS the effort it deserves. Therefore, with this short message, I say goodbye. Many thanks to the team at ENTREMUNDOS for the warm welcome and opportunity you have given me. And thank you, readers, for your support. Maltiox.

Thomas Lang, from Williston, Vermont, USA, studied International Relations and Spanish at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. I taught English in Hiroshima, Japan. I now teach in Spain while pursuing a Master’s degree in Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE). I began my work as a translator for ENTREMUNDOS Magazine in 2018.