{"id":13273,"date":"2025-10-03T13:44:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T21:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=13273"},"modified":"2025-10-03T13:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T21:55:08","slug":"my-exerience-al-entremundos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/my-exerience-al-entremundos\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"My exerience al ENTREMUNDOS"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY THOMAS LANG<\/p>\n

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 Tom\u00e1s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Google, I found out about ENTREMUNDOS . Back then, besides training NGOs and community leaders, ENTREMUNDOS also offered group volunteer opportunities.<\/p>\n

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 Atitl\u00e1n. 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We stayed at a hostel in San Juan La Laguna, where the organization Xe Kuku Abaj opened the doors to Tz\u2019utujil 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Here in the United States, a new school year is starting\u2014and in my case, I am starting a new adventure: my first year as a high school Spanish teacher. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s degree in Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE). I began my work as a translator for ENTREMUNDOS Magazine in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 Tom\u00e1s de Castilla, in Izabal, as a port of call. This initial contact with Guatemala was short, lasting just a few hours, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[453,1806,1,422],"tags":[5203,5206,5036,5174,5209,4463,4235,1218,5208,5207,5205,5204,3809],"class_list":["post-13273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frontpage-en","category-social-situation","category-uncategorized","category-women","tag-abroad","tag-between-worlds","tag-community-organizations","tag-community-work","tag-cultural-excursions","tag-dignity","tag-environment-en","tag-human-rights","tag-leaders","tag-organization","tag-social-work","tag-translations","tag-volunteering-en"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img59-e1759527681560.jpg?fit=614%2C873&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-3s5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3114,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/guate-in-graphs\/guatemalas-public-spending-worst-in-the-world\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":13273,"position":0},"title":"Guatemala’s public spending: Worst in the world?","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 junio, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The World Bank rated Guatemala last in the world in public spending and government revenues and near the bottom in public investment in its 2014 report \u201cGuatemala\u2019s Econonic DNA.\u201d The graphs\u00a0above compare revenues, public spending, and social investment as a percent of GDP (a measure of the production of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abGuate in Graphs\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Guate in Graphs","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/economy\/guate-in-graphs\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/guatemalaworldbankworst.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/guatemalaworldbankworst.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/guatemalaworldbankworst.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/guatemalaworldbankworst.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3147,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/guate-in-graphs\/guatemalas-poverty-statistics-compared-to-the-region\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":13273,"position":1},"title":"Guatemala’s poverty statistics compared to the region","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 junio, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Rates of poverty\u00a0and extreme poverty in Guatemala have both been increasing, while the rates of most other countries in the region are decreasing.. The chart below from ECLAC\u2019s 2015 Social Panorama report\u00a0also shows\u00a0that the poor are getting poorer in Guatemala, while in most other countries in the region this is\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abGuate in Graphs\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Guate in Graphs","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/economy\/guate-in-graphs\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending18.png?fit=921%2C620&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending18.png?fit=921%2C620&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending18.png?fit=921%2C620&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending18.png?fit=921%2C620&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3167,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/guate-in-graphs\/guatemalas-low-government-debt\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":13273,"position":2},"title":"Guatemala’s low government debt","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 junio, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Some countries decide not to fund social programs or social investments so they don\u2019t accumulate too much debt. But Guatemala has one of the lowest debt burdens in the region, so its low social spending and investment can\u2019t be attributed to debt aversion. This chart, from the 2017 report \u201cConsensus\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abGuate in Graphs\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Guate in Graphs","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/economy\/guate-in-graphs\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending25.png?fit=921%2C491&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending25.png?fit=921%2C491&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending25.png?fit=921%2C491&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/socialspending25.png?fit=921%2C491&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3189,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/guate-in-graphs-last-in-the-world-in-public-spending\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":13273,"position":3},"title":"Guate in Graphs: Last in the world in public spending?","author":"EntreMundos","date":"7 agosto, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The World Bank rated Guatemala last in the world in public spending and government revenues and near the bottom in public investment in its 2014 report \u201cGuatemala\u2019s Econonic DNA.\u201d The graphs compare revenues, public spending, and social investment as a percent of GDP (a measure of the production of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abEconomy\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/economy\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/publicspendingi.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/publicspendingi.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/publicspendingi.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/publicspendingi.png?fit=921%2C554&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7146,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/the-bones-still-speak\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":13273,"position":4},"title":"The Bones Still Speak: The War in Guatemala","author":"EntreMundos","date":"5 agosto, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a critic of the book Guatemala: Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny. If the bones of the dead speak why should the living be quiet? -Humberto Ak\u2019 abal, K\u2019iche\u2019 Maya poet (1952-2019) By Jason Klarl It\u2019s dawn, or maybe dusk.\u00a0 A young guerrillero in the EGP holds a machine gun\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCorruption\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/corruption\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/167.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/167.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/167.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/167.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/167.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2386,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/environment\/drought-canicula-and-climate-change-in-guatemala\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":13273,"position":5},"title":"Drought, Can\u00edcula and Climate Change in Guatemala","author":"EntreMundos","date":"9 marzo, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Cover Photo: CONRED By Paris Rivera,\u00a0Climatologist, INSIVUMEH (National Institute for Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology) Guatemala usually experiences drought when the temperature of the Pacific Ocean is warmer than normal, a phenomenon known as El Ni\u00f1o. When oceanic-atmospheric conditions favor El Ni\u00f1o, drought and extended can\u00edculas are possible. This occurs\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abClimate Change\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Climate Change","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/environment\/climate-change\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/14889992627_d5edcf33a9_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/14889992627_d5edcf33a9_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/14889992627_d5edcf33a9_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/14889992627_d5edcf33a9_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/14889992627_d5edcf33a9_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13274,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13273\/revisions\/13274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}