Inspiration

The spirit of spring

17 September

It is no secret that Guatemala is called the Country of the never-ending spring…I never knew what that meant until I left.

When you live in a country with a continental weather you get into a loop of a “weather narrative” . You start looking at the weather apps with the intention of getting prepared for the weather. You have 0 certainty that you’re getting a good weather day. Sometimes you open the weather app just to realize that you have ten days ahead with clouds and storms. You talk with the people about the weather, you complain about the storms and you never seem satisfied with what the World is offering you until spring arrives.

Don’t get me wrong! I love rain… but life is just different in winter, or fall. You plan to be inside. When you think about a winter scenario you think of staying in, watching a movie, drinking tea, etc. Which is awesome… but still all of these are individual/isolated activities. But once the spring arrives..oh… life gets just awesome! First day of spring you see people outside, doing picnics, taking long walks, people going to the beach, you see all the small terraces filled with groups of people enjoying the spirit of spring. Life is just more colorful, in spring everything is all about the community.

That is the beauty about my country of origin, it’s always spring. Every day is a good day to be outside and enjoy the weather, every day is a good day to hang out with friends, every weekend there is a chance of going to the countryside and enjoy the most amazing views, every day of every week of every month you can create community because the country of never-ending spring is there to invite you to live in the most colorful way.

This spirit of spring is what connects me to Guatemala. This is why, even though I love living in Europe, I never seem to leave this nostalgia of spring behind.

This month, in Wakami we are trying to understand what connects us with Guatemala? And specially what connects us all? Not only Guatemalans but also expats who love our country, people who left, people that never came back, people that always come back…. We wanted to understand what we have in common. Because only by understanding what we have in common we will be able to build bridges that unite us despite our differences.