3 Weeks Deep. Surreal. Discomfort. Togetherness and Volcanoes.

Let me start this post by disclaiming that I wasn’t sure how “regular” my posts were going to be on this trip.  Given that this is my second post in over 3 weeks, I’d say I’m doing great, but that opinion is open to interpretation. Also, btw, for those of you that are actually interested in what we’re doing and can’t handle going more than a day without learning about our ridiculous antics, I urge you to follow our Instagram account as we upload multiple pictures every day with brief anecdotes.

My last post ended with us essentially landing in Belize.  Man, that was a trip (see what I did there).  Everyone was pretty tired but also filled with a mixture of enthusiasm and angst, trying to process what we had just gotten ourselves into.  That was the infamous “point of no return” that I had always talked about; although technically speaking we can always give up and turn this ship around at any moment and just go home so really the option for “return” is there...but what I mean to say is that it really wasn’t going to feel real until we got ourselves on that first flight and landed in our first destination.  And you know what’s interesting,? It still didn’t feel real.  For the first few days that we hung out at our spot in Hopkins, Belize there was both an overwhelming feeling of relief/release, alongside feeling extremely surreal about our situation.  It simply did not feel like it was happening, and it was impossible to comprehend that we were in-it-to-win-it for an entire year.

Enough of that.  Belize was an “interesting” start to the trip.  It wasn’t the comfortable high-end resort style situation that the kids (and we) have become accustomed to when we travel abroad.  But that’s the point, right? And  it’s what our living situation over the next 12 months is going to be like.   The concept of “discomfort” is a big deal for this journey.  What I mean by that, is that we have been raising our kids in a very comfortable, well insulated, bug-free, bubbled environment in the SF Bay Area.  We do what we can to show them the realities of the world, but at the end of the day they always have the comfort of their home and beds and friends and family and Castro Street and their regular eating spots and of course, Daddy’s BBQ, which is legendary (their words not mine, ha), and an “always know what’s in front of them mentality”.  Man, that is just not the way the world works, and we would be doing them a disservice as their parents to not open their eyes to that.

One of the more significant memories I have of the first couple of weeks is observing the kids, and ourselves, adjust to the discomfort of it all.  The heat, and oh boy, the bugs.  We were all eaten alive by bugs, mostly mosquitoes, regardless of how much DEET we lathered ourselves with.  My heart broke at times to see how itchy and bumpy and miserable that made the kids...but they dealt with it, and had a hard realization that we weren’t in Kansas anymore.  And it wasn’t just the bugs, but the SPIDERS.  Not sure if any of you reading this have ever been to Belize before, but they have some real spiders.  I mean--holy shit--like the kind that Spider Man will want nothing to do with.  That along with the paranoia of getting bitten at night, made for poor sleep for all.  So that is part of the reason why Belize was interesting to start with. 

Note:  I’m not writing about any of the awesome, fun, eye-opening, adventurous, good times; again, refer to our Instagram account for everything beautiful on a regular basis. 

Last thing I wanted to say about Belize is that my eldest, Zayan, finished his diving certification.  I logged 4 dives alongside him, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t shed a tear in my snorkel mask 40-ft beneath the surface of the ocean watching my first born son realize his dream of exploring the world's oceans, and taking one step towards his goal of becoming a marine biologist.  Well done Z, well done.

So here we are now, and here I am, sitting in Antigua, Guatemala at 5,000-ft above sea level writing this post.  Let me tell you, "oh wow"!  I love Guatemala.  From our 2-night luxury break in a high end hotel, to our exploring of the ancient ruins of Tikal, to hanging out in Flores, to now this heavenly city adjacent to volcanoes, this is such an amazing country.  The people are genuine, and make you feel at home everywhere you go.  If Antigua is not on your bucket list, it should be...full of so much character and history, good food, and amazing sights to see. 

In Antigua, we volunteered for a week with a local non-profit named De La Gente, working with some local coffee farmers to cultivate their crop.  Not sure I have words to explain what it was like to hike up the side of a volcano for 1.5hrs, where the soil is most fertile, and to put in some real work weeding, digging holes, and planting young plants.  The farmers were so grateful, and it was a real experience.  The experience gave all of us some level of appreciation for what it means to put that cup of coffee in our hands every morning -- the effort it takes, and the lives that it impacts.  Just beautiful. 

Then there’s the volcano.  Yesterday we did a late afternoon hike up an active volcano (Pacaya).  I guess I had underestimated what was meant by the words “active”, “marshmallow roasting”, and “you will see lava”.  I was not expecting an experience like that.  It was majestic and spiritual; we were above the clouds, and at the same time beneath the greatness of the earth...does that make sense?  Again, hard to describe in words.  It was cool to see Aila and the kids be so mesmerized and into it and soak in the glory of Mother Nature, and how small and amazing that made everyone feel.  Just, wow.

Anyway, that is just a snippet of what has been going on for us.  I want to end this post with the concept of togetherness.  I certainly didn’t have an expectation of this trip that it would be like "Disneyland" and all of a sudden everyone would be well behaved, not fighting, without tears, etc., but I did have the expectation that we would be together-- all 5 of us, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.  Let that soak in for a second, especially for all you families with kids out there.  There is literally no separation, at all.  Jesus.  We are always together.  Oh man, just writing that makes my fingers tremble.  But I tell you what-- it’s been amazing.  Just in 3 weeks, as we all grow as individuals, and as a collective unit, it has been such a beautiful blessing to have spent this time as a family.  We learn something new about each other every day, and for me in particular that is one of my cornerstone concepts for this trip--uninterrupted family time.  I am who I am because of these 4 human beings that are with me and without them I would be lost.  Aila checked in with me a few days ago and asked me if I had any regrets about this choice we had made to do what we’re doing.  Without hesitation, unequivocally, I responded by saying absolutely not.  I am having an amazing time and thank you for your time in reading what’s on my mind.  Talk to you soon.