Re-viewing
Daily writing experience - day 5
Re-viewing
In Guatemala, the school year runs from mid January to mid October. This allowed students to be available for harvest season.
In the United States, the school year runs from early September to late May, largely for the same reason - harvest.
The demand for student labor during harvest has plummeted since the school schedules were set, however the school schedules remain the same even though their original mission is no longer relevant today.
Our family arrived in January 1996 in Las Cruces, New Mexico from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. My father drove the 8 people in the family 1,965 miles (3,163 km) in a lime green Chevy Van with a white line around its middle, like a belt.
We arrived with only what the van could carry with 8 passengers inside, including a 6 month old baby girl. And only my father spoke some English. The other 7 of us had absolutely zero English.
Interestingly this wasn't the first road trip of this length for me in this car. Our father had driven our mom, and the eldest three children from Guatemala City in the same Chevy Van to Los Angeles, California when I was 2ish.
At 9, I landed in a completely different world, with a language I didn't know, into a third grade class community which was already solidly established.
Looking at my past from my adult vantage point, I was in a unique, vulnerable and interesting situation, filled with opportunity and peril.
I can now recognize how much my past experience allowed me to gain insights that I'm finally willing and able to tap into after working to overcome the trauma that had covered powerful insights.
I'll be revisiting these powerfully shaping personal experiences with my adult eyes to “review” what I experienced with the intention of uncovering, collecting and sharing insights based on what I know today.
Insight from hindsight to use in the present and inspire future action.
I'll be processing these by writing and sharing here. Just like I did today! No promises though… This process could shift in ways I can't anticipate!
Is there any timeframe in your life you'd like to revisit to find hidden treasures?