{"id":3219,"date":"2017-02-21T11:12:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T15:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crosscultural\/?p=3219"},"modified":"2017-02-21T11:15:15","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T15:15:15","slug":"comfortable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/2017\/02\/21\/comfortable\/","title":{"rendered":"Comfortable?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Comfortable?<\/h6>\n

Are we comfortable?
\nBeing so far away from friends and family
\nNot understanding half of what is going on
\nStruggling to communicate what we are thinking?<\/p>\n

Are we comfortable\u2026
\nStaying with families who don\u2019t have hot water and others who do
\nLiving in a gated community with guards
\nGetting catcalled in the street?<\/p>\n

Are we comfortable\u2026
\nSeeing kids working in the dump to earn $3-4 a day
\nEating at a McDonalds that is nicer than the ones in the states
\nHaving an indigenous maid our same age<\/p>\n

Are we comfortable\u2026
\nSaying no to the kid who asks for a few coins
\nWalking in the street after our phones were stolen
\nEnjoying hot springs after a breathtaking hike up a volcano?<\/p>\n

Are we comfortable\u2026
\nSitting on the toilet for the 7th time in a day with a trashcan in front of us
\nSticking out no matter how hard we try to fit in
\nWith the countless effects our country has had on Guatemala<\/p>\n

But\u2026<\/p>\n

Are THEY comfortable?
\nWith our awkwardness
\nThe history of our country
\nOur money, our power?<\/p>\n

Are they comfortable\u2026
\nHosting someone they hardly know, a stranger
\nWhen we need so much help and attention
\nWhen we just don\u2019t get it<\/p>\n

Are they comfortable\u2026
\nWith our Spanish blunders,
\nSharing life with us,
\nInviting us into their family?<\/p>\n

Are they comfortable\u2026
\nTalking to a bunch of look-like-tourists,
\nHaving people take pictures of their ordinary life,
\nSharing their lives and stories with people they will never see again<\/p>\n

Are we comfortable here?
\nAre they comfortable with us?<\/p>\n

-Sarah Beth Ranck<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
K’ekchi Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A Weekend in a K\u2019ekchi Village<\/h6>\n

The civilized are just like us
\nThe uncivilized are just like us
\nWe find ourselves the same place
\nEnjoying the same things: conversation,
\nFood, and fellowship, the presence of laughter.
\nWe are brainwashed with the reality
\nOf wealth and happiness, yet we can
\nNever stop or even slow down and enjoy
\nThe various presences of each other and
\nOur qualities.<\/p>\n

We create the stigmas and stereotypes, but
\nWhen a pure two year-old screams at
\nYour sight, you realize the almighty white person
\nWas a stigma all his own.
\nWE pushed them to the margins
\nWithout listening or seeing.<\/p>\n

They have JUST as much to offer.
\nProbably more.
\nWe just need to slow down.
\nStrip away the electronics, brand names,
\nThe English language, and the stigmas.
\nIn this moment, when we are no more
\nAnd no less than them, we realize
\nWe are all the same.<\/p>\n

-Emily Clatterbuck<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comfortable? Are we comfortable? Being so far away from friends and family Not understanding half of what is going on Struggling to communicate what we are thinking? Are we comfortable\u2026 Staying with families who don\u2019t have hot water and others who do Living in a gated community with guards Getting catcalled in the street? Are....<\/p>

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