August 7, 2010
Jessica Sunter
First Impressions of Todos Santos

Faith and I are officially half way through our internship. I can’t believe how fast the time is flying by – it feels like I arrived in Guatemala just yesterday. Since CAUSE works in two different communities in Guatemala, interns spend half of their time working in Comitancillo and the other half working in Todos Santos. Faith and I recently hit the four month mark and moved to Todos Santos last week. We were feeling a bit sad because we were leaving our friends, the CAUSE staff and the program participants who we had grown quite close to in Comitancillo.

I must say that although we’ve only been in Todos Santos for a couple of days, I already know that I’m really going to like this place. Faith and I are staying in a beautiful house that is owned by Roman and Cristina. Roman is originally from Switzerland, but fell in love (with Cristina and with Todos Santos) when he was here working with Doctors Without Borders and decided to make it his home. They now have two lovely daughters who speak Mam, German, Spanish and English. They earn a living by renting out rooms in their house as well as rooms above the store in town where Cristina also sells traditional weavings. Roman spends his days fixing up the house, tending to the corn crops, apple trees and the many other fruits and vegetables they grow, and taking tourists on walks through the gorgeous Cuchumatanes mountains which are right at our doorstep. After all of this he still has time to help Cristina with the store and to spend time with his children. Although they barely know us, Roman and Cristina have already opened up their home and their hearts to us.

The people of Todos Santos are very friendly and much more open than the people of Comitancillo. This could have to do with the fact that groups of tourists visit the market on Saturdays and therefore the locals are more accustomed to seeing foreigners. One of the reasons tourists come to Todos Santos is because it is one of the few places in Guatemala where the Mayan men still wear the traditional dress – red and white striped pants and blue and white striped shirts with large embroidered collars.

I’m excited to start visiting some of CAUSE’s classes next week and to meet some of the participants. Although I’ll miss Comitancillo, I am already starting to feel at home here and I know that I am very lucky to have the opportunity to live in such a beautiful, peaceful place and to immerse myself in such a unique and rich culture.