The other day I went outside and thought, “It feels like
Guatemala.” Now, I’m in Texas at the moment, where temperatures reach
sweltering heights during the summer and the humidity makes you sweatier than a
high school football team. But that is summer. Winter is a whole other story
and a big reason many of us northern-folk migrate to the south. It can be
amazing, spring-like, sunny, warm but not too warm, clear, dry, refreshing.
Beautiful. Perfect. That is what the highlands of Guatemala felt like during
the day most of the time I was there (nights, not so much as you can read
here). And when the weather is just so, like it was the other day, it doesn’t
just feel like Guatemala; I feel like I’m there. Just for a second.
If you’ve traveled, especially to places mostly different
from your own, this phenomenon might happen to you as well. I call it the “wish
you were there” virus.
But it is not a bad virus. It is a bit of longing, mixed with nostalgia,
swirling around your ever-present desire to roam the earth. When you are going
through your day, commuting, working, shopping, cooking, cleaning, and all the
other responsibilities you may have, sometimes a distant Guatemalan-like breeze
blowing your hair as it pushes the faint smell of burning wood toward you is
kind of nice. It’s a bit sad. But it’s mostly nice.
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| Sunny blue sky, short sleeves, sandals ... what better way to illustrate nice weather? This is my dad and me in Antigua, Guatemala on a beautifully perfect day. |
You may not have any idea what I’m talking about. That’s
okay. But someday, when you’re somewhere quite different, or when you’ve been
somewhere quite different, you may find yourself being reminded of that
different place by the smallest thing: the smell of fresh bread, the sound
of a bicycle bell, the wet air of a mid-summer thunderstorm. Your
experience at home has changed because you have felt it in a different place. It is no longer just a snack, a sound in the street, a natural occurrence. It’s
a memory, fastened to your brain, stimulating your smile muscles from time to time. You can’t forget. Nor do you want to.
