Personal Narrative: My Trip To Guatemala

I would like to say I know Spanish, after four years of studying in high school and multiple trips to South and Central America, yet it seems every time I leave the States, I find myself in a frantic struggle to process the words I know and figure out the meanings of the ones I do not. Sometimes this simply means missing out on a few insignificant details, other times it can seriously complicate life.
Two years ago, I went to Guatemala to help build a cancer clinic for Casa Alleyula, Guatemala’s largest children’s home. I was lucky enough to have my beautiful girlfriend Katie on the team, with eyes like rich dark chocolate and long black hair that fell perfectly at her shoulders. We had been dating for over a year but we had never had the
We all came together that night as friends and family to enjoy each others company and watched as firebolts of red erupted in the sky. Katy and I sat side by side on a small concrete wall watching the fireworks in all their grandeur. Small white rockets would soar into the air and as they burst into sparks of amber rain, we would mimic the sound of their explosions and crackles. It was a beautiful night with a beautiful girl but on account of new Guatemalan friends it suddenly became quite short lived. Melanie and Francesca were back at their act and this time Katy had had enough. She exploded more violently than any firecracker that night; I tried to talk her down and tell her they were just playing and she asked me how I knew, and that’s when it hit me. I did not know, but I wanted to find out. I walked around the camp looking for someone who could translate and I found a man named Bubba who told me that “celosa” is translated in English to “jealous”. He then started giving me background information on South American culture and phrases like celosa. I was relieved to know after learning about the culture that I was right and the girls really had no malicious intent towards Katy for what they were doing, it was normal for them. I jumped at the earliest opportunity to see Katy again and explain to her how the girls were joking and meant no