Sugar Rims, Makeshift Raincoats, and Dill: Small Acts of Selflessness

The beautiful 4th of July decor set up by Mission staff.

Something I have come to love and appreciate about Guatemala is the level of service that people have for one another here.

I think the first experience that hammered it in for me was when I ordered a margarita at a bar near our apartments. A couple days previously, Adrian and I had popped our heads in, as the bar had just opened, and asked if they had margaritas. They didn’t. But before we knew it, Adrian ran into the owner on the street who told him that they'd acquired the ingredients just for us, and that we should stop by. That night, the four of us ordered our margaritas. Never having been a big fan of a salt rim, I asked if they could make one with sugar. They said sure!

I didn’t think anything of it until about three minutes later when the owner’s girlfriend came walking back in with a box of sugar in hand. I hadn’t even seen her leave. I was amazed that I asked and she said yes without hesitation, even though they didn’t even have sugar on hand. I couldn’t help but think of how the same situation would’ve played out back in the U.S. They wouldn’t have done that. They wouldn’t have said yes while not having sugar in stock, just to slip out without the customer noticing.

I think in the U.S., we have this idea that being of service to other people is inconvenient. We think that going out of our way to help other people is not worth it. It’s viewed as a sacrifice of our own precious time. Certainly, an individualistic mindset. But here, it’s not that way. If you ask a favor of someone, they will say yes with no hesitation.

Another example. The rainy season has now begun here in Guatemala. And as a naive, new, and still learning resident of San Lucas Tolimán, I left the house at 4 pm to buy apples at the market. Not knowing that, like clockwork, it starts to rain every day at that exact time. The second I arrived at the fruit stand, it began to downpour. I was wearing leggings, a sweatshirt, and socks and Birkenstocks, clearly not equipped for the circumstances mother nature had just presented me with.

The man I bought the apples from observed the dire situation I was in, and asked if I wanted something to help me. I said sure, not knowing what that something was. He pulled out a large sheet of plastic tarp-like material and asked me to hold it as he cut off a piece with his machete. He then showed me how to wrap it around my head and tie it together with a small piece of string. And with that and a gracias, I was off.

I sprinted down the street while the rain formed a river down the middle of the street. The piece of nylon didn’t help out my Birkenstocks, but it kept the rest of me dry. Again, I thought to myself, when would this happen in the U.S? I suppose that’s a negative perspective because in appreciating these special moments in San Lucas, I’m also dogging on the U.S. Maybe, I can just appreciate San Lucas for these special people and special moments it has had to offer to me.

Two weeks ago the Visitor Program here at the Mission decided to do a churrasco or cookout in our backyard. I planned to make a cucumber salad as it reminds me of summer at home. One of the key ingredients for this salad is dill, an herb that doesn’t seem to really have gained much traction in Guatemala.

After a failed solo attempt in the market where three women looked at me funny asking if they had eneldo or dill, I decided to attempt for the second time, but this time with the help of Devin and Emerson. Emerson, my coworker at the mission who is from Guatemala, is a professional at navigating the Sunday market in San Lucas compared to my novice abilities. He asked four different women who were selling herbs if they had eneldo, whom, to my slight satisfaction, gave him the same harsh look of judgment that I had just received an hour prior. However, Emerson was committed to finding me this ingredient. He kept asking and kept asking until, in one store, the man finally had heard of eneldo before. He suggested that we look in the indoor market where they sell lots of spices. We walked there and surely enough, the second stand we asked had eneldo. Not fresh like the recipe calls for, but after the 40-minute search we had just had, I called it a win!

After the first 10 minutes, even though it was my recipe, I was ready to throw in the towel and give up on my cucumber salad. But Emerson was not. He had the heart to keep searching because he knew how much I wanted to make and share this salad with everyone.

I think these three stories all have a shared theme in common: service. One of the main lessons that Boston College touts that it teaches its students is being “Men and women for others”. I loved this during my time at BC and still do. I think it’s such a beautiful lesson to be learned: how to put your own self-interests aside and help other people. But it seems that here in Guatemala, that isn’t a lesson that has to be taught at the university level; it is simply an inherent part of the fabric of this place.

On the fourth of July, the Guatemalan staff of the visitor program set up elaborate decor, wanting to celebrate a special day for the visitors as they had chosen to be in Guatemala as opposed to the U.S. They wanted to have it set up before we had breakfast at the Mission, which is at 8 am. I was sitting in the sala with Nelson, Alex, Emerson, and Fernando while they were scheming their game plan for the setup. They decided that to have enough time to set up everything, they were going to show up at 5:30 am. I was baffled. I told them, we appreciate it, but you don’t have to go out of your way to do that. I explained that the Fourth of July is a big holiday, but I think the visitors would rather everyone rest than have decor ready for breakfast instead of lunch.

However, Fernando explained to me, “Liz, this is something we like to do”.

I think ‘going out of your way’ isn’t a concept here. Helping out a sibling, a neighbor, a friend, or an American visitor isn’t out of the way; it is the way. Fernando further explained to me how his aunt pulled an all-nighter preparing tamalitos, a traditional Guatemalan food, for his cousin’s wedding. Not because she felt like she had to or someone was making her, she simply just wanted to. As an act of love.

Imagine if we didn’t view everything as an inconvenience. If we didn’t always put what WE want at the forefront of our minds. Yeah, Kim probably would’ve rather said no when I asked if she could make a sugar rim. Yeah, Emerson probably would’ve preferred to stop the hunt for Dill after the first three people he asked said no. Yeah, probably that man who I bought my apples from would’ve preferred to keep that piece of nylon to himself. And yeah, probably the mission employees would’ve preferred to sleep in. But in all these instances, what the individuals wanted wasn’t what was being valued. Instead, they considered how their actions would make the other people feel. A pretty selfless way to live if you ask me.