knharlow

by Kaitlin Harlow

After I got home from Central America, I went to Peru for a little over three months. I saw beautiful places in the sierra and the costa, made amazing friends, sampled some of the best food on the planet, and learned more about education and international development than I ever expected–all through volunteering with a nonprofit named Building Dignity.

I learned that one secret to teaching is to make a fool of yourself in such a precise way that the kids are laughing and at ease but also still invested in the activity and not ignoring you. It’s an art form. I also learned Spanish (for real finally because it was the language I spoke 95% of the time) and all about the unpredictability, loneliness, and triumph of backpacking solo.

I spent New Years dazed and confused by the staggering wealth of Miraflores and downtown Lima, a radiant afternoon […]

by Kaitlin Harlow

I started this Central American leg of my gap year in Guatemala, where women trod on dirt paths in heavy, woven, traditional Maya skirts; corrupt guatemalteco politics is the most common topic of conversation; and you can buy a huge bag of pastries from a number of run down panaderias for less than a dollar.

Last week I left Guatemala for Costa Rica, and at first it was like coming back to the U.S. San Jose is a big, western city– tall buildings, billboards in english, light skinned people in modern clothes. Also, everything is a lot more expensive! I passed through many regions of the country on my way to the West Coast, and though the scenes outside my bus windows were full of classic central american greenery, the atmosphere of Costa Rica is palpably different from good old Guatemala.

These initial impressions of a western, tourist central […]