Day One: XNA -> DFW -> BZE

Sooo.. I have never actually blogged before, but I figure a month spent studying abroad in a developing country more than merits the occasion. So bare with me.

I'm a girly girly girl who hates sweating, working out, hiking for long periods of time, or really anything that involves physical labor. Maybe I am just super lazy, or maybe its the culture I was raised in, however that remains the current situation. So when I told my parents that I wanted to join the Peace Corp after college, they literally laughed, hard. I couldn't understand their hysterics and got super angry at them, but then I kinda realized their reaction, I am the LAST person I would EVER expect to want to go into a 2 year program where resources would be scarce and a nail salon wasn't on every corner along with a shopping mall. Spoiled, doesn't even remotely describe American culture. Our adviser on this trip, Molly Jensen, made a comment that has stuck with me, "America is so rich that we flush potable water." When so many people in countries, and hell even California is in a huge drought, are dealing with water sustainability problems and clean drinking water, Americans pee in clean water. This concept never even occurred to me in my 21 years alive. When I have been afforded so many wonderful opportunities, it greatly concerns me that other humans on a basic level cannot even survive day to day. So when the opportunity to go to Belize with Walton College for Community Development and Service Learning came about, I instantly signed up.

I'm not sure what to expect even though I have been trained for months on what to expect. I guess I just have never seen an area where everyone wasn't okay. I wonder if I will even have any impact at all on the individual people I meet, however human rights and lives matter greatly to me on a deep level. I have always wanted to help, but was always told that you cannot change the world, However, while I firmly believe that what I underlined is true, I think changing the world is not ever going to be a grand scale operation. I believe changing the world starts with just changing one person.

Now, enough with the seriousness. I can guarantee that I will have whatever can go wrong, go wrong on this trip. I already almost missed my flight and then the gate was broken, and now I have a 5 hour layover in DFW. Sooo, off to a great start! I'll update this blog daily with my adventures across Belize and Central America and I promise you will get lots of laughs!

XOXO Em