By Dr. Little
I must say, the Guatemala trip this year has flung itself into the idea of Connections in ways I never could have imagined. Seeing a village on the coast of Guatemala suffering the effects of climate change in the same way the Junior Immersion trip sees Tangier suffering puts an exclamation point on this global issue. Talking to people in Lake Atitlán about how pollution is a watershed wide problem connects so much to what Mr. Cola has been telling us for years. Hearing our students tell indigenous leaders about visits to pow wow’s. Listening to students thinking about what project they could do for their Junior/Senior year. Then something from Mr. Pyles Honors History class comes up when we’re talking about bananas. Seeing an article in the New York Times discussing the monopolization of agricultural seed production on the very same day we’re visiting IMAP, a small group of highly educated Guatemalans working to reestablish traditional agricultural practices, in part by creating a heritage seed bank, which is being threatened by exactly what the article is talking about. Not only that, but our students were so excited to tell IMAP about the Sustainability Triangle! So many things have become so real on this trip for our students and for us teachers. Finally, if anyone out there wants to learn Spanish, this is where our Spanish classes happen in Guate!