I've been thinking for the last while that I need to re-connect with my Guatemalan side.

There's too much I don't understand about my heritage; too much I want to understand about my heritage. And this seed has been germinating since my entire family (sisters, brother-in-law, parents, and niblings) went to Guatemala in December 2009, where Cristiane's best friend Ceci and her husband explained to me how you can rent bungalows in Flores, near the Mayan pyramids, for a pretty fair price; has been germinating since I realized that so much about the way I behave -- polite to the extreme -- is a mix of my two cultural identities. Canadians are known for their polite, over-apologetic nature, but Guatemalans are the same way. So when you think about it, my behaviour is an effect of those two cultures. I am two times more likely to go out of my way to help a stranger; two times more likely to over-thank someone for a favour.

And it's not that I don't want to be in Edmonton. It's not that I've given up on my idea of moving to Montreal. It's not that I plan on staying in Guatemala forever. It's not any of that. I think there comes a time in a person's life -- especially one with a dual identity -- where she needs to re-connect with those often forgotten parts of herself.

And, to add to that, my dad's older sister passed away last Saturday. I have a lot of aunts and uncles on both my mother and father's sides. I don't want another one of them to pass away without me seeing them.

So it's settled: I'll be going to Guatemala at least once this year. My feeling is I should go there for Christmas; we'll see how (and if!) I can make this happen.