In the town where I live in Guatemala, religion is synonymous with community, so the rather personal question of “de que religión eres?” in the United States, is banal in Guatemala. Roughly eighty eight percent of the country is Christian, so they’re used to either “Catholic” or “Evangelical” as the answer, and anything different warrants curiosity. Like so many other components of integration, your religious identity, or lack there of, is balancing on the tightrope between staying true to who you are while finding community abroad.
When I first got to site, I felt nervous about being judged for my identity of not being affiliated with a church/religion, constantly worried that people would try to convert me. However, despite religion weaving its way into the seams of society in Guatemala, not once did anyone try to convert me one-on-one – just the usual camineta speakers, pastors at the markets, and fundamental ideas within the Church of expansion. In fact, there were probably just as many American Mormons openly looking to convert people in my site as Guatemalans.
When I was listening to a sermon, sometimes I would feel upset at parts of the content they were preaching. And as my service went on I found techniques to know when to engage myself in organized religion, cope with it, and pull back because of the funny feeling in my stomach. First, I rely a lot on my Peace Corps friends to talk about my experiences and feelings. Second, I do check-ins for myself before engaging, if I am tired or frustrated by something else, it might not be the best time to go to a wedding. Third, I try to appreciate the beautiful things I am seeing. Fourth, I grind my teeth and get through it, knowing that this is a part of the experience.
There were times in my service when I just wanted to be surrounded by people who were raised like me and thought like me, however, being inescapably exposed to religion pushed me out of my comfort zone and has made me a more empathetic and compassionate person. I see many more nuances of the church now, the black and white, the good and bad, and in turn, I am able to connect with more people. If I had stayed in my little bubble, I would have never seen different ways to grieve, celebrate, and ultimately make sense of the Human Condition. For me, experiencing that beauty is worth the discomfort.
Peace Corps by Piper 