They kept at it ´til 12 down there...
Our driver hit his horn at 5:45 AM for our trek to Pacaya, Guatemala´s active volcano (Google what happened there last year). These hikes are, superficially, a clash of Mayan and gringo cultures. Kids wait outside your shuttle to sell you their ¨primero¨ walking sticks (because they´re first or best?) then ask for them back when youré finsihed (it´s a rental), and some follow you up on mules asking the gordos si quieren un taxi natural. The girls wear the beautiful, hand-woven dresses, but the boys get by with shirts labeled A&Finch (no Bills Super Bowl Champs shirts yet).
Every moment is a poignant reminder of ubiquitous poverty, still, I say that the culture clash is superficial because it is them we depend so much on when we´re here. It is clear that, like those emaciated dogs that follow us up Pacay, the poor subsist on scraps from tourists; but this is unhospitable country, and we tourists wouldn´t last a day without them. Here, we need them more than they need us.
As for the boys, what a difference a day of acclimation makes! With Erik, yesterday was, Are you sure we can stay her for 2 weeks?, today it´s, I could really be an ex-pat someday. It helped that there were a couple of euro girls on the volcano hike deep into their open-ticket treks of the world (one for 2 years!).
Not sure about that ex-pat thing though...
