While discovering...

Especially if you are there to discuss the reality of Latin American countries, and to discuss peacemaking, It feels like a little lie locals are telling you just to give the impression their country is somewhat 'special'. The taxi driver that picked you up from the airport tells you nobody in Guatemala is worth trust and that you should go carefully. The interpreter of the conference tells you that a little child was injured the very same day you arrived because of violence between gangs, and that you should be careful while driving at night, because any motorcyclist close to you is a potential robber, that can shoot you just to take whatever is possible. And so on.
But all you get to see are the beautiful streets and colonial buildings of the town of Antigua Guatemala, immersed in the forest, besieged by it, the bright smiles in the faces of the girls teaching you how to play the ‘tun’ (no matter how bad you are at it), the colors and fabrics of the costumes people wear, the explosive joy, the vibrant music, and the amazing people, warning you from what looks like dangers from another time, from another world.
Something related with good luck, the fact that us tourists are inclined to visit more hotels, museums and bars, and some sort of kindness people have towards visitors, blurs the complete image of the real social situation of a city or country (devastating, sometimes), making us perceive, in general, only what’s fun and beautiful to meet, so we bring home only that good experience. But make no mistake. That is an error the locals may be committing themselves, in the opposite direction – they are probably losing track of what’s magical in their territory, maybe giving it for granted, because of being paying attention only to the mundanity surrounding them.