So ive been here a while, and I more or less have to explain some things that Im not exactly sure anyone will care about..
Most people in guatemala dont use their tap water, they have to buy large jugs of purified water, which is just another cost of living that most families cant afford, and keeps them from exiting poverty. One problem with unpurified water is diarhea. This dehydrates you, and if all you have to rehydrate is more dirty water and a weakened immune system, well... so it goes. My friend Miles pointed out the fact american toilets are full of purified water. Interesting contrast, it just got me thinking. Most people here dont have hot showers. I dont think anyone owns a washing machine. Many families have their kids working in the streets rather than going to school. Upward mostion in the socio-economic spectrum is more or less impossible when your living relies on your kids selling candy and cigarettes in the park. This eliminates the childrens chance at an education, and the cycle continues. I was just at a restaurant, where the waiter stopped and ran to the kitchen after each order. At first, I thought she might just be new, and didnt think to write it down, or just kinda absent minded. But then I realised I was just kind of taking for granted the idea that most people can read and write. Literacy is a privilage and a gift. I really hope this doesnt come off as condescending, but by 5th grade, I was better educated than a handful of adults here. And the government has almost nothing to do with it. Theyve got no money. Ive read articles about police not getting paychecks. They are already payed horribly, and then the checks just kinda dont show up for a couple months. I do not blame them for extracting bribes from tourists, I may have mentioned this before but my savings account is more than the annual earnings of many families. More than triple that of those who are poor by guatemalan standards.The twins were telling me about their new job, and the great salary they were making. It was $10 for an 11 hour day. The wealthy children of a doctor consider .90 cents an hour a great wage here. And thats the kinda job you can only get if you are bilingual.
This is a country recovering from a civil war. The government (which many say is ran, more or less, by the US.) hasnt the money to inforce any laws. A simple bribe and you can get away with murder, literally. One of the locals i met said he heard the going rate in guatemala city was about 500q, and the police didnt see anything. Many people whove been here a while describe certain regions as near anarchy, but to me this is just praise for the people. I cant imagine what would happen in the US if it were the same story. Ive known people whove had guns pointed at them, and their pockets emptied. Ive heard storied of people being swooped up into a van, robbed of everything but their socks and underwear, and dropped off at the outskirts at 3am. They didnt even bother telling the police. I dont think the problem is evil people, its desperate people. I can hardly blame the robbers. It isnt moral, but what amounts to a few bucks for me could be a few meals for his starving family. Hungry people wont stay hungry for long. And robberies rarely rarely rarely turn violent. I lost a bank card and no one tried to use it. I met a girl at a bar that said she woke up in a random families house, and the mother said her son found her stumbling home drunk, probly drugged, around 10 at night. The girl thinks she was given a date rape drug, realized she was really fucked up, tried to walk home, couldnt find home, and more or less wandered the streets in great danger. And when a really pretty, stumbling drunk american girl came up to this guatemalan man (she said he was somewhere in his twenties) on a dark street in a dangerous town, he took her home, and laid her on the couch. She still had 150q in her pocket when she woke up.
My point is just dont take everything youve got for granted. And dont think im in paradise, or the most dangerous place on earth. This city´s got a highly polarized yin and yang kinda thing goin. Theives and nuns. Beggars and bankers. But im sure thats true everywhere on earth, i was just oblivious to it in minneapolis.
I guess its important to say, also, that I dont want to paint a horrible picture of this place. Many of the young guatemalans Ive spoken to are in school for medicine or law or accounting. The people are incredibly sharp and many are well educated, well fed, and all around highly respectable and dignified human beings. Like I said, theres a light and a dark side. I think this place has great potential, and given the right circumstances, I could see Guatemala developing rapidly over the next 10 or 20 years.
Another quick note one the US, I was talking to the owner of a book store and he was explaining the US influence here. He described it as a rose of diplomacy. On the one hand, our military has a presence here, building roads and schools and genuinely helping the community. On the other hand, we´re flying black helicoptors around and burning marijuana/hemp fields, and pressuring the politicians into things like CAFTA. If you dont know about CAFTA, you probly should. Its the reason the wolrd buys most its chocolate from mexico, even though its all made in guatemala. Taxes are less in mexico, so even though most of the cocao is farmed in guatemala, and much of the chocolate itself is made here, the farmers and artisans see very very little of the profit, because mexico is the only buyer. And they export it cheaply, thanks to NAFTA. and so it goes. (CAFTA is about more than chocolate. It effects many industries, chocolate is simply the easiest to explain.)
I wish I had time to edit and fact check and grammar check and proof read and so on and so forth, but the internet is timed and charged here, and this cafe happens to be busy now. Sorry if this is poorly written, i just kinda had to say it. I hope you enjoyed my off the cuff political rant about this place.
on a lighter note, the twins and their family took Miles and I to a carnival! it was really fun and i posted pictures. The most notable part was a guatemalan ferris wheel (Rueda Chicago.) Theyre about 5x faster and people are about 1/2 as strapped in. (did that make sense??) Some kids were even doing flips in the cars! hah.
Tonight im climbing to the second tallest point in central america at 11 at night. We will drink cheap wine and watch the sun rise over xela, while santiaguito (a highly active volcano on the other side of santa maria, invisible to xela) erupts! you can see real live lava and huge smoke pillars! There will surely be pictuires.
and please, think twice the next time you deficate in drinking water. or read anything. You all have alot to be thankful for, even if you had a bad day.
