Guatemala

Guatemala

I knew when I was going through the college application process a year and half ago that a 'gap year' between high school and college would not be the right choice for me. Not because I wouldn't love to do service for a year, but because it would be extremely difficult for me to remain excited for college. My six days in Guatemala with Liam and Margaret reconfirmed by decision. Although different from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala offers a similar culture and general way of life. Upon visiting these countries, the stress of the developed world melts away. Maybe it is the warmer climate that makes people less uptight. However I believe it's the general positive attitude of people that that make Latin American so much happier. Despite the dire poverty and noxious pollution, Guatemala has much to offer.

After my first night, the dynamic of the apartment where Liam and Margaret lived changed as their roommates and guests returned from a vacation at Lago de Aticlan. We spent a lot of time walking around Antigua, going to the market and taking in the beautiful views of the two volcanos that surround the antique city. Liam had scheduled a trip to one of the local volcanos (Pacaya) but I really wasn't feeling up for a hike in the 23C weather especially as I was still sick and coughing. Instead Liam and I walked up the slightly smaller Cerro de la Cruz which overlooked the city with the volcano in the background. Throughout Latin America, cities construct sizable and august crosses on the top of mountains that are visible from the city. The cross in Antigua was much smaller than the one I witnessed in the Dominican, but nonetheless still beautiful. It was nice to see the city in its entirety from above. Both Liam and I wanted to take a three-wheeled taxi (called tuc tuc) back to his apartment, but we walked instead. That day we had a lovely lunch with Margaret's mother, who was also visiting Guatemala. I had a bean and cheese panini which was more than satisfactory.

As you may know, this week was Semana Santa (Holy Week) and it was quite amazing to be in a Catholic country during the holiest week of the Church year. All week there were large processions of people dressed up as Roman soldiers and as purple veiled gentiles. It was interesting to see the processions, which from what I could see were modeled after the stations of the cross. Not going to lie though, it was a little creepy especially when we woke up at 6am one morning to see the processions only to find a park full of lifelike statues of saints. People worked all week to create beautiful alfombras (rugs) made out of coloured sawdust on the city's cobblestoned streets. Overall, the processions were fun to look at for a while, but the crowds really made it hard to move around.

On friday night, Margaret's mom treated us to dinner at a Creole inspired restaurant called the Rum Bar where I had a authentic quesadilla with cheese and delicious homemade guacamole. We sat outside in the interior courtyard with an open starry sky. Later in the night we returned to the Bar for drinks. It was Liam's friend Will's last night in the Guatemala so there was a small group of friends from Camino Seguro there. It was small and relaxed bar where Liam and I shared Cuba Libres. Quite a fun night. When we returned to the apartment that night, we packed for our trip to Lago de Aticlan the next morning.

We all agreed that it would be really fun to get out the city and go to the Lake. Lago de Aticlan (according to Wikipeida) is Guatemala's largest and deepest lake that hosts many different villages for tourists and vacationers. We took a two hour shuttle through winding and extremely steep terrain. Drivers in Latin America love to pass other vehicles on very narrow roads. I guess they get a kick out of it or something. We sat behind this man who kept TALKING about everything and nothing. It was a great not having my iPod with me so I got to listen about his eating habits and how he met Ray Bradberry once. ;)

Finally we arrived at the lake which was different than I was expecting. It was really big and quite pretty with a large dormant volcano surrounding it. We took a shuttle across the lake to an 'island' called Santa Cruz. Margaret suggested that we try to look for a place to stay there, but we ended up going to a place where her mom and her stayed in a village called San Marcos. It was an interesting place. Apparently it was quite known for being a yoga/eastern inspired place where all kinds of yoga/crunchy people went to live. I still don't understand how some people just leave their home countries and just live in a place like San Marcos. Nonetheless it was really nice and we stayed at a beautiful hotel place that had private cabins. We slept on the second floor of one of the cabins. We just relaxed the whole time and got LOTS of sleep. The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. I had a tasty omelet with Guatemalan coffee (yum!). We spent the remainder of the day swimming off the private dock. The water was quite nice and so was the sun. I thoroughly enjoyed the many Coca-Colas that I had while in Guatemala, especially while laying in the sun. They don't use high fructose corn syrup down there and instead make it with good old azucar (sugar). Sadly we had a 16:00 shuttle back to Antigua so we had to leave an that afternoon. The shuttle ended up being 1.5 hours late because of an accident on the road or something. We spent the time by sitting on the street looking at all the people going by. Highlights of waiting: mutual lice checking, paying 3Q to use the bathroom (p.s. Don't flush the paper down the toilet. Instead there are trashcans next to every toilet for your used paper.), and a bird flying into Liam's unbathed head. The shuttle hit traffic on the way back and we were delayed another 40 minutes while stuck in the cramped backseat of the shuttle.

The next two days, we spent at Camino Seguro (Safe Passage). Camino Seguro is an organization started by Hannley Denning from Yarmouth, Maine who was motivated to make a change in the lives of children living in the garbage dump of Guatemala City. The organization has grown quite substantially since its inception 10-15 years ago. The program serves as a cultural, educational and caregiving center for the children. They get fed 2-3 hearty meals every weekday and usually have a host of activities to do. Apparently there have been some security concerns at the Guadarilla (where Liam and Margaret work with 2-5 year olds). A number of squatters started to camp on a piece of land next to the center a few weeks ago. This made the officials at the center nervous since the eventual eviction of these people could be violent. We ended up working in the Main building for the center which is in a different area of the city. Sadly I didn't get to see the dump or the children in their natural environment. Regardless, I did get to see what Liam and Margaret have been doing for the past year. We mostly assisted the teachers with caring and entertaining the children during the day. We helped feed them and play with them as well. The kids were really unbelievably cute. I took a ton of pictures at the center, so be sure to check them out on Facebook. I was amazed at the facilities and was impressed by the size of the program. It was different than my experiences in the DR, but nonetheless very rewarding. I'm going to miss the kids very much. I can't even begin to imagine what Liam and Margaret are going to feel when they return home for good at the end of the year. It was painful for me to leave the kids at the orphanage in the DR and I was only there for a week. Now I'm starting to feel the same sort of emotions having left Guatemala. There's just something about Latin America that feels right to me. Even as I write this in the Miami Airport, I'm beginning to miss Guatemala. It doesn't help that everyone around me is speaking Spanish either.

I didn't miss the pissed off attitude that all the Americans have as they push their way through security. Earlier I was in line for TSA security and I mistakingly kept my bag on my back just as I was about to go through the X-Ray. Only one person from El Salvador tapped me on the back and told me that I forgot to put it on the security belt. No one else bothered to let me know.

I'm sure I'll feel better about being back in the States when I return to Baltimore tonight. Oddly both Guatemala and Baltimore are similar in many ways. They both have extreme poverty and a diverse group of people that are friendly despite their economic condition. Honestly I'm so excited to have had the opportunity to visit my best friends this week and I'm sure it will be a memory that I will have forever. I keep thinking about the kids and how drastically different their lives are compaired to mine. I'm so glad I had the opportunity get a snippet of what Liam and Margaret have been doing this year. I'm slightly jealous, but I'm sure I'll be doing the same sort of thing after college.