September 21

Just a little note about some things I’ve learned about Guatemala so far. First of all, there are no huge scary big spiders here (at least in Antigua) so that is terrific news! Apparently they are mostly in the warmer more jungle-y spots such as the Petén (where I’ve been before, but without encountering a huge spider, thank God).

Culturally, Guatemalans are pretty conservative, at least compared to us. Most women wear super long skirts or, if they’re dressing more modernly, long pants only and conservative blouses. We were in the market yesterday and noticed another “gringa” walking past wearing short shorts. The Guatemalan guys (Chapins) turned to stare openly at her, their eyes almost popping out of their heads, and I have to admit she definitely did stand out in a culture where a woman’s body is never seen like that in public.

Guatemalans also are highly religious (although probably the least religious of the Central American countries). The church bells ring at 30 minutes before and 15 minutes before mass (and there are two masses at every church each day) to make it pretty much impossible for people to forget that they should be attending church that day. It is a big part of the culture here, and our homestay mom Delia had shrines to Mary and Jesus set up all over the house, with candles, holy water --the whole works. She even had a shrine to her dead husband-- it kind of freaked me out to be honest, but it is a very big part of the culture.

This religiosity spreads into other parts of life as well. They do not allow abortion here at any stage of the pregnancy unless there has been a rape or the mother’s life is in danger. This means that many babies are put up for adoption, because often the mother is only 13 or 14 years old. There are some “witch doctors” who offer a home-made abortion remedy for girls who really do not want to carry their baby -- it sounds like it is a plant or herb of some sort that causes the abortion of the fetus. This is a problem, however, because sometimes it causes too much bleeding and the girl bleeds to death. Lack of education in general, but specifically sex education, is a problem. My teacher brought up something I never would have thought of—a lot of these people live in very small villages, and there are only one or two stores in town that sell condoms. It is very difficult for a teenager or anyone else for that matter to buy condoms, because to do so they would have to go buy them from the store owners or cashiers who they know personally—which leads to embarrassment at the very least, and possibly to that person telling their parents what they had been buying at the local store.

In terms of marriage Guatemala is very divided between the indigenous Mayan people and the more “modern” people of Spanish descent. They Mayans often marry their girls off as young as age 12, and it is very common for 14 year old “wives” to be having babies. The man of the house is in charge, as this is a very “machisimo” society. Indigenous women most often stay at home and are the “alma de la casa”, which only adds to the inequality of the relationship because they are not allowed to help economically. More modern people have marriages and lives much like in the states, marrying in their mid-20s and women working outside the home. However, it is still evident in all levels of society here how much more power the men have in relationships as well as in economic terms.

Guatemala has a long history of violence and discrimination against its indigenous people, dating back to long before its 30 year US-backed civil war where the government sought to wipe them out along with the guerillas it was supposedly fighting. Now they are the poorest of the poor you see sleeping on the side of the road and begging in the streets. It is almost impossible for an indigenous person to get a job unless they agree not to wear their traditional dress (the beautiful and colorful rainbow weaving patterns you often associate with Guatemala) and they are looked down upon by most of society. In fact, the whiter your skin here, the “higher-class” you are supposed to be. Pretty much the same story as everywhere else in the world, unfortunately.

And for all my liberal friends out there—we have proof of global warming! It has really affected the climate here, causing the rainy season to be way out of whack. It has been much colder and not rained as much the past few years in central Guatemala, which means that farmers cannot produce good crops yields, many of them have had to leave for the cities, and the prices of fruits and vegetables grown here in Guatemala have gone way up. I’m fine with it not raining as much when I am here, however, as the rain tends to bring out the aranas (spiders).

These are some of the social problems that plague Guatemala, but all in all it is a wonderful and beautiful culture. The people here are very friendly and welcoming, and the society is laid back but not so laid back that their economy is stunted. There are social problems like everywhere else, obviously, but the country and its people are beautiful. Me gusta Guatemala.