La vida en Guatemala: August 2008

Our latest excursion was to the remote hamlet of A-Long-Name-I-Can't-Remember, which was located over an hour and a half outside of Huehuetenango. The ride from Huehue told the tale of the place, as all 11 of us piled into the bed of a 1980's Toyota pickup truck, and proceeded to steadily leave civilization behind: first an hour of switchback roads into mountain country (all of Guatemala is practically mountain country, but more so here), followed by a steadily narrowing gravel road that grew increasingly potholed. Eventually the telephone poles stopped appearing, and all that was left was our little truck scrabbling up and down impossibly steep inclines next to vacant, rocky hills.

We finally reached the town, which in all it's sprawling mass totaled 35 houses. Without electricity or running water, without heat during the freezing mountain nights, it was pretty much the poorest and roughest living conditions I had ever encountered. The local girls helped their mothers in the house and kitchen, while the boys played with deflated balls or hacked at random things with old and rusty machetes. (Machetes are ubiquitous here.) Everyone's lower legs, adults and children alike, sported a coating of fresh or drying mud; with only the soft earth tracks to and from their houses, and rain every day, each outdoor task was it's own obstacle course of mud. And of course, the dirt or cement floors of the houses also had their own layers and piles of fresh or dried mud.

The people seemed more or less happy in the town - some seemed thin, but the families with which we stayed seemed to eat well enough. The domestic animals, on the other hand, were all rail-thin and ribby. Even the puppies (shown below) seemed listless, tired and cold.

We were supposed to be helping them build a new schoolhouse, and we played our part, but the construction coordinator unfortunately relegated us to useless tasks meant primarily (I believe) to keep us out of the way. We basically did 3 things: moved piles of cement blocks, piles of sand, and filled in holes with dirt. The one saving grace of all that is that those were things the workers would have probably asked the community children to help with, so it was good to spare them the backbreaking and thankless part of the work.

Despite the observations and criticisms above, it was a wonderful experience for me and for all of us. To experience such a brutal life, with it's poverty and frailty so apparent, and yet to be welcomed with open arms into these people's homes, to have them feed us with the little rice and beans and eggs that they had, was an incredible feeling.

Plus, we taught the kids to play "Duck Duck Parrot" (because no one knew how to say goose), and the kids were later excitedly telling their parents about the game. So I think, all in all, we left a lasting mark on the community.

The kids playing with the piñata we brought

View toward the community from the new school site

Me petting the sad puppies in the mud

Sad puppy pile

Crystal bringing some 'hood to the shack... this was one of the best houses there

Last weekend we took a total of 3 buses and one "lancha" (long, narrow boat) to reach the little beachside hamlet of Tilapita on the west coast of Guatemala. The whole trip took about 7 hours, and the electricity had gone out in the town by the time we got there. So we boarded and exited the lancha in the pitch dark, using our flashlights just to see a few feet in front of us. It was kind of a surreal experience, since it seemed like we were the only living beings in the entire place. All twelve of us piled into a 4-bed bungalow that night, and with the minimal light of our flashlights we built a charcoal fire to cook hot dogs and chicken on. It was a good night over all, and the warmth was a welcome change from the cold air of Quetzaltenango.

The next day we spent lounging on the beach and playing volleyball in the pool at the hotel next door. The hotel had not had any visitors for months, so they were happy to fill the pool for us and to make some money by feeding us during meal times. Some curious local children ended up hanging out with us the entire day, playing soccer and volleyball and seeming to have a great time. The oldest was 13 and the youngest was probably 5 (and some were more annoying than not), but overall they were a lot of fun. It was great swimming in the warm ocean water and body surfing in the waves. Later that night we took some cold beers and s'more fixings out to the beach, where we built a nice fire and enjoyed the night. Overall it was great, but it was nice to head back to the cool of Xela the next day after the sweltering heat we woke up to.

View to the beach from our bungalow