I chose to move to Antigua Guatemala because I thought it would be a fairly easy transition to living in another country. And yes, by all accounts it is. Much more so than say moving from the USA to India.
We take a lot of things for granite in the USA. Such as clean drinking water. That’s one major thing which makes a third world country third world, is no access to clean drinking water. We have to use “aqua pura”, or purified water for all of our drinking needs here in Antigua. I have caught myself several times washing vegetables with tap water, so no wonder I have had stomach issues. I had severe diarrhea for a month and had to take 3-rounds of antibiotics to clear it up.
You can’t put your used toilet paper in the toilet. So think about it, our used toilet paper probably ends back up in the water supply. I recently visited the City Dump in Guatemala City. There were hundreds of scavengers in the dump recycling whatever they can to make a living. There is a river at the end of the dump. So where does all this contaminated garbage end up?
Hot water is hard to come by here. I am certain very few of the restaurants, even the top rated ones, use hot water to clean dishes. To clean my dishes, I boil water. For my shower, I have a “widow maker”. It’s this apparatus that hooks to the shower head and supplies enough electricity to produce a small amount of hot water. My shower is just barely large enough to turn around in. After a few moments of hot water, you can smell the electrical parts smoking! I guess those who have ended up trying to adjust the head while showering end up widows and widowers.
My apartment is considered very nice by Guatemalan standards. I love the million dollar views from my rooftop terrace. None of the furniture matches. It looks like stuff that could have been purchased in a thrift store. The apartment has to be swept and everything wiped down daily due to the exhaust fumes of the buses, and the volcanic ash. I wonder what my lungs look like now. I have a constant little cough.
I have a camp style Coleman stove and a dormitory sized refrigerator. Hey, at least I have this. Many homes do not. The average Mayan does not have a kitchen or a bathroom. The severely impoverished live on less than a $1 per day.
After being robbed at gunpoint, I am constantly looking over my shoulders for people, cars and motorcycles that come near me.
I hate to go to the bank or even check my account on-line. I am in constant fear that my back account will be wiped out. Everyone I know has had their credit or ATM cards cloned or compromised. Several friends have had this happen twice! Mine was compromised too. But I outsmarted the thieves. Since was expecting it to happen, I had very little money in that account. It took almost a month to get my new card.
The country is corrupt and the drug cartels have infiltrated everyone, including the banks. Some are owned by the drug cartel in Bogota Columbia. Everyone is afraid to shut them down.
When I take public transportation, I am fearful. Mostly form the crazy drivers who are referred to as “suicide tomatoes”. That’s because they drive like a bat out of hell with no regard for human life in these retrofitted school buses from the USA which are painted red. Many people get robbed on the buses and there have been gang shootings. They say not to sit behind the driver as many drivers have been shot and killed.
Regularly I hear of someone getting robbed, or someone who knows of someone who has been affected by crime, robbery, kidnap, murder, extortion or rape. It’s downright scary to read the paper or do a Google search on crime in Guatemala. I’ve read articles about journalist being afraid to write about the drug crime here. They get threatened, extorted or even murdered when they do. Otherwise you would read even more articles on the drug cartel in Guatemala.
The president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom’s, wife is running for president. This is illegal. So she divorced him. They still say this illegal but she is going it anyway. Many fear if she gets to be president, no one will take her seriously and how can she be trusted to uphold the law. If she loses, many of her social programs will be lost and a million poor people may strike on the streets. Several presidential candidates and their families have been threatened with their lives.
It is all over the press that Guatemala may become a “narco state”, when the government serves the interests of drug traffickers rather than those of its citizens. The public may remain protected as long as this protection doesn't interfere with state-fueled drug trafficking. I believe it after witnessing all the corruption here, fueled by the drug crime and cartels. Our government fears that with 100k new gang members from Mexico now in Guatemala, and the cartel being pushed out and north from Columbia there will be a big drug war for routes right in the center of the country.
Men pee on the streets here and it is legal. Yet when a male tourist pees on the street, they are fined about $100. Guess what happens to the fine? You got it………..it is pocketed by the ticketing officer.
I live right across the street from one of the largest churches in Antigua. The church bells are my alarm clock. I’m awake every morning at 6 am! There is always a celebration going on at the church. I still think the celebratory canons that go off are bombs. They scare the hell out of me when they go off. Damn Catholics, any excuse to have a party. hehe
Volcano Fuego is under constant eruption. No one else seems to be worried about it, because it is about 20-miles away. But in the back of my head, I worry! You can hear the volcano belching and rumbling and we get small earthquake trembles on occasions. I have to admit, viewing the eruption in the evenings is my favorite pastime. But it has been so cloudy lately I have not been able to see the lava flow at night.
Tonight I had a few weird bugs with wings lying around my laptop. I went outside for a few minutes to enjoy the evening on my terrace. When I returned, my apartment was infested with these critters. My landlord says they are termites.
The rainy season has started. I love the rain, but the country has some of the worst natural disasters including flooding of any country in the world.
After reading all I have written about Guatemala and living in a third world country, I know you are wondering why I stay here. But…………..I have to admit I absolutely love it. The people whether they are indigenous, Ladino, tourists, or ex-pats; everyone is lovely. The weather is pretty comfortable here and there is a special energy about Antigua that is hard to explain. I hope Guatemala can recover from its many hardships, including the drug crime. I know I will miss it when I leave. I do feel like I will return again and again!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment