Blogs from Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 102

Last Sunday I had the urge to do something a little different. I felt like moving around just for it's own sake. Trying to find a good loop or route is something often installed in a travellers' mind. Bearing in mind I only had a day, I decided to set myself the target of trying to work my way around the lake stopping at every town along the way. I started off with the ferry to Santiago. On arrival I moved through town fairly quickly, asking around in the market where pick-ups left from. On a relatively uncrowded pick-up, locals gave me that bemused/intrigued look I often seem to receive (probably my towering height), I smiled and nodded and after a while there eyes wondered elsewhere. A beautiful clear blue sky stretched out above us as ... read more

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday I was pretty lonely, and questioned the decision to break away from the group. Today, no regrets. I began the day trying to figure out how to gain the trust of the locals in Santiago de Atitlan, so that I could photograph their beautiful, purple clothing and their truely exquisite faces. Its hard, because I didn't want to take pictures with my zoom, without them knowing. It feels like stealing from them, and most don't want their picture taken. Then if I asked, they would either charge anywhere from 1 to 10 quetzales, about 15 cents to a buck 45. Not much really, but I ran out of small change quickly. It seemed to me that the ones with the most beautiful, interesting faces, didn't really want their ... read more

It's now just two weeks until I will be on my way to Guatemala.Some people fast in lent, and while I hope to lose some weight by eating less food, that won't be the biggest part of my experience. Lent is traditionally for mainline churches a time to focus on world developemnt issues, and Guatemala is very much a part of the "third world" - a place where extreme poverty exists alongside of much wealth. "To what extent might we as Canadians be contributing to that reality?" is one of the questions I plan to pursue. The temperature in Xela today is 82°F with a predicted low of around 40°F, with predicted highs in the extended forecast of about 79° - about what I can expect when I get there, though the nights can get cooler ... read more

A few days ago I had two interesting discussions, both, coincedentally, with Dutch Girls about voluntary work and development projects. I explained how I was trying to get going an English school with the idea of passing on the reins once it had got going and eventually trying to move the idea onwards and upwards. I have encountered more problems than I had anticipated, mainly a mixture of the Mañana culture of the people and unreliability of my partner in business. The first Dutch girl saw the benefit of what I was trying to do, but generally had a negative attitude towards development seeing it as a no-win situation with regards to setting up workable schemes. In her view, on one side you have western people running things for locals leathered with difficulties because of cultural ... read more

Several weeks ago on what appeared my last night in San Pedro, I took what seemed my last walk around the place. The hippy pathways leading to all sorts of weird and wonderful bars, the kids cloaked in traditional Mayan dress selling "pan de banan, pan de chocalate....", the semi-permenant gringo residents selling jewellery in the street, old men in full traditional dress armed with machetes etc etc. Seeing the same faces in the street, gives a sense of being in the town, a part of it, not just like looking through unintentially superficial and misleading tourist eyes. As it turned out it wasn't my last night as a met a girl later than evening and subsquently my plans changed to focusing on some more Spanish and now, teaching English in San Pedro. Anyway, pushing on ... read more