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Published: April 12th 2013
Our wall decoration Not so much a blog entry as a little background. So no stories here, just some well-chosen
facts......
1. Guatemala is bigger than Scotland.
About one and half times to be more precise - bigger than Portugal, smaller than Greece.
2. There are literally hunners of volcanoes in the country. Big, small, extinct, dormant and very much active.
3. The Guatemalan football team are rubbish.
This fact comes courtesy of a Guatemalan.
4. Within the same day, the temperature in the lowlands can be 40 degrees in the afternoon, and 9 degrees in the highlands at night.
5. There are 13 million Guatemalans. At least 3 of them are over 6 feet tall.
6. They have two seasons here, Summer and Winter.
Confusingly, summer runs from November to May and is hot. Winter runs from May to October and starts off hotter than summer. But it does rain in winter.
7. You can eat tortillas with everything.
8. You can also add sugar to anything. You can even put salt in your drink.
9. Guatemala would like Belize back.
They blame the British. It's a national obsession.
The claim may be tenuous, but we did forget the promise of a road in 1850.
Well that's enough of my facts,.....For recent history and why Guatemala is not so very poor but has more than its fair share of problems, including malnutrition, here's a link which sums it all up quite well:
http://www.caputo-children-fund.org/guatemalaprofile.htm (copyright 2009)
......... A country of striking features and a strong indigenous culture, Guatemala's natural beauty and powerful identity stand in stark contrast to its bloody past and troubled present. Mountainous,heavily forested and dotted with Mayan ruins, lakes, volcanoes, orchids and exotic birds, Guatemala is one of the most beautiful countries in Central America. In 1996 it emerged from a 36-year-long civil war which pitted leftist, mostly Mayan insurgents against the army, which - backed by the US - waged a vicious campaign to eliminate the guerrillas. Guatemala has the highest rate of malnourished children in the Western Hemisphere, even higher than Haiti, the region's poorest country. The Central American nation also ranks sixth in the world for chronic malnutrition. ..........
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Don Scott
non-member comment
International friendly?
Maybe Scotland could play Guatemala in a friendly, a creditable draw possible? (I'm assuming if we're both rubbish it would not be a competitive game at the world cup finals).