Guest Post: A guapo in Guate

This post was written by Brett, Christian's little brother. While we edited for content, we cannot be held responsible for the idiocy that may ensue. If, however, it's actually good, since we edited for content, we get the credit for it.

Christian and Kaytie's original plans were to begin their travels in January of 2013. As my older brother started dreaming about this trip and tentatively planning dates and schedules, I was somewhat disappointed, as I attend college from January to August and have the fall off. Therefore, I would be stuck in a classroom while Christian and Kaytie were gallivanting around Central America in a vehicle not unlike the Mack truck from The Road Warrior. I was bitterly jealous.

Seriously, how could someone not be sad about missing this.

However, one night Christian and I were talking on the phone and he casually dropped into conversation that he and Kaytie were stepping up their travel plans to, um, now, and he invited me to come with them.

"Sorry, I think I'll be pretty busy that month with data entry and delivering pizzas..."

As if he had to ask me twice. I booked my flight (no room in the Monty for a third wheel), made arrangements for our Spanish school and sent in my time-off requests.

While I wish I could have driven with Kaytie and Christian, the views that greeted me from the airplane were pretty spectacular. The descent into La Aurora over Belize and the Guatemalan highlands yielded some of the most awe-inspiring, if detached, vistas I've ever seen. Learning that the airline had forgotten my backpack in Ft. Lauderdale reminded me how much better overlanding can be, though. When you do the packing, then your stuff gets there when you do...

Christian and Kaytie have done a great job showing what fun it has been to be in Guatemala.  Every day has been something new, whether it be increased mastery of the Spanish language, trying on ropa tipica in San Antonio, or the deadly death disc of death, spinning like a massive roulette wheel, your life the marble that bounces around before it comes to a stop. (He wasn't being overdramatic when he said that the ferris wheel in Panajachel was the scariest thing we've seen on our trip.)

The next bit is really gonna make me sound like a spoiled suburban mall rat, but bear with me, that's kind of my intention.

If you asked me honestly, the biggest thing that I've noticed being here in Guatemala is my perennial discomfort, but don't let that make you think that this has been a bad vacation for me. I want to make one thing perfectly clear: travel is the best thing in the world. It is exciting and interesting and relaxing and, done right, a fantastic growing experience.  Being here in Guatemala has been the same story, and it's because of the constant discomfort in which I find myself. If you'll allow me to expound a little bit...

I am from the Littleton area of Colorado, a comfortable suburb south of Denver.  I actually live closer to Highlands Ranch than the downtown-Littleton area, and if there's a more comfortable, easier place to live than Littleton, it's Highlands Ranch.  There, all of my needs are met. There's a Walgreen's on most corners, a few movie theaters nearby, an absolute litany of fast-food-and-above restaurants to cater to my every appetite, and so on. 

Here, everything is just a little bit harder, not in the least because I don't speak the language very well.  I'm not used to the insane amounts of beans and eggs that we eat here and as such, sometimes I feel a little sick and a little hungry. You can't flush toilet paper here since there's no water treatment, so you have to get used to throwing it away instead, which is a little gross. The tap water isn't treated and I keep forgetting to buy a big bottle for my bedroom, so I'm a little dehydrated most of the time. The water pressure in the shower isn't great and it takes forever for wet clothes to dry. (To be completely honest, your clothes get way cleaner when you have to hand-wash them. Amazing.)  

As I said before, I am almost constantly a little uncomfortable. But that is what makes this place so interesting. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I find myself so preoccupied with understanding what others are saying and making sure I get my Spanish homework done that I straight-up don't have the energy at the end of the day to worry about trivial things like school, sending my worried mom an e-mail that I'm still alive or what I'll do for money when I get home. All of those problems are thrown by the wayside for this limited time I'm here, replaced by learning a language I'm fascinated by and enjoying new cultures and tasty foods.

Not the worst place to do Spanish homework.

But aside from putting away my cares for awhile and improving my Spanish, I have noticed so many other benefits to being here.

One, it's making me so grateful for the comforts I have at home.  It's going to make it so much harder to complain when my iPod's battery dies or there's no hot water because the washing machine and dishwasher are both running. Guatemala is a rapidly developing nation and many people have those same luxuries as me, but often, people make do with far less.

Two, it's making me realize lots of the aspects of my life I feel like I should change. I realize that too often, I walk around with a long face and my eyes on the ground, not necessarily because I'm sad but because I'm wrapped up in my own world.  It's a stereotype for a reason that people from Latin American cultures are more open and friendlier, because every time someone on the street catches me do this, they offer a hearty "Buenos días" and sends me on my way.

Three, it's opening my eyes to a bigger world. Allow me to expound a little more.

One of the most sobering experiences happened when we visited another town on the other side of the lake, called Santiago. On its surface, Santiago is not unlike San Antonio or San Pedro or any of the other towns surrounding Lake Atitlan, and indeed, many of these towns seem very similar to other towns around Guatemala and Latin America in general.

However, Santiago Atitlan is the site of one of many of the uprisings that happened during most of the 1980s in Guatemala. In 1990, after a night of drinking and harassing locals, the soldiers stationed in town to "keep the peace" faced an angry mob of several citizens of Santiago. One soldier let off a shot, striking and paralyzing a small boy, before fleeing to the military base. The mayor of Santiago, accompanied by an increasingly discontent group of citizens, marched to the base and calmly demanded that the soldiers and officials responsible for the injury be brought to official justice.

Depending on who you ask, either the mob began harassing the soldiers with rocks and stones or they were unprovoked by the placid citizens, but either way, soldiers began opening fire into the crowd, killing 11 men and injuring over 40 other people. Some people even claim soldiers pursued the fleeing crowd into the nearby cornfields to finish the job, so to speak. Following this and the predictable political fallout, then-president Venicio Cerezo decreed that all military operations be expelled from Santiago forever.  You can read a somewhat syrupy account here and a more skeptical one here.

The site of the massacre is now commemorated by el Parque de la Paz. 11 small headstones honor the victims, the youngest of which was just 9 years old and most of whom were 20 or younger. Although we were only there for a few short minutes, it was a sobering and humbling experience. While Guatemala is currently a peaceful, tranquil country, it has been a hard-fought victory. Many of the people in the Lake Atitlan area are connected to someone who lost his life in the struggle for peace. Guerilla warfare was common in the highlands of Guatemala and the lovely, peaceful places we see now used to be frightening and unstable. 

It hasn't all been either difficult or humbling, though. It's been a seriously magical vacation from rigors of daily life. I have been replacing pressures I felt about work and school with pressures I wanted to feel about learning Spanish and becoming acquainted with a different culture. It's been a blessing to be here at this time in my life and I can't express my gratitude enough to my brother and his wife for inviting me along. In spite of Because of the frankly thrilling discomfort we experience here, we've had a wonderful, tranquil respite from less important cares and worries. 

Plus, butterflies and some of the cutest stray dogs in the world. I hope Christian will expound more on those soon.

We miss you, Humi. I have more pupusa crumbs next time we see you.