The Guatemalan Diaries Pt.2: First Impressions

We arrived at La Aurora Airport around noon today. I was pleased to discover that the weather is mild and pleasant here. Away from the cold, everyone around here walks around in T-shirts like in Egypt. The scenery of this country seems beautiful, with a mountainous terrain circulating Guatemala City. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the city itself that’s very impressive. Overall, most of the districts are run-down and shabby. The city itself has nothing indigenous about it, with billboards displaying every major Western fast-food brand that could spring to mind. Globalization has left no trace of anything indigenous about Guatemala.

Our hostel is located in a heavily fortified and guarded compound. Apparently the rich in this country live a very comfortable life, while the rest of the population is just getting by, but the locals seem content with life and are friendly. The locals are separated between the Ladinos, who view themselves as more modern and Westernized citizens of Guatemala. On the other hand, the Mayan population seems much more vibrant in their traditional clothes. The only thing in the streets that seems distinctly Guatemalan is their colorful buses.

This must have been the first country was English is almost completely non-existent, which poses a problem considering that none of our group members speak Spanish. This led to a very interesting incident today. Our group of five was interested in visiting an arts and craft market, which we thought would be a traditional open fair bazaar. After asking around, we were told that there were several markets in Guatemala City. After we boarded a cab that took us 20 minutes away from our hostel, the cab dropped us off at a modern steel and glass building. We were sure that the driver had misunderstood us, but what actually happened was that the Guatemalans interpreted the world “market” for “mall.” This was a very shabby mall, worse than Cairo’s Tiba mall. We strolled around for a bit, but there was nothing outstanding.

The Guatemalans don’t seem to care that there are foreigners amongst us. Even though the locals are all very short and dark skinned, they are not surprised to see foreigners even though we hadn’t seen any other foreigners all day long. This is comforting considering I don’t like drawing attention as a foreigner.

Here I sit in the hostel amongst the team as we chat about random topics. I think I’m going to call it a day and hit the hay considering we have to be up by 6am tomorrow morning.

Adieu!

The Guatemalan Diaries Pt.1: Expectations

It was Guatemala that Che Guevara chose:

“So as to perfect himself and accomplish what may be necessary in order to become a true revolutionary.”

I find myself sitting on my fourth consecutive flight, this time to Guatemala. Who would have ever thought I would end up in Guatemala? Well, I believe that my journey from Istanbul, through London, Washington D.C., and Atlanta is worth this trip to Guatemala. To be honest, I don’t know much about Guatemala other than my mission there. I am traveling with Team PURA (Partnership for University Research Abroad), a group of five students from diverse academic backgrounds on a service-based mission to devise and implement a water sanitation and distribution system in the Tzununa community on Lake Atitlan.

I have always wanted to join a project to serve those who are less fortunate than me, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity. I think my deep-rooted altruistic spirit stems from my teenage devotion to Che Guevara. I have to admit that I went a bit over the edge with my admiration for the guy. Quite frankly, I haven’t thought much about him since I turned twenty, but this trip to Guatemala brings back many memories about Guevara’s legacy.

I was deeply moved by the Motorcycle Diaries, Guevara’s personal account of how a roadtrip across Latin America transformed him from a doctor to a revolutionary who sought justice in the name of the poor. It was in Guatemala that Guevara realized the injustice of capitalist imperialism and how corporate interests toppled a democratically elected Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. Arbenz’s land reform policies aimed at nationalizing the holdings of the United Fruit Company to redistribute it to the landless peasants, similar to Nasser’s nationalizations policies.

It was through Guatemala that Guevara became acquainted with the Cuban revolutionary cause and where he acquired his famous nickname: “Che”. Unpleased with the nationalization of its territories, the United Fruit Company with the aid of the CIA intervened, overthrew Abenz and installed dictator Carlos Castillo Armas.

Guevara’s feelings towards the coup were that “The last Latin American revolutionary democracy-that of Jacobo Arbenz-failed as a result of the cold premeditated aggression carried out by the U.S.A.” It was this event that triggered Che’s conviction that Marxism and armed struggle were the path to justice.

Now I have long abandoned Guevara’s approach to justice and have adopted a pacifist approach, but I believe my visit to Guatemala, and especially my work in the field of development, will shed some light on the dire state that led to the revolutionary transformation of his personality. I will take this trip as an opportunity to learn about this ancient Mayan civilizations, its locals, and hopefully I will be able to serve others, even if my effort has a miniscule impact.