Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Hello, Hola,
Hope all is going well with you.
All is well where I am. It is actually more sunny these days than rainy. (Keep in mind that I am in rain season here!) Where I am is still Guatemala. A country I had to get used to the first 10 days or so, but can fully enjoy now.

Guatemala is poor, but rich at the same time. Crime rates are high, infrastructure exists, but that´s enough said, men lie drunk in the streets, women harrasment is evident every second of the day. With all the problems you could expect the people to be unfriendly, harsh and whatever else comes to mind. People here however are friendly, smiling, sometimes eager to touch a white person for the first time in their life. The colours of the this country, evident in the chickenbuses, in the clothes the natives wear, in the nature of people. Guatemala is rich, more rich than a Holland, a Germany, an US. The western man can afford many things, but he lost the ability to be kind to it´s neighbour or any other person he does not know. At times I wonder how I will ever can go back to my home, with so many people, so many people who forgot how it is to be kind to another. It is the ever existing paradox... to be rich and yet to have nothing of real value.

The nature here is a wonderful thing to explore here in this country, but at the same time it is destructive and people die and have died. Travellers I meet are mostly US Americans, doing voluntary work or other good work in this wonderous country. It is a country with many problems, socially, economically, environmentally but trying to get better... a slow proces. Too many examples I can mention, a man dragging his woman through the streets, drunk, while beating and strangling the women and the woman screeming and crying for her life, nobody to rescue her, and this happened in a reasonably big city. Nature being used as a garbage dump, ravines, rivers all full of rubbish, people, old and young throwing plastic bottles, bags, napkins out the bus´ windows. Each Sunday you can see men lying around on streets, too drunk to do anything else than sleep, other days you see it also, so sometimes I wonder ¨is it Sunday today too?¨ The hardest thing to see, are the so many children, working when they´re old enough, maybe 4, 5 but at least 6 years old. Carrying wood, mais, clothes, or whatever is it... it is too heavy to carry. They should be in school, if there is a school, but mostly it is just that a family cannot survive without her kids being out there... working... 6am or earlier till late. Just like it´s parents and grandparents.

I have heard many people, friends say Guatemala is such a wonderful country. I disagree. Every day I think, hey this might be a good day for a change. I see friendly people, colourful robes, beautiful sights the country has to offer and yet not a day goes by when something happens that puts you right back in reality. If people believe Mexico is poor, a development country, then I do not know where Guatemala fits in. Guatemala is not a travelling country, luxury hardly exists and is only for the 1% that has money. It is however a country full of experiences and this is exactly why I am here. These days I am tired of specifically going to a market, yet another town, or seeing churches everywhere. What I do, is sit down and see what is going on, observing. Guatemala is just different, not pretty, not the worst place I have been too, just different. And this is exactly the reason why I am still in Guatemala. I simply have to see it all. I spent days in places no traveller or tourist goes to and in other places just hours where they are present by the thousands.

I will continue to travel, but it is different these days. I am more or less at the end (even though I still have 2 more months left) and thinking what to do when my trip is over. Maybe I will go back and study, if so I would like to study cultures, languages, antropology with latin america as a background. But nothing is final, nothing is definitive... and for the people living here, change would be a wonderful thing to have.

I guess this email is a bit serious, perhaps I am in a serious mood ;-) It shows that travelling is not only about drinking, going out, even though the cuba libres (rum&coke) are about 70eurocents... It´s not only about following the football games each and every day. I guess I am a bit confused, with the things I see, the things I experience every single day, with the fact that going home is probably inevitable, with the fact that travelling has become something I do each and every single day. It has become my way of life, at times boring, at times totally unforgetable.

From Chichicastenango I wish you all the best,
that you may prosper where you want to prosper,
that your dreams may be fullfilled,
just as I fullfilled mine by being here,
that you are happy and if you are not,
that you may find happiness with the next sunset.

Warm wishes, all the best and till next time.
Ronaldiño

PS the photo was taken in Quetzaltenango at a market... it is a picture of me, enjoying the best corn I had, with mayonaise, ketchup and hot salsa stuff.... JUMMMY!!

PS Para les que solo entienden castillano, el proximo correo va a tener unos frases en español... seguro! Pero en fin... estoy bien! Muy contento! Deseo que estes bien tambien!! Un abrazo.