I had a weird encounter today. A truck pulled up and the driver rolled down the window and started talking to me in English. Immediately after saying hello and welcome he asked if I was a criminal or pedophile escaping justice. I laughed and said no, commenting on how a bicycle wasn’t a good choice for a fugitive. He didn’t laugh. He asked to take my picture and I said sure, as he held up his cell phone. I reached for my camera to take one of him, and he got very agitated, yelling“No Pictures!” I immediately put my camera down and apologized. More questions about who, where, what, and why. More questions to ensure I hadn’t taken a picture. He told me he’d been in the US army, served in Afghanistan. I asked he got citizenship after his service and he got quite upset and said no, he’d been deported. He’s about to cry at this point, describing the injustice. Actually, he is tearing up. Meanwhile, his pickup is stopped on a curve completely blocking traffic. I pointed that out and he said “They can go around, people know who I am”. And indeed, nobody honked, several said hi, and eventually a car pulled up behind and stopped with blinkers on. He asked if I wanted to have a beer with him and I said thanks but I’d rather not drink beer while still riding. Wrong Answer. He insisted I not insult him and had his passenger hand me a beer. It was cold, but he was weird so I didn’t enjoy it. I was wearing sunglasses and couldn’t see in the dark of the cab very well so I moved to switch glasses. More agitation that I was going to take his picture, but I explained I wanted to change glasses. “No! Your glasses have a camera!”. I showed they were simple glasses and he relented. Without the sunglasses I could now see a pistol on the seat next to his leg. Great. He told me to pedal a bit down the road to a pull out and followed me slowly while I did. Now safely on the side of the road he got out, holstered his pistol and gave me a handshake and a hug. He had his passenger bring him another beer, I see he’s drunk More talk about me, my trip, more questions about if I’m a criminal or pedophile. More hugs and handshakes. More tears about being deported. Fresh concern that I was recording our conversation on my phone, no I’m following a route, see? An invitation to stay at his house. An invitation to examine his pistol. No thanks to both but he removed the clip and handed me the pistol. Heavy. 45 caliber. Israeli made. Another invitation to stay at his house and to meet the mother of his children. More tears about his deportation and an invitation to make a video with him and share his story. Another offer of a beer. I said I’d rather just keep riding my bike, thanks and finally after close to an hour and another hug I was allowed to go.
Other than that, today was a lot of fun. Delicious temperatures and fun riding. A lot of climbing but never too steep to pedal. Tomorrow will be steeper but I’m planning on less than 30 miles, so it should be OK. I’m heading to an “ecological park” where I am expecting to be able to camp. It’s got a nice view of Lake Atitlan which I want to see, but not visit because it’s too polluted with foreigners who have taken over the towns by the lake. I don’t want to deal with the steep hills in and out just to participate in the gentrification of this country, I plan to do that in Antigua, without the hills.
I was carrying extra water in case I couldn’t find anything due to it being Easter. It turns out many of these roadside shops were open. Not really surprising since the owners generally live there as well
Buildings are under perpetual construction, with exposed rebar waiting for future additions when money is available. I spoke with the woman in dress shop, not pictured because she retreated into the shadows when she saw me photographing the building. Her family lives in a room behind the shop on the left and plans to build a kitchen and additional room for living upstairs next year. She asked me about how hard it was to get to the US.
Miguel and his family are hand excavating the lot they bought, with hopes of building some shop space. He figures they can start construction in 6 months
I couldn’t get close enough for a decent shot, big crowds and I didn’t want to leave my bike. Might have been fun, but I needed to get to a hotel and didn’t linger
From left to right: “No harvest and no work, I’m going to the United States” The skull is saying “It wasn’t a good idea to sneak across, it’s Dangerous “
But the message is, migrants will die. To go or not to go seems on a lot of people’s minds. I’ve had various conversations with people who ask about conditions and prospects
