There was wind today, making the smoke less offensive, but also slowing me down. I had a restless night with all the street noise, so was tired when I began the day and stopped frequently even though the hills weren’t too bad. The town of Tecpán looks to be a getaway destination for Guatemala City residents, with a lot of resort style accommodations. The De Montaña sounded terribly expensive at 250 quetzals but that was only $32 so I took a room, stopping quite early at 1:30 pm. I was in a weird frame of mind, struggling with the ethics of tourism in underdeveloped countries and felt I could use the time to reflect.
I had just finished a long conversation with Toribio, who had stopped to talk with me when he saw me resting by the side of the road. He answered many of my questions. One question I had was if rural Guatemala can be classified as consisting of families with people working in the US on one hand and people thinking about doing it on the other (true) does the resulting economic inequality result in tension? Toribio said it does, that you can go to any village in Guatemala and you’ll find someone building a nice house among the shacks. I spoke of the migrants I’d interviewed who had experienced extortion and violence and asked if it was still prevalent. It is, except in areas where the communities have successfully organized against it. We exchanged numbers and he invited me to come visit him in his village, which I may do if the logistics work out (he’s currently working at a building site near Tecpán and not home). Most encouraging was the explanation that the poor visibility and smoke filled skies is because of all the burning to clear fields in anticipation of planting. So I’m unlikely to see it improve while I’m here, but it’s transitory.
5 quetzals (75 cents) to take your picture with the lake in the background. I considered hanging around in case it cleared up later, but the ladies running the comedor said it was probably going to be cloudy all day
Tomas sold me the honey and invited me to sit and talk. He was curious about my trip, my family and what conditions were like for Guatemalans in the US. He’s also struggling with the decision to stay or go. He’d like the income to invest in his house and to build some guest rooms, but he’s lost two cousins who have made the attempt
The colors! I don’t remember these wild buildings in 1977. Then most villages had a similar look, simple shacks built following the 1976 earthquake that destroyed entire villages
Toribio has done three stints working in the US, got himself a house, a truck and a carpentry business as a result. I enjoyed our conversation, we connected well
Otto is in charge of security. The baseline vigilance level is higher here, and this type of security is unremarkable. Mexico as well, but to a lesser extent
