Beans are hugely popular here; people eat them at almost every meal (including breakfast), but oftentimes they aren't whole beans--they are pureed in a blender or mushed up with rice. It's very interesting. I don't know what they have against whole beans, but that's the way they like them I guess.
Speaking of food, no matter what you eat, there are tortillas. Beans and....tortillas. Rice and....tortillas. Spaghetti and...tortillas. Always. Oh, and there is always chile. They never make spicy food because they serve chile on the side so you can make it as spicy as you want.
People are very careful with how much water and electricity they use because it's so expensive. My host mom is a real stickler about not using lights during the day because they aren't necessary. When we want to take a shower, we have to flip a switch to turn on the hot water heater. Between 10pm and 6am, more or less, the water in our house is turned off. And as I've mentioned before, everyone hand washes their clothes. It sounds like a pain, but in the long run, it is definitely better for the environment.
Fruit and vegetables are super cheap here, and the typical American "cheap" foods, like coffee, peanut butter, oatmeal, and cans of tuna, are expensive. You can get a pound of apples for a dollar, four avocados for a $1.25, and fresh flowers for 50 cents. It's incredibly cheap and negociable. But a 6 oz. jar of peanut butter is five dollars and a can of tuna is $1.50. Go figure.
There are SO many stray dogs here. It's absolutely insane. I feel bad for them because a lot of them are really skinny, but they manage to get by somehow. Every day, I probably see at least 15 stray dogs. Insane.
Here, the number of people that can fit on a moped is infinite. I've seen five people riding on one at the same time: a mom, a dad, and their three kids. That would not go over well in the US. But here, cars are expensive, so people do what they can to get their kids to school, themselves to work, and whatnot.
If it ever snowed here, everyone would freeze because no one could ever have indoor heating since every house, restaurant, tienda, etc. has a courtyard or a patio in the middle. For example, in my house, I could never go from my room to anywhere else in the house without being "outside" for a short period of time. In essence, no houses are airtight. But they don't need to be in a place that's always no more than ten degrees above or below 70 degrees farenheit.
Masks are a big deal. In the states, the only occasions for mask-wearing are Halloween and bank robbing. Here, people wear masks for every celebration they have. I asked my teacher why, and she said she's not sure about their significance (I think for the ancient Mayans they did, though), people here just really like masks. It's not like people walk around with them at all times, but if there are fiestas with dancing, a lot of times the dancers will wear masks (some of which are really scary).
No one really minds other people's kids. What I mean is that people bring their kids to everything and it's totally normal. At Mass, toddlers often wander around freely. More than once a lady has had to go on to the altar to fetch her kid who had strayed a little too far and in the wrong direction. Every day, I see women walking around carrying heavy baskets on their heads with a baby strapped onto their back with a big piece of fabric. And it's not unusual to see small children selling newspapers all by themselves, working a stand at the market, or shining shoes. Which is another big problem in Guatemala: child labor. Many kids, especially in rural areas, don't go to school so they can work. Education here is very poor and I think this is a huge cause of poverty and corruption.
In the past, Mayan peoples, much like Native Americans in the United States, had a great respect for the Earth. Every time people would harvest a crop, they would say a prayer of thanksgiving and of permission to the gods. It's unfortunate, however, that some of this mindset has been lost. How do I know this? Cities in Guatemala are SO polluted: fumes from buses and piles of trash on the street are the most obvious factors. In some places, trash on the street is so bad that garbage workers have to pick it up in shovelfulls. It's a shame that this belief in the sanctity of the Earth has been lost by people who don't give a second thought to throwing trash on the ground. I think the spread of consumerism, and the throw away mindset that comes with it, is partly to blame. It's just one of the many products of the West's neo-colonialism (controlling another place through mass media and globalization instead of through armies and conquerors) that is eliminating some of the traditional aspects of Guatemalan culture. I have a lot more to say about neo-colonialism in Guatemala/Latin America (because it is, unfortunately, both fascinating and horrifying), but I can't write it all here. Just know that it is very obvious in Guatemala.
One aspect of Guatemala that is just fascinating to me is the level of belief in mystery. For example, tons of people readily and willingly believe in miracles. In my conversations with different Guatemalans, this became apparent to me. Now, while I believe that a certain dose of skepticism regarding miracles and the paranormal is healthy, I think there is something quite admirable about the level of faith that such a belief requires. Belief in spirits and in lugares encantados or "enchanted places" (which are inhabited by spirits) is widespread. It's such a stark contrast to the skepticism and cynicism of Western society. Now, I realize that many of you might be thinking that such a belief in mystery is only the result of people being uneducated. This may be a factor, but I also think that the religiousness of this country, and of Latin America in general, has much more to do with it. People here readily see the divine in the world. There's something quite beautiful in that.
Well I guess that started out as random observations and ended in random reflections. Take it as you wish. Hope it gives you a bit more of an idea of what this place is like. Also, for a bit of eye candy, yesterday I walked around the ruins of the old San Francisco Cathedral. How beautiful! There are two stories, which give you quite a view of Antigua. It's one of my new favorite places. Here's some pictures:
That's all for now...peace to all who read this!
Nice observations! I really enjoy how you give us the little details, like the price of peanut butter or the way they use water and electricity. It's little details like that that tend to get overlooked when you read about another culture (as opposed to seeing it firsthand).
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