The contrast between poverty and wealth is significant in Guatemala, however I have only really started to notice the divide since I arrived in the nation's capital. In Flores and Antigua, the occassional policeman or security guard with a gun could be seen, but here in Guatemala City, armed officials are everywhere. As well as numerous policemen and soliders holding weapons in the streets of G.C, some of the chicken buses I have travelled in have had not one but two guards brandising guns on them, most of whom look too young to be carrying a water pistol, let alone a pump-action rifle.
Guatemala feels like a country that is slowly on the up, but I am told this is being hampered by corruption at all levels of goverment. Having read myself in the newspaper about the murder of a high-profile lawyer that had spoken out against the political establishment, and indeed filed a videotape of himself forecasting his demise at the hands of the prime ministers cohorts just weeks before he was assassinated, Anajose also explained that hundreds of millions of public money had gone missing in recent years, and that the political elite were lining their own pockets with money that should have been improving the lives of guatamaltecos. She was not optimistic of change, as apparently the politicians curry facour with the poor by giving them cash handouts and other sweeteners in exchange for their votes at election time.
Of course, the common denominator in Guatemala has of course again been the people, who have always been friendly and helpful. From the many locals that have helped me get from A to B on the chicken buses (including a man that left his pizza dinner to walk three blocks with me to show me where to catch my next bus), to Anajose giving up her Friday evening and Saturday morning to show me around her city to the old lady that offered a complete stranger her spare room, the Guatamaltecos have been accommodating and patient with a extranjero who is a lot better at asking questions than he is at understanding their detailed responses.
Climbing an active volcano and looking out over a lush jungle canopy at ancient Mayan ruins are the obvious highlights of my time in Guate so far, however the chicken buses of Guatemala City are also an experience I will fondly remember. Sometimes it seemed that every passenger on the bus knew where the extranjero was trying to get to within a few minutes of me getting on the bus, such was the frequency of people that I had not spoken to coming up and tapping me on the shoulder to tell me what bus I needed to catch and where.
The wind of change can already be felt on the capital's transport system, and although an underground train system can apparently not be build because the government have "lost" the plans to the city, a new system of modern green bendy buses have already arrived on one route through the city. Personally, I preferred travelling on the antiquated chicken buses, with their conductors that insist all passengers under the age of 90 jump onto the bus whilst it continues moving down the street, and its drivers that generously refund the QZ 1 (8 pence) fare to extranjeros that have foolishly got on the wrong bus.
I have only scratched the surface of Guatamala during my brief time in the country this month, and although I will see more of it in June when I return for a few weeks of Spanish classes, it is obvious that there is a lot more to see. Whereas I am probably unlikely to return to Belize or Cuba or indeed Mexico after I leave there in a fortnights time, I could definitely see myself revisiting Guatemala again in the future.
Climbing an active volcano and looking out over a lush jungle canopy at ancient Mayan ruins are the obvious highlights of my time in Guate so far, however the chicken buses of Guatemala City are also an experience I will fondly remember. Sometimes it seemed that every passenger on the bus knew where the extranjero was trying to get to within a few minutes of me getting on the bus, such was the frequency of people that I had not spoken to coming up and tapping me on the shoulder to tell me what bus I needed to catch and where.
The wind of change can already be felt on the capital's transport system, and although an underground train system can apparently not be build because the government have "lost" the plans to the city, a new system of modern green bendy buses have already arrived on one route through the city. Personally, I preferred travelling on the antiquated chicken buses, with their conductors that insist all passengers under the age of 90 jump onto the bus whilst it continues moving down the street, and its drivers that generously refund the QZ 1 (8 pence) fare to extranjeros that have foolishly got on the wrong bus.
I have only scratched the surface of Guatamala during my brief time in the country this month, and although I will see more of it in June when I return for a few weeks of Spanish classes, it is obvious that there is a lot more to see. Whereas I am probably unlikely to return to Belize or Cuba or indeed Mexico after I leave there in a fortnights time, I could definitely see myself revisiting Guatemala again in the future.
