Leaving Guatemala

Yesterday, our plane backed away from the portal and taxied down the runway. It was 7:32 A.M. The welcome, warm sun was already up and shining brightly. The flight attendants werebusy serving the first class customers, and we thought about the colorful little tuk tuks (three wheeled taxis) in San Marcos bumping up the steep hills carrying their passengers to and fro. Our ride to Guatemala City the day before had definitely been more comfortable. We had left our beautiful garden and lovely home on the shores of picturesque Lake Atitlan at 9:30 A.M. and spent the night in the humble little Hotel Aero Puerto. When we left San Marcos, a distant volcano was spewing its smoke and probably ashes. We had a jolly day riding with Josh, his friend, Ito, and our driver, Andres, who broke up the more than three-hour trip with a midway breakfast stop. Once in the city, we visited a “totally” Chinese store. It was run by Guatemalans, but it had everything one could want to cook and/or to decorate with the Eastern motif. We had picked up two more of Josh and Courtney’s friends, Inger and Marcel, earlier in the capital city, and they too were buying tea and woks.

Now as we gaze past the window passenger and watch the plane gain altitude, we are already discussing how we will pack differently, what items to include, and special things for granddaughters, Mirabai and Althea. We were still savoring the fabulous early sunsets over Lake Atitlan often observed from our little cabana on the lakeshore. The dim lighting, which precluded nighttime reading, lack of TV, and absence of Wi-Fi in our casa inspired us to go to bed early. We would list all the people we met, and things that we enjoyed, ate, or purchased. Our wood burning fireplace was a welcome place to have our morning coffee. We loved watching the water taxis moving back and forth across the lake every half hour from dawn to dusk. We boarded them whenever possible to visit other towns on lovely Lake Atitlan with its backdrop of volcanoes and mountains.

Our visit to Santiago on our last Sunday was most special. We will return to the shops and the market and the church there when we visit next time. Josh and Courtney have made a positive impact on San Marcos. Their school, Escuela Caracol, is a beautiful garden with two classrooms, office, compost toilet, water tank, and storage lockers. They grow small numbers of bananas, corn, limes, plantains, and other garden veggies. They even have a little grove of coffee bean trees that produce abundantly.
This time our visit coincided with the picking of coffee beans. One evening, when we hiked up around the mountain to Tzununa, many men and boys were pouring out of the fields with heavy bags of the beans on their backs. Jerry estimated, when he struggled to lift one that they must have weighed between 85 and 100 pounds. The avocados were also being picked and shipped elsewhere. Huge bags sat on the road awaiting trucks to load and take them to market. The native Mayans are gentle, friendly, hard working, and clean. Huge loads are carried in baskets on the heads of women and strapped on the backs of men. Mothers bathe their children in Lake Atitlan or the canal, wash their clothes, bathe themselves, and scrub their houses each morning. Farm animals may be found grazing along the roads or even roaming through town.

The biggest negative in the small villages are the dogs that crowd the sidewalks, poop wherever they want, and bark at night. While a few have fierce barks, they are wimps if one reaches for a stone. We did see the rare misuse of alcohol at times. That is one issue the churches and community are attempting to alleviate. It was good to see that between our first visit in March and this trip, San Marcos has installed trash cans and posted fines for littering. It has helped, but they have a long way to go. Oh yes! There are a couple of other things we won’t miss. The Catholic Church and some Pentecostal churches in San Marcos have big loudspeakers. There are the early morning announcements and the evening chanting, which we suppose is to resemble “a joyful noise unto the Lord.”

Overall, though, we love visiting Guatemala. It is a beautiful, mountainous country, with diminutive, sweet, industrious people. They rarely pass us without a greeting. It is estimated that 40 percent of the population are Evangelical Christians. The rest are mostly Roman Catholic. The average wage earner makes less than Q74 (about $10). Few have motorized vehicles. They may be poor, but they don’t know it. The USA could afford to emulate their strong work ethic and sense of family commitment.

Farewell Courtney, Josh, energetic Althea, and sweet Baby Mirabai. We miss you already and cannot wait to see you again next year. Thank you for the great contribution you are making to the people of San Marcos. We pray for you daily. Leroy, as the biggest and best dog in San Marcos, we miss you too. Stay healthy! It wouldn’t be the same without you.
(For more Guatemala information and photos, read our Blog posts going back to November 6 and March 2008.)