Guatemala Trip Recap
I got back this morning at 2 am, two hours later than expected due to storms in Atlanta. The conference to me was a success; I shook many hands and got business cards, but more importantly, I learned a great deal about the issues facing many countries in the Latin America and Carribean region, and what diplomats, scientists, journalists, engineers, and just normal folk are doing to solve them. To be able to express all that I saw and learned would take too much space, and probably be too boring for you all in this forum, so I'll just include what I thought about Guatemala.
Not to knock the people of Guatemala or their home, but I thought that Guatemala City was not very attractive and lacked what I would consider a cultural vein that I had hoped to see; my expectations coming from what I had seen in Mexico's capital. However, I only ventured around the business district, which was obviously developed to appeal to western businessmen and not the largely impoverished majority of the population. Plus, being in the rainy season, the constant overcast sky and rain and rain and rain kept me inside when I really wanted to explore. I found a bar owned by a Canadian guy who'd been there for 15 years and struck up a conversation that opened a bit more of what life was like in the city, particularly for a foreigner. He told me that Guat City was a very dangerous place: his bar's first location was so bad that he had been robbed at gunpoint twice and three other burglaries. Of course where his bar was moved to is one of the safest places in the city, as there are literally guards with rifles/shotguns everywhere. Guards standing in front of snack stands! Nothing's going down in the Zona Viva (Live Zone) because practically an entire militia could be formed in any given notice. That told me much about crime in the city. It was more heavily guarded than I ever saw in Mexico.
Unfortunatlely I didn't take many photos because I hate walking around with my camera in a big city, especially in one where it was likely to make me vulnerable to have it stolen. I did capture a couple shots of the public buses, which were the most interesting things I saw there. Many of them were converted US school buses, painted red. All were filled to the brim with passengers, and each one had a yeller hanging out one of the doors, blurting the bus' destination for curious pedestrians. When I first took my taxi from the airport to my hotel, I saw a big yellow school bus with the words "Fayette County School District" on the side. A donated bus I must assume from the states. Oh, the Canadian also told me to never take a public bus because many people carry guns on and rob the passengers.
I am not trying to paint an ugly picture of Guatemala City, but I can only comment on the things I saw. Unfortunaly I wasn't able to take the tours outside the city like many others did because my flight left before the weekend. The next time I visit Guatemala, I hope that it is for pleasure and not business, so I can explore and really get to see the hearts of the people and the country. Being so close to El Salvador, I'll surely be returning.
The conference taught me many things. I learned about the water issues of the region, the significant economic parity that exists in Latin America and the challenge it creates to provide equal water quality for all, the problem of government and administration corruption (World Bank predicts 20 to 40 per cent of project money lost every year in water management due to corruption), and it empowered me as I met so many hard working and concerned people trying to bring sufficient and clean water to their citizens. I'm so happy that I went, and I'm so grateful for all the support given to me along the way.
Not to knock the people of Guatemala or their home, but I thought that Guatemala City was not very attractive and lacked what I would consider a cultural vein that I had hoped to see; my expectations coming from what I had seen in Mexico's capital. However, I only ventured around the business district, which was obviously developed to appeal to western businessmen and not the largely impoverished majority of the population. Plus, being in the rainy season, the constant overcast sky and rain and rain and rain kept me inside when I really wanted to explore. I found a bar owned by a Canadian guy who'd been there for 15 years and struck up a conversation that opened a bit more of what life was like in the city, particularly for a foreigner. He told me that Guat City was a very dangerous place: his bar's first location was so bad that he had been robbed at gunpoint twice and three other burglaries. Of course where his bar was moved to is one of the safest places in the city, as there are literally guards with rifles/shotguns everywhere. Guards standing in front of snack stands! Nothing's going down in the Zona Viva (Live Zone) because practically an entire militia could be formed in any given notice. That told me much about crime in the city. It was more heavily guarded than I ever saw in Mexico.
Unfortunatlely I didn't take many photos because I hate walking around with my camera in a big city, especially in one where it was likely to make me vulnerable to have it stolen. I did capture a couple shots of the public buses, which were the most interesting things I saw there. Many of them were converted US school buses, painted red. All were filled to the brim with passengers, and each one had a yeller hanging out one of the doors, blurting the bus' destination for curious pedestrians. When I first took my taxi from the airport to my hotel, I saw a big yellow school bus with the words "Fayette County School District" on the side. A donated bus I must assume from the states. Oh, the Canadian also told me to never take a public bus because many people carry guns on and rob the passengers.
I am not trying to paint an ugly picture of Guatemala City, but I can only comment on the things I saw. Unfortunaly I wasn't able to take the tours outside the city like many others did because my flight left before the weekend. The next time I visit Guatemala, I hope that it is for pleasure and not business, so I can explore and really get to see the hearts of the people and the country. Being so close to El Salvador, I'll surely be returning.
The conference taught me many things. I learned about the water issues of the region, the significant economic parity that exists in Latin America and the challenge it creates to provide equal water quality for all, the problem of government and administration corruption (World Bank predicts 20 to 40 per cent of project money lost every year in water management due to corruption), and it empowered me as I met so many hard working and concerned people trying to bring sufficient and clean water to their citizens. I'm so happy that I went, and I'm so grateful for all the support given to me along the way.
posted by Matt B at 3:24 PM
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