civil war

The effects of the politics of a place on its people interests me, not only because I am Palestinian, but because I'm fascinated by how it affects the psyche of the people, the culture. In Guatemala, I think much of the violence and the crime are remnants of years of military rule, of the recent civil war, and of course, poverty.

I asked my host family if they knew anyone affected by the civil war. It turns out that their daughter-in-law's parents were killed. They lived in a town near Antigua. Both of her parents were teachers and were leftists/relatively involved in the political situation. They were missing for a few days, and then the mother of the woman found them in the woods behind the house, only their hands showing through the ground. Were they buried that way so they could be found? Or because of negligence? This is how I imagine them in the ground.

This was one thing I was not used to. Others included the landscape- I am from a land in which you can see far and wide without even trying. When we were going from Santa Elena in Tikal, in the subtropical rainforest, the rainforest had been cleared (slash and burn) for agriculture near el lago Peten Itza. And then we got into the rainforest, into Tikal park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (check out the list of 851 properties here). And then my view was obstructed! I remember feeling claustrophobic after a few days in Asheville, NC because I couldn't get a view over the tree line. Well, in Tikal, we did get some excellent views- either from the tops of temples (maybe the Mayans also felt claustrophobic and decided to build high) and when we went zip-lining. On the way back to the airport, I loved the open space- as sad as slash and burn is for the ecosystem.