why Guatemala

This should be the last Guatemala-focused email. Then I'm ready to move on to the newer things in my life.

People asked me "Why Guatemala?". (Note that with slightly different punctuation, it could be "Why, Guatemala?", in which case I'd choose my nickname to be Guati.)

Simple answers:
- I could get the visa quickly. When I got my visa, it was the simplest process ever (second only to not needing a visa). The embassy is near Dupont Circle (easy metro ride). The website did not work, nobody answered the phone, and the email bounced back. So, I headed off to the embassy to inquire, taking with me my anticipated necessary paperwork. I showed up at the desk, was not asked for any of the just-in-case paperwork I had brought, and I was told to come back tomorrow to pick it up. Oh, and super cheap. And in the end, I told her I wasn't sure when I wanted to leave, so she gave me the visa starting that week for up to three months. Easy caneezy.

- The country was relatively cheap, making it more affordable to spend two weeks without many restrictions (any restrictions?).

- Spanish-speaking, which meant I could at last practice my Spanish. And the Guatemaltecos speak slowly and clearly, relatively to many other Spanish-speakers. It made it pretty easy to get around.

- Spanish classes are cheap and are one-on-one instruction with a teacher. Doesn't get much better.

- Never been to Central America.

Well, you get the picture. It's actually hard to pick a country to go to out of a hat- although affordability does really make half the decision for you in the end.

take that, martha

Beth, Juliana's mom, has this trick for serving potato chips straight from the bag- scissors only required to cut a hole. It was a hit, for sure.

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.