We're getting settled into Guatemala! Jenny and I just rented a bungalow, which is basically a single home with a bedroom/living room (one room), kitchen, and bathroom. The rent includes everything (water, tv cable, electricity) except gas (for cooking) and internet. And get this, the tv cable has like 70 channels (half of which are purely English speaking, including CBS (for football games), History Channel, ESPN, HBO, etc)...literally more than we had while living in the States; however, we do not intend to consume our time with the channels, although I am quite excited for access to the football games.
One of the things we really like about our bungalow is that it shares a courtyard with a few other bungalows, one of which is a Mayan family! I'm excited to be able to get to know them and to play with the kids (one is 6 and the other is almost 2 years old).
Traditional Mayans are very proper and well versed in simplicity...meaning they literally do the work that is necessary (such as hard labor, textiles, farming) in order to provide for their families and they're satisfied with life. Picture a family of 6 leaning over a bowl of beans while sitting on a dirt floor...that's all they "need". From my experiences in the States, it's hard for me to imagine the US society being "okay" without access to the latest and best technologies, let alone the basics of life (home, tables, chairs, drinking water). One story was shared about an elderly women who was given shoes to wear, but even when she had them she didn't wear them because she was so accustomed to not having them and preferred not to use them (since her feet were so well versed for the street rocks, etc).
There is a man that is paid by our landlady to do maintenance around the bungalows and courtyard. He is very cute (deaf, only a few teeth), always smiling. We rearranged some of the furnishing in our bungalow and needed his help (tools) to undrill the headboard to our bed (it was attached to the wall rather than the bed frame). In order to feel comfortable with his help in our bungalow, I felt like we had to put away/hide some of our possessions. I don't mean we had to hide our computer, etc in fear it would be stolen, rather I mean that we had to put our shoes in bags and clothes in dressers because of the multitudes of shoes and clothes that we have. We've seen him with only one pair of shoes that have holes in them, he doesn't wear socks, and his shirt is dirty. Even though Jenny and I packed our possessions in two suitcases each to travel to Guatemala, we still have more here than the typical Guatemalan...and yet the majority of our stuff is still in the States.
It is a lot harder here to come by things to buy, such as clothes hangers, pillows, and random other items. We spent two days (and still don't have everything) walking around asking where to find various things and most everyone's answer was "La Dispensa", which is a store owned by Walmart. And it turned out, even it didn't have any hangers, pillows, or plates.
We're still adjusting to the lifestyle here, but here are a few answers to common questions that were asked or that went unsaid during our transition from the States to here:
1) What are you going to eat? - so far we've eaten pizza, eggs, beans, rice, chicken, corn on cob, vegetables, yogurt, sandwiches. Food is similar, but portions are smaller. Jenny and I have yet to get accustomed to cooking in home and have only been eating out as of now.
2) What are you going to do without football? -it turns out I get football games in my bungalow. In fact, I first started watching the Colts game in a native restaurant where it was commentated in Spanish. In the bungalow I can watch it in English. I have plans to still be competitive in fantasy football, as well!
3) Is it safe? -police are often described as corrupt, meaning that "robbers, drug dealers, etc" pay police off for the police to stay out of their business, but it is a very close knit community and people look out for each other. In fact, it's often said that the people take things into their own hands and do the policeman's job when the police don't (**which can be a bad thing...one couple told a story about a group of Mayans who beat up and burned a fellow Mayan for stealing at the market...they killed him because the police were going to let him get away). Drugs are also too easy to come by, just to give you an idea of the culture.
4) How long are you going to be there? -we plan on renting our bungalow for the year. Jenny's in a non profit position serving Mayan families for a year, and we'll evaluate it during that time.
5) Can you recycle there? -there are some recycle bins, or so we've heard, but we've learned that recycling bins are dumped with trash bins. Guatemala doesn't have a recycling program, and they'd actually have to pay China to send recycling to China, so they just dig holes and bury everything to save money rather than ship it overseas.
6) Is it really hot there? -so far the temperature has been pleasant (mid 70's during day), however it is the rainy season and it can easily be predicted to rain every afternoon, sometimes for many hours. Starting November, we're told it is always sunny and nice temperature, but gets cool (no less than 50 or 40) throughout the whole winter...no rain or snow.
7) Why are you living in Guatemala? -We feel blessed with the opportunity to experience another culture and to live by different standards. We hope to learn about cultural acceptance, be a servant to surrounding persons, to empower the impoverished workforce, and to share our faith and be spiritual advocates.
Our town relies on tourism (to eat at restaurants, to buy textiles, and to stay in hotels, etc), which is odd because the consumerism concept does not make sense to the Mayans. Meaning, they traditionally only possess what they 'need'. It's a paradox that they're selling textile goods (which are awesome, btw) for tourists to buy their 'wants'. It has been difficult to grasp ways to help and impact Mayans on deep levels. We hope to join a congregation soon and fellowship at a church, however we haven't found strong ties at this point.
One of the things we really like about our bungalow is that it shares a courtyard with a few other bungalows, one of which is a Mayan family! I'm excited to be able to get to know them and to play with the kids (one is 6 and the other is almost 2 years old).
Traditional Mayans are very proper and well versed in simplicity...meaning they literally do the work that is necessary (such as hard labor, textiles, farming) in order to provide for their families and they're satisfied with life. Picture a family of 6 leaning over a bowl of beans while sitting on a dirt floor...that's all they "need". From my experiences in the States, it's hard for me to imagine the US society being "okay" without access to the latest and best technologies, let alone the basics of life (home, tables, chairs, drinking water). One story was shared about an elderly women who was given shoes to wear, but even when she had them she didn't wear them because she was so accustomed to not having them and preferred not to use them (since her feet were so well versed for the street rocks, etc).
There is a man that is paid by our landlady to do maintenance around the bungalows and courtyard. He is very cute (deaf, only a few teeth), always smiling. We rearranged some of the furnishing in our bungalow and needed his help (tools) to undrill the headboard to our bed (it was attached to the wall rather than the bed frame). In order to feel comfortable with his help in our bungalow, I felt like we had to put away/hide some of our possessions. I don't mean we had to hide our computer, etc in fear it would be stolen, rather I mean that we had to put our shoes in bags and clothes in dressers because of the multitudes of shoes and clothes that we have. We've seen him with only one pair of shoes that have holes in them, he doesn't wear socks, and his shirt is dirty. Even though Jenny and I packed our possessions in two suitcases each to travel to Guatemala, we still have more here than the typical Guatemalan...and yet the majority of our stuff is still in the States.
It is a lot harder here to come by things to buy, such as clothes hangers, pillows, and random other items. We spent two days (and still don't have everything) walking around asking where to find various things and most everyone's answer was "La Dispensa", which is a store owned by Walmart. And it turned out, even it didn't have any hangers, pillows, or plates.
We're still adjusting to the lifestyle here, but here are a few answers to common questions that were asked or that went unsaid during our transition from the States to here:
1) What are you going to eat? - so far we've eaten pizza, eggs, beans, rice, chicken, corn on cob, vegetables, yogurt, sandwiches. Food is similar, but portions are smaller. Jenny and I have yet to get accustomed to cooking in home and have only been eating out as of now.
2) What are you going to do without football? -it turns out I get football games in my bungalow. In fact, I first started watching the Colts game in a native restaurant where it was commentated in Spanish. In the bungalow I can watch it in English. I have plans to still be competitive in fantasy football, as well!
3) Is it safe? -police are often described as corrupt, meaning that "robbers, drug dealers, etc" pay police off for the police to stay out of their business, but it is a very close knit community and people look out for each other. In fact, it's often said that the people take things into their own hands and do the policeman's job when the police don't (**which can be a bad thing...one couple told a story about a group of Mayans who beat up and burned a fellow Mayan for stealing at the market...they killed him because the police were going to let him get away). Drugs are also too easy to come by, just to give you an idea of the culture.
4) How long are you going to be there? -we plan on renting our bungalow for the year. Jenny's in a non profit position serving Mayan families for a year, and we'll evaluate it during that time.
5) Can you recycle there? -there are some recycle bins, or so we've heard, but we've learned that recycling bins are dumped with trash bins. Guatemala doesn't have a recycling program, and they'd actually have to pay China to send recycling to China, so they just dig holes and bury everything to save money rather than ship it overseas.
6) Is it really hot there? -so far the temperature has been pleasant (mid 70's during day), however it is the rainy season and it can easily be predicted to rain every afternoon, sometimes for many hours. Starting November, we're told it is always sunny and nice temperature, but gets cool (no less than 50 or 40) throughout the whole winter...no rain or snow.
7) Why are you living in Guatemala? -We feel blessed with the opportunity to experience another culture and to live by different standards. We hope to learn about cultural acceptance, be a servant to surrounding persons, to empower the impoverished workforce, and to share our faith and be spiritual advocates.
Our town relies on tourism (to eat at restaurants, to buy textiles, and to stay in hotels, etc), which is odd because the consumerism concept does not make sense to the Mayans. Meaning, they traditionally only possess what they 'need'. It's a paradox that they're selling textile goods (which are awesome, btw) for tourists to buy their 'wants'. It has been difficult to grasp ways to help and impact Mayans on deep levels. We hope to join a congregation soon and fellowship at a church, however we haven't found strong ties at this point.
The community is different around this part of the world. In our town specifically, there are a lot of travelers touring, but also a lot of foreigners (Europeans, Americans, etc) settling here for varying reasons. It can be a struggle for us to pursue our "reasons" for being here (specifically to love and serve, to learn, and to be immersed), because we could find ourselves getting comfortable with our own culture given that there is a well built foreigner population.
David, thanks for sharing...very interesting and informative! We're praying for you and Jenny that the Lord will continue to guide and protect you!
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