Guatemala's Beggars in the streets

It was just before Christmas in 2011 and I can and I wonder as I pass the beggars in the streets who will help them on Christmas day?  I pass and drop change or a bill into their hand or bowl. I give only to women that crouch with small children now. The men will drink it.

In Xela there is a beautiful (gold adorned) Iglasia. The gold originally came from Guatemala, looted years ago by the Spanish shipped off to Spain and then returned through the generosity of the Roman Catholic church to Igalsias here.

The beggars sit near the Iglasia (church) entrance.

They are invisible to most people.

They are invisible to the church that teaches the Christian story of love and giving... 

Christmas. 

A time of giving and caring for your fellow man or woman.

A time for families to join together in celebration of what they believe in.

 "Beggars why are they left this way?"

Esperanza

Esperanza or Hope can be and is many things to many people.
To a fourteen year old and very frightened little girl hope is something far removed from reality.

I learned about her through a friend I have that helps people that really need help. He is a sort of ordinary man to look at and to speak with, but Roland is a very special person. He is like an angel in the darkness. Searching through newspapers and other sources he finds homes for people, supplies food and medicine and this time through some newspaper article he found this child.

When I saw the photographs I knew that I had to travel with him to see this girl. Her prognosis is not good with the cancer rapidly advanced and she will die without some form of intervention.

I need to help in some way.. and I will update this for you.

Please pray for her.

Updates are sometimes difficult to write about. I wanted this to be a happy update. I wanted to say yes that she is better and be happy saying that. Her prognosis was never very good. But I had hope it would be better.

This story will end soon as she will. Her short life stolen away. She has been sent to a special place to end her days there. She is dieing. She is dieing and I feel so helpless with these words. She is dieing as that beast of a desease steals her future.

Please prey for her.

TODOS SANTOS.. Mayan Skach Koyl

I learn that a special shuttle has been arranged by the tour company that also runs my lodging. Q200 (about $25) will get me to Todas Santos http://www.wikipedia/wiki/todas_santos/ and back.

Todas Santos Cuchumatan in the municipality of Huehuetenago sits in the Sierra de los Cuchumatan mountains at an elevation of 2500 metres.

To get to Todas Santos will take a four hour bus ride.

The inflatable neck pillow I have taken with me is pretty useless except to use as a back support. The seat backs are low and I have nothing to rest my head and neck on. I keep hoping that no one else will share my already cramped double seat space as I need all the comfort my long frame will allow. While I want to experience all the trip, I am tired and want to rest a bit in the beginning.

It is 6:00 am as we all gather to fill the small bus. We are 16 people in total where we should be 21. Five of the group have not shown up nursing sleep from a long night of playing at bars I suppose the night before.There are frantic phone calls by the driver as we wait.

Waiting is fine in Guatemala where time sometimes seems to stand still. So we wait some more. Then that decision and the waiting is over as we leave 30 minutes late. Being late is common place in Guatemala. Being late is accepted. Waiting is part of life.

Morning light is creeping into view as the still empty streets whiz by my sleepy eyes.

People wait on corners for some other bus to take them to other directions and places to be. We pass a market of vendors busy preparing their goods for sales to come. They look weary and their day is just about to begin.

The road twists and turns and meanders. A road plan here that was never planned. The direction the road takes seems to have been catered to the whims and notions of people without that plan and they all seem to connect to some other road or places unheard of.

We stop somewhere for that leg stretch, for some people to smoke and yes for the bano (bathroom) break.

I am amazed, as the altitude we sit at, is nearly 4000 metres. The air is thin and cold but refreshing.

I look about and the view reminds me of something. The landscape triggers memories of a life I knew of as a boy in north Wales. The landscape is stark, with open windswept low vegetation, a barren land with cloud covered memories. I feel as if I am in Wales, my birthplace.

Halfway we stop in Huehuetenango and pick up to two extra travelers.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huehuetenango.

Huehuetenago is better know as Huehue pronounced (wheywhey).
Huehue is a maze of avenidas (avenues) and calle's (streets) with no planned pattern. Colonial style buildings and other structures with no pattern or regular architectural plan connected in an offset assortment.

I notice that the driver keeps stopping at the side of the road and speaks to passersby. He does it three or maybe four times. It makes me wonder, then I realize he is asking for directions from Huehue to Todas Santos. It is not a comforting thought as the driver keeps stopping and asks people at the sides of the road for directions. I can only chuckle at his malady, which here seems normal.

We arrive in Todas Santos and there is no formal place to park. The road is wet and muddy from recent drizzle and rain. The bus pulls into tight space at the side of a gas station.

We disembark and all take our separate ways following the ever growing crowd of people as it slowly sweeps and glides down through and into the town centre. Mud and rain puddles are everywhere and we walk to avoid getting our feet wet. It is raining a light drizzle, the kind that wets you without you knowing it.

This event in Todas Santos happens once a year and coincides with what is known as the day of the dead. It is a very different horse race than I am used to and called in the Mam dialect "skach koyl. There are some 23 Maya dialects in Guatemala and Mam is spoken in the regions of San Marcos and Huehuetenango by close to 500,000 people.

http://newsletter.drachen.org/Jan2007/jan07-guatkites.html

All saints day where kites are flown to honour the ancestors. Where people gather in cemeteries to celebrate there dead families and friends.

Riders in all stages of drunkenness compete in the horse race at Todas Santos. The riders are very colourful in their lavish and brightly coloured outfits.

They are also very very drunk.

The town is very very drunk in a five day long celebration that honours the lives of the dead. For one week before the infamous race of Todos Santos it is customary for everyone in the town to get drunk. They drink all day and all night long, yes all week long and yes everyone is very very drunk.

I spoke to several horses and riders.

The horses seem to communicate better and without a language or perhaps a language of their own. The horses are smaller than what I am used to as we could stare endlessly into each others eyes.

Todos Santos an event not to be missed.
If you only visit Guatemala for a short time.... please take the time to experience Todos Santos..

Todos Santos in a land like no other.

With new friendships made and adventures happening safely, in a place called the "land of eternal spring", Guatemala.










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Elevation, Bugs, Metric and more

ELEVATION!!!
I used to live at 5000 ft with no difficulty. Is it my age or for the fact that I lived at sea level for so long that I have had more difficulty than usual at close to 8000 ft? Age could be a factor here of course and the fact that prior to arriving here in Guatemala I had a bug of some sort.
  


BUGS!!!
There are bugs here. I am not speaking of the kind that crawl or fly about and become a menace. Yes Guatemala has those as well, but they are mostly on the two coastal or more tropical areas. What I am talking about the kind that invade your very being. The kind that make you ill. You can decide to get all manner of shots prior to coming here, the very fact is that you will have to get your body, your immune system, adjusted to the bugs that live here. 

There was a big decision I had to make last year before my trip to Guatemala on whether I should get the HEP A/B shots. There are arguments both sides,. The one thing that is for certain is that the drug company that makes the drug is very keen on you getting it. The drugs are expensive. This little nasty beastly bugs are famous and have a fantastic marketing program that has one believing that laying on the sand in any tropical country will have you contract the condition. The very simple fact is that you can contract this condition at home.
  


The PHARMACIA!!!
Get sick, get ill, get hurt and need meds??? Solution. Here in Guatemala just go to the Pharmacia and tell them what you need and your meds will be given to with a payment. The danger is of course not knowing what you need. The second danger and bigger danger is not being able to tell them what you need. If you already have a prescription of your drug of choice and need it refilled then that is usually no problem at all. The one thing for certain whatever you get at the Pharmacia will be a lot cheaper than what you are used to paying at home. 
  


KEEPING WARM!!!
While it does get cold here (where I am) in Xela, Guatemala there is no snow. The temperature is temperate at 2330 metres. During November to early February it can get into the low single digits Celsius with signs of frost, but NO SNOW. 

Cold is many things to many people. Here in Guatemala at this elevation cold is felt as a dry cold. Most houses and hotels and hostels do not have any form or source of heat.The windows are single pain so no insulation value there. What the places here do have for that source of warmth at night is wonderfully warm woollen blankets and lots of them. 

What you need to bring if you are going to be here in Guatemala during the colder dry season is warmer clothes. Two items that I was advised to bring and did, was a pair of light gloves and a toque. 
 This was great advice which I followed last year and yes now on this trip as well. A sleeping bag liner sheet can also give you some added comfort. This year I brought along what is termed a tropical sleeping bag. The bag has a sheet on one side and minimal loft insulation on the other side. Depending on the value of warmth needed you decide which side is on the up side, the sheet or the loft.  The difference here in Xela, Guatemala is that while is it on the coolish (brrr) side at night, during the day it will be in the low twenties (C) so really warm.



METRIC MEASUREMENT!!!
All temperatures written here are in Celsius. Most of the world including Guatemala uses the Celsius scale of temperature measurement. Distances are in the metric system here as is measurement of volume and sizes.

So if you are from the USA, which does not use the metric system, get a good conversion table or or device or better still just adapt to the way it is here. 

The MAYA civilization, a people well ahead of their time used a very accurate form of measurement, the decimal or metric system. The Maya were able with closely and with great accuracy chart the stars and constellations, develop both a short count (still used today) and long count calender. Remember according to the Maya calender the world will end in 2012. Or is that the long count calander will end and ready to start again?

The Maya also invented the wheel, but discarded it as useless except for toys for children.



DANGER!!!
I an still astounded by people that think that Guatemala is the most dangerous place to travel to or live in. Yes there is danger. Yes there are killings. Yes there is violence. Yes there is corruption. But all this happens in every country in the world.

Your country is dangerous. Your country has murders. Your country is violent. Your country is corrupt.



GUN CONTROL!!!
Yes Guatemala has a gun and registry law. Purchasing a gun here in Guatemala is relativity easy even for a tourist. You can purchase a gun and carry a concealed gun here in Guatemala. The gun just needs to be registered. You will have to undergo a criminal record check to get a gun. You CANNOT carry a gun in plain sight. You CANNOT own or use any form of military gun or ammunition that is armour piercing. Ammunition for guns has a restriction on the amount of ammunition you can purchase for that particular gun. 



GUARDS!!!
There are more armed guards than there are police officers. There are more guns in the hands of private people than the police forces have. Am I speaking about the USA or Guatemala? The fact is the situation is the same in both countries so I am speaking about both countries. 



SPANISH!!!
Spanish is the official language of Guatemala. Saying that the Maya people have a language collection of their own. There are approximately 23 different Maya languages used in Guatemala. Each is specific to a different areas. There are also a spattering of other world languages spoken here by tourists and travellers. 

Spanish and the relevance of the language is important here in Guatemala. Yes you can get by with a few Spanish phrases and words. Yes you can adapt parts of Spanish and mix that with something termed Spanglish. What you will miss by doing this is an amazing culture and people of Guatemala. 

If you want to get by on just English or just a little bit of Spanish, then go to either Belize or Costa Rica. The latter, Costa Rica is now over run with English speaking expats. What happens to a country when that happens is that so much of the value of the country is lost in the process.  What also happens is that the cost of living goes up and housing becomes so expensive that only the expats can afford to live in some places there. What also happens is that crime increases.

Speaking only some Spanish here in Guatemala  mans that you miss out on so much. Yes I am still struggling.



ADJUSTING!!!
It takes time to adjust to many things here in Guatemala. You will need time to adjust to the Elevation, the Bugs, the Climate, the Metric system (for some), the chatter about Danger, the need for a Gun, the observance of armed Guards everywhere and yes learning Spanish.

Adjusting is also about slowing down. 

Adjusting is about not rushing off to do everything right away. Adjusting is all about about getting into that "lets do it tomorrow" attitude, about not planning for everything. 



GUATEMALA
Remember you cannot see Guatemala or experience what Guatemala is in few days or weeks. 

If you are planning a trip here to Guatemala and only have a couple of weeks to do that in, it is important to keep in mind that Guatemala is just so special a place that just two weeks will not do it justice. 

Do some research, choose a few locations within Guatemala (or let me help you there) and yes please come here and experience what this amazing country has to offer. 

What you really have to do when you come to Guatemala is just chill out, learn to smile a lot and yes relax and have fun. Most importantly though please learn to adopt the feeling of  if we cannot do it today.... "lets do it tomorrow."

Guatemala!!! 

"land of Eternal Spring" 

I love it here.

Retire in Guatemala....IT JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT BETTER

GUATEMALA 

The LAND OF ETERNAL SPRING

Just imagine retiring in a country with no winter. 
Guatemala has two season, that dry one and that wet one.
It has several geographical zones from the temperate Highlands to the tropical coasts

Retire in Guatemala??

Well NOW You Can!!!!

Why not..

 NOW... It is so possible 
And at 
Less than half the price or either 
Costa Rica or Belize

Now is the best time to be here. If you are thinking of retirement..... well yes why not RETIRE right here in GUATEMALA.

The recession has actually lowered real estate and rental prices.

A downside in any economy is never good news
but for you a retiree, it will mean 

Incredible savings,

Incredible opportunities

An incredible chance to retire in a lifestyle you have always wanted. Check out Expats exchange  http://www.expatexchange.com .

People always shy away from Guatemala. People always think that Guatemala is a dangerous and unstable country to be in, let alone retire in. People listen to gossip. Gossip that usually comes from someone that has never been to Guatemala. I am here and know and see this gossip and am appalled when I read this nonsense.

Did you know that there is more violence in the city of 
Los Angeles than in all Mexico and Guatemala put together. 

Yet no one ever says.... do NOT go to Los Angeles. 

WHY?? 

Why, because people listen to the wrong people. It is just easier to do that... and sometimes people feel they believe in what they think is the truth.

I have been in Guatemala now on five extended trips and I can guarantee you that it is as safe, if not safer than most places in the world.

Most of my true friends are Guatemalan. 
My connections are with the Guatemalan people. 
That is what makes this opportunity that I can offer you so rewarding for you. 

It is important who you know in any country. 
It is important that you have a reputable person who will work with you to show you the opportunities.

I have the contacts, the legal people the resources to make this work for you.

So please set aside all those rumors and all that wrong information.  

The time is right. 

The opportunity is right

Together 

we

can make this 

work for you.

Retirement 

in 

Guatemala

never got so easy

You may never get another chance 

FRIENDSHIPS

Friendships.

Last year I went tio Guatemala to learn a language and instead learned about myself. The experience changed me and for the better.

I met many people on my travels. There is though one singular subject that I found to be confusing. This came from travellers that I met that where seeking "expats." Expats to me are people that are living in a country and from somewhere else. Expats speak English mostly.  Expats for me would be either Canadian or people from the states.

When I look back at that time wonderful  in Guatemala and ask myself who are my friends there, the word "Expats" doesn't enter the equation. All my friends in Guatemala are Guatemalan.

Why would I purposely seek out groups of people and friendships that are Canadian or from the states? The pleasure and the joy of experiencing Guatemala is advancing my knowledge and my understanding of the Guatemalan culture and the people. Associating myself only and primarily with people from Canada or the USA, cancels out that experience.  

Mi amigos son gente Guatemala

"STARING AT WALLS"

I was reminded recently of how many people when they retire just sit somewhere and "stare at walls."
Fine I guess, if you like just turning off who you are. But not fine for so many people that have so much in them to share with others.

Sharing something you have, something you know, something you delight in and allowing someone else to gain from that sharing is nothing short of magic.

Hola, mi nombre es Gavino...(hello my name is Gavin).
I am offering anyone that opportunity to share with others what you know and understand. With a group of professional Guatemalans we are going to build homes for people that cannot afford homes. Yes, there are many well known names out there building homes. The catch is that a candidate for that opportunity first has to have land. Their land of course becomes the equity for that arranged loan.

What happens to those with no land? Who will help them?

We want to. Will you help us to help them?

There are many plans to generate that cash flow needed.
An alignment with a recognized Spanish language school is one, where participants would learn espanol part of the day and the rest they would (physically) build homes.


Another is me being a retirement consultant for people that wish to retire in the land of eternal spring. Here I would offer my knowledge and connections for people to see the advantages of retirement in Guatemala. Believe me when I say that a couple can retire in a great and comfortable lifestyle for less than a thousand dollars (CAD) a month.

Another is your idea...

Or would prefer to stare at walls?

Take a look at my blog for contact info and more information. There are NO WALLS there.
 http://www.heartquest-guatemala.blogspot.com

Gracias,
Gavino