Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects those with the craving to drink alcohol, but everyone an alcoholic touches. It is rampant here with violence and abuse of women and children, taking its toil on the innocent.

Then you have that tourist alcoholic or those that choose to live here on a more permanent basis. 

For most people from the United States or Canada or Europe, Guatemala is an inexpensive place to be an alcoholic. You can drink till your liver sings and swells and eats away at you.. You can drink cheaply till it kills you.

Depression another disease is what feeds the alcoholic. A poor local man with perhaps too many children, or no work, or possibilities and starvation in his family will hide the effects of his life in drink. If he cannot afford alcohol, gasoline or sniffing glue will suffice. His intolerance places blame on everyone but himself, the result are battered women, sheltered in secret places. 

The perpetual alcoholic tourist, continues his/her eroding journey coupled with 90 day border rides to get another visa stamp and 90 more days of cheap alcoholism. They live from bottle to bottle. Lost souls from lost generations of life, forgetting some past, or pain, or family in their wake.

Alcoholism kills everyone not brave enough to face the truth.

      

Travel to Guatemala and Hostels

Hostel Prices...

Hostels come in all varieties and forms.
Some are professionally operated and some are not. Some are operated by amateurs, who have no business being in the hospitality business at all. 

Some are located close to attractions and some are not.
Some offer that great view, some do not.

The bottom line (for me) is that I never pay the price for a room that they want from me.

I worked in the hotel business for 12 plus years. 
Here I learned some tricks. 

The hotel or hostel business is very competitive and they all run on some pretty tight budgets. The ones that survive are the ones that are smarter. 

Prospective guests want different things and it is the hotel/hostel that MUST learn what you want and how to deliver that quality to the prospective guest without giving too much away. That is a fine line and it is the professionals that know how to walk that line and be profitable in the process. 

Okay lets look at some facts. 
Hostels operate (or should operate) on a wholesale budget for that room or bed. 

The wholesale price is what it takes to maintain, clean and present to the prospective guest that space.

The retail price is what they want to charge you.
The difference between the wholesale price and that advertised retail price is the area of negotiation. 

Okay lets say the (developing country) room costs $15 retail. Transfer that to your local currency.

The wholesale price of that room is probably around $2.50 for the cost the establishment needs to break even on that room.

I never pay that $ 15.00 retail cost and go for something in between. That is in between the wholesale price and the advertised retail price. 
I want a lower price yes, but I also have to be reasonable.

I know that the hostel wants to makes as much money as they can on that space and I know that I want to pay as little as possible for that space.

Getting the price down is the trick.

If you are a senior citizen then you can ask for the seniors rate. That should knock off a little from the room price. 

You can also say you belong to a travel group, or a car insurance group, or a even a large company or whatever. All of these areas should get the price down a little...Usually you do not have to even prove that you are associated with any company or organization.

You have to remember if you are dealing with a professional hostel well they want you to stay there. But if they are amateurs, well they will just stick to the price they want and will not sell that room at anything lower... That is a loss for them. 

It is a loss because the cost of maintaining that space is $2.50 remember and therefore that room is now costing them revenue they could have sold. Amatuer operators do not even realize this... and if you're brave enough you could even remind them that by not selling you a room at that price that you want to pay, that they are actually not just losing money on that space but that the empty room is costing them money while being empty.

Some hotel owners have no idea how to operate a business at all... they are amateurs. 

Another thing to mention when all else fails is to just say, is that the best price you can give me? If they say yes.... then stall a little as if you are thinking, perhaps pull out a small pad and write down their best price and tell them that you are going to check out the competition. 

Or you could even call a competitor right in front of them... even asking prices and what the competitor offers. You could even say " I am in 
"such and such hostel" and that "can you beat their price?"

Lets call this shock tactics.

Remember it could work... and you have nothing to lose attempting this..

You can also ask to speak to the manager. 

I remember one motor hotel in the United States that I stayed at, while on a long driving journey using similar tactics. 

When arriving there on a friday night I had noticed that their very large parking lot was mostly empty. That there was very little customer presence seen inside the hotel either. I surmised that they were either undergoing some renovation project or the hotel had been taken over by new owners. I was correct on both accounts.

When all attempts to lower that price fairly, had failed, I politely thanked the front desk clerk then turned and slowly walked away. 

Behind the desk and also behind the front desk clerk I earlier noticed a man in a business suit. When I walked away he did not just ask me to stop, but came after me and asked me what I wanted to pay. 

The hotel was under new management and under a total refit of the rooms, so they were not renting many rooms out at all. Any sale of any room was to the total advantage of the hotel at that time, so they were able to give me that room at my price. Yes this is a very rare example but one that is possible under certain circumstances.

Remember you have nothing to lose but a little time.

Also one thing to remember is the season you are there. If there is some big event going on in the area , well you will most likely have to pay their price and it may be even an inflated price. 

But if the area is dead of tourists, has a glut of half empty places well that makes you more in control of the situation.

Being direct may make you seem bossy or not liked, but the bottom line here is that you are doing all of this to stay cheaper. 

Read the reviews on their place. If they have some bad reviews ask them if they have been fixed. Remember you have nothing to lose. If they are amateurs this is your opportunity to take control.

Some places sell a great view, and can you believe it, some try to sell great coffee.... as an advantage to stay there... Duh..what!!!

Well as a seasoned traveller that great view and that (so called great) coffee do not cut it for me. I need a secure and quiet place, with access to the property on my terms, comfortable and a clean room, with staff that know the value of great customer service. I also want to pay a price that I feel is fair... fair for them and yes fair for me..

Happy hunting... 

Remember it can be fun... so take charge and get that right price for you... 

You have nothing to lose, so try it.

Drugs.... be careful

Drugs...

Drugs of every kind imaginable illegal or legal are of course available in Guatemala.

They are really available everywhere.. in the world if you want them.

Please do not get me wrong here.... I am not here to agree (or disagree) with drug useage. Trafficking is widespread and yes dangers exist here or elsewhere in the world.
Buyer beware.

But getting caught with drugs in your possession for a foreigner is really bad news. It is way worse than in Canada or Europe or the USA where the availability has been governed by decriminalization in many areas.

In Guatemala they take a dim view of people from other countries using drugs in Guatemala. Using something as simple as weed is really bad for us. For the Guatemalan people themselves, they might get a slap on the wrist.

So forget it.. and forget the embassy of whatever country you are from, your embassy is not going to be helping you. Forget it for that is just NOT going to happen. What is going to happen to you is that you will be stuck in a very uncomfortable place for a long time.

Yes you will going to jail.

Guatemala you see works under French rule. 
With French rule you are considered guilty till proven innocent. Not the other way around.

Dealing drugs in Guatemala is really a bad thing for you to do and if caught you will go to jail. You will go to jail and for a very long time.

Jail time will involve a very uncomfortable experience for you. Forget exercise rooms and big colour TV's, or even an outside exercise area. Forget about your rights as human being, because you won't have any. In your cramped crowded jail cell, which depending where they send you will be either cold or clammy, certainly bug ridden and crowded. You will not have anything, resembling comfort or safety. Yes extra comfort can come from your bank account. With money you can spend a better time in jail. You may not have to work, You may have a blanket at night. With money you may have an opportunity to have a woman visit you.

The only thing you will not have is freedom to leave or be bothered of being taken advantage of or beaten up my other cell mates. They will steal from you at every opportunity and take everything you have.

I have never been to jail, in Guatemala or anywhere else. But yes I have spoken to people that have been incarcerated in Guatemala and in other Latin American countries. My accounts here come from the many stories and desperation these people have experienced.

So the advise here is, don't get caught or better still just stay clean.

Buyer beware... the consequences of getting caught far outways the simple pleasures derived.

CNN Guatemala

It is another warm day here in Guatemala.

The sun is really bright and the heat you feel on you is filled with warmth. Step into the shade and you soon realize what the elevation here brings with its cool dry air and arid climate. Just a short distance away and towards the pacific ocean (a one hour ride by chicken bus) and you would be bathed in your own sweat, yes in a tropical paradise.

I try to notice simple things. 
Looking beyond my doorway I see petaled leaves of the courtyard trees arrange themselves delicately, splattered across the thin stick like branches. The leaves are a vivid collection of pink, magenta, and purple. A soft breeze gently caresses them making slight movements to the array. Some loosing grasp flutter to the ground. A petaled blanket.

I do not watch TV much preferring to connect with the people and alone I write stories, keep my blogs updated or read a good book. I am presently leafing my way through a James Patterson novel on crime and mystery. His words and thoughts well written, linger as I pattern together the jist of the story. It is a friendly escape. 

One night recently I decided to watch TV. As my fingers surfed the channels with the remote control, I came across a program on CNN that had something to do with Guatemala. The show featured how medical supplies and other goods that where destined for Guatemala became lost in an mire of red tape and political mumbo jumbo. 

Nothing new there. 

The hypothesis of the show was how a company called Charity Services International, had collected funds destined for Guatemala. As charities are difficult to manage and yes detect inner corruption, those funds and medical goods had mysteriously disappeared. 

Charity Services International is not a charity, but with its somewhat misleading company title, it certainly would fool a lot of people into believing it is. Me included.

Charity Services International, is one of such companies of many for profit companies, who's purpose is to collect funds for charities. 
In some aspects such companies are needed, their fixed for profit focus well channeled into generating profit. 

The missing sum mentioned was 40 million dollars and in such a poor country as Guatemala with its uneven wealth and power structure that sum would make a visible impact. 

It has not. 

While I see the production like the CNN show having a moral obligation in exposing wrong doings, what it also does is condemn  a country and its people into a much worse case scenario. Mistrust of alleged funds for Guatemala and anyone thinking of donating now to help, will look carefully holding back donations badly needed. 

There is a juxtaposition of values here. 

The production contributes and exposes wrong doing yes, but all in the face value of self interest. CNN we have to remember is also looking for more exposure for itself, more viewers in a tight market. Yes 40 million dollars gone missing is not just a tidy sum but a huge massive amount, an immoral waste supposedly destined to assist and cure the needy.

It is also perhaps an exaggeration of the truth.  

The Anderson Cooper show I witnessed was editorially well produced stabbing blame visually where needed. But hidden within the lines of journalism though, it also contributes to this problem.

The contribution it gives is not to trust, is not to give. This is ethically I believe immoral. 

Where is that massive sum of monies? 

Perhaps it lives within the imaginations of companies like Charity Services International allowing with its premise figures conjured and molded from representational needs. The premise being that the more money it supposedly collects, the more charities needing funding will look at this company as one that is professional and knows how to work effectively.

Regardless if that sum exists or ever existed, what this expose does, is hurt those that are in need the most. 

Twenty percent of the population in Guatemala live on less than a dollar a day. In 2012, 9000 people starved to death. Children are most at risk with infant mortality rates higher than other country. Most children never go beyond the grade six education that is mandatory. 

I see in this guise of a story something akin to the vulgarity that tabloid sensationalism is. 

Instead of vaguely representing what is truth here with miss directed story babble, perhaps what was needed was discovery of the real truth first. 

Instead the viewer was left with that empty feeling of corruption and that whatever happens in Guatemala is well deserved isn't it? After-all isn't it a country embroiled and wrapped in violence and corruption at all levels ? 

Truth like history is written by those in control, the winners. The exaggerated presentation of what a country is or is not, is just misdirected truth. It has little to do with reality. We can generalize all we want but that has little to do with the real values or truths a country is all about. 

I was appalled at CNN for presenting this visual escapade into fantasy. Get the facts first, then make the story fit those facts. The reverse may sell TV time, but what it truly really does is hurt those in need.



   

MERRY CHRISTMAS XELA

Christmas in Guatemala is unlike Christmas anywhere else.
It is so loud, brazen, colourful. It is extreme. It is also closer to what the real meaning of Xmas should be.

In the markets there are countless stalls that sell just fireworks. Fireworks are everywhere and going off everywhere. Then there are these long strings of fireworks that, as I child they where called "bangers." Bangers just explode with a loud noise, no colour, no display, just a loud BANG!!


The banger fireworks that I saw in Xela and elsewhere in Guatemala, are sold by the metre. Some of these resemble long coiled ammunition belts that when rolled out, they are very long. I have seen some that where at least 50 metres (160 feet) in length. When lit they go off in a barrage of continuous explosions, lasting for several minutes. They sound like automatic weapon fire. These are often laid out along a street or through a market place. 


Then at midnight before Christmas day the skies are filled with fireworks of every description and size, lighting the sky in an array of colour (and noise) like none I have ever experienced anywhere. This is not an organized event as private parties, families and individuals everywhere celebrate Xmas with fireworks. This array of lights goes on for at least an hour and a half. 



In Parque Central there is a huge Xmas tree that is assembled, decorated and then lit up at night. One Christmas all the decorations disappeared one night up to a certain level on the tree. That certain level seemed to be what an average Guatemalan could reach with their hands stretched up high.


The tree is so special that now armed guards protect that tree all day and night long. There are some people (I am told) that would harvest the tree for the decorations that ordain it. 


I love a parade. I have seen so many I have lost count as to how many I have seen. There are some pretty amazing Santa Claus parades in Canada and the USA, but none if these can equal the Santa Claus parade in Xela, Guatemala. The Santa Claus parade in Xela is different as anyone can put together a parade float and march or dance on in it, no problemo. 

So what makes Xela's Santa Clause parade unique?  

Keeping with Guatemalan tradition and way of thinking, why have just one Santa? So in Xela there is not just one Santa, no there are many Santa's in the parade. Santa's of many shapes and sizes. And we must not forget the Santa's helpers...

who also come in several versions, and so very true to what Guatemala is. 

The parade is colourful, musical, you can dance to it and it is very long. The parade winds a weaving path through the whole city for a good two hours. This means that most people no matter where they live will have an opportunity to see the parade without going too far away from their homes.



Xmas is also family. I was invited to celebrate Xmas with a Maya family. This experience was so wonderful for me. There home consisted of two houses. Out back was a closed courtyard and then beyond where two cows, a goat, horse, chickens and several dogs and cats.

It was all good because....

I was here to experience Christmas with the family in their simple home sharing just food and conversation. 

No presents were exchanged between anyone. Partly I believe because they cannot afford that and partly because to them it is not necessary. 

The main house was a typical Guatemalan home one was one large room. Here everyone lived, ate and slept. 

Across the room a long table was set up and fashioned from several tables and it sat across most of the length of the room. It was decorated with a festive and colourful paper cloth. Seats, mostly plastic ones and the kind that stack, were placed so that everyone had a place to sit at the table. 

We had brought the turkey and without that turkey Xmas would have been celebrated with only spaghetti. I think that would have been just fine as well. Then because I was the guest, it was decided that I should carve up the turkey.

This was such a special experience for me and so different from what I had become accustomed to. In Canada, for so many years, I had become accustomed to that (so called) perfect Christmas. Perfect with its over sized and over garnished Christmas tree that had too many presents underneath that sometimes would spread across the floor. A Christmas where so many people would be giving and getting too much. The glutinous commercialism state that Christmas has become in its perfect state. 

Tired of this cornucopia of too much, I had long ago rebelled. I had in fact not celebrated Christmas for a long time. 

So there I was in this perfect and very simple way, sharing with a Maya family what Christmas should be. The sharing of communication and belief in a simpler way.  It felt good.

That is when I found out that Christmas is Xela is awesome....

Merry Christmas Xela.

Guatemala and Great Travel Tips

If anyone is heading south to Guatemala... here are some travel tips for you.

I am actually back in Canada right now (I seem to travel back and forth) but busy planning my next trip south to Guatemala. There always seems to be a next trip.

This time though instead of traveling through Mexico to my second home, Quetzaltenango, I am flying straight to Guatemala City.

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala_City

Flights from Vancouver are very reasonable in December... And if you are prepared to fly directly around Xmas time even on Christmas day, well super cheap deals can be had as well. New Years Eve is another great time to travel... 

No one really wants to travel on those days.

One trick I found that works a lot of the time, is you choose a particular day of the week that you want to fly on, then you only do your searching (a few weeks before) on that same exact particular day. For some reason only the airline know... it is cheaper doing that. So if you want to travel on a Tuesday, then you only do your searching on a Tuesday.

Here is one of my tricks I use to find my super great travel deals. First, I hardly ever go to a travel agent anywhere ever. With the power that the internet provides any land based travel agency, is basically a thing of the past today, unless of course you trip is more complicated. Complicated in what airline you may want or if you want to avoid certain countries. Then it is far better to use a travel agent as they can search out a bigger variety of flights for you.


There are many such online travel agencies out there.
Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com or Expedia  http://expedia.com are two such companies, but there are many others equally as good such as http://www.skyscanner.com. The latter one you can search out a whole month at a  time. Here if your travel plans are not rigid well sometimes searching out a month at a time is far more practical.

I use such online travel agencies to locate airlines that are offering cheap flights on then dates and times that I want to travel on. Then when I get the information I need, I go directly to the airlines themselves and I then amazingly I sometimes can get a better deal myself. Sure it takes a little searching, but that is part of the adventure.

A little something about Guatemala... There are many people out there that have this totally wrong conception about Guatemala and that it is a dangerous place to visit. 

It survived a 36 civil war that ended in 1996. That war is over and gone with...

The entanglement of the CIA and certain US government levels and their involvements is well documented with its inaccurate misunderstanding and the fear of spreading communism in Guatemala and other central American countries. The coup in Guatemala that was transpired and was fueled by this same connection helped to fuel a war that lasted some 36 years with 200,000 people mostly the indigenous Maya people either being killed or totally disappearing. Whole villages disappeared. The memories have not ended and are not forgotten in this cruel segment of history.


Is Guatemala safe to travel to or live in? 

Yes and equivocally without question.

But there are those that wish to spread their versions of misguided truths. I have heard it time and time again. Sure yes, and if you read and believe what is written in the Tabloids (anywhere in the world) believing the journalistic filth, these bottom line publications pump out, you would never go anywhere. Then there are people that from somewhere in their imagination or from hearsay, they conjure up similar untruths without ever leaving their arm chair.

Okay so you have decided to travel (from your destination) to Guatemala, great... so here we go.... 

There are many routes to Guatemala and I usually travel from Mexico and that information for that is covered in other segments of this blog. This route is from wherever you live to Guatemala City on your preferred airline.

So you arrive and so where do you stay? Well most flights into Guatemala city will have you arriving late. It will be dark already. It gets dark at around 6:30 pm anyway, so yes it will be dark when you arrive.

There are countless hotels and hostels to stay at when you arrive in Guatemala. Most of these will have a free shuttle service right to their location. How do I find the right place to stay? 

I use basically the same method as probably you do when you search. This is just like searching for an airline.  I search out through online booking agencies such as  Hostel-world http://www.hostelworld.com or another such as Hostel Bookings http://www.hostelbookings.com and then I take the information they give me and go directly to the hotel or hostel I want to stay at and I make a direct booking myself.

Como esta tu espanol... or how is your Spanish...

You may know some Spanish or you may know very little or (horrors) none at all. Well the following two places I would recommend are Hostel los Volcanos... they speak English...  http://www.hostel_los_volcanos.com

Here you will stay in a gated community and very close to the airport. The people at Hostel los Volcanos will pick you up at the airport for free and the next day arrange for a trusted taxi to take you to the bus station.

Or if you want to be in the "live zone" then Quetzalroo would be more to your liking.
http://www.quetzalroo.com 

Hostel Quetzalroo set in the centre of the city is close to restaurants, bars and things to do. Hostel Quetzalroo is near the action. They actually pick you up at the airport for free and transport you to your bus of choice also for free.

Transportation.
Cars. There are a variety of ways of getting about (on land) in Guatemala. Renting a car is one..... But renting a car and driving a car in Guatemala is not something I would recommend anyone doing to anyone that has not driven in a Central American country before. 

Driving anything in Guatemala is far removed from driving anything you will ever experience anywhere else in the developed world. Guatemalan drivers are very aggressive and follow their own form of communication. They blow their horns a lot. Toots for warning people, toots for passing, toots for saying hello, toots for hurrying up and toots just because. It is a language all of its own. 

The rules of the road are very different as well. They do not stop at stop signs. They will pass a vehicle crossing a double line and do that driving straight at you. The rule is get out of the way.


Buses.
There are several bus companies in Guatemala. ADN, Fuento del Norte, Linea Dorada, Galgos, and Almo.

Galgos and Alamo are more like the Pullman style buses that Greyhound buses use in North America (Canada and the USA) and these come complete with non working washrooms. The washroom doors will have a padlock on them.

The buses that ADN, Fuento del Norte and Linea Dorada all have working washrooms and are styled much like the buses in Europe. The prices for travel are also higher.

Chicken Buses (camioneta) or second class buses.

Chicken Buses a term used by tourists are actually old school buses from the USA. Apparently in the states, these school buses can only be used doer a few short years as school buses in the USA so a lot end up in Guatemala.

Branded in garish loud colours with lots of bright chrome, loud Latino music blaring from them. They veer and sway and loudly careen up and over twisted mountain roads, each driver thinking he is up an coming gran prix driver.

Actually since most drivers do not own the bus there is a reason that they cram as many people in them as possible and drive so fast. The driver has to pay the owner of the bus a certain amount of cash each day the bus is driven. Above and beyond that amount, less gas and other expenses, well that is kept by the driver and his helper.

The average costs of a chicken bus ride is about one third of the cost of luxury style bus.

As I am tall I only really take chicken buses for short trips of no more than two hours. The valued and best seat on a chicken bus for me is directly behind the driver as there will be a little extra leg room there. Oh and it is expected that three people will sit on each seat in a chicken bus.  You can though for added comfort buy that extra seat in the middle.

But in saying all of this, you have never truly experienced Guatemala until you have taken at least one Chicken Bus somewhere.

Spanish Schools....
In Xela alone there are about 30 Spanish language schools. Too many to list here. 

English schools.
English is slowly becoming more common. Now it is taught in private schools to both children and also to adults in Guatemala. 

Trade schools.
There are around thirty trade schools in Xela.

Universities
In Xela alone there are ten universities.
There is this joke that the drug lords will send their kids to school in Xela because it is safer than in Guatemala city. That actually may be true.

Xela is also know as the cradle of culture because tf the many different schools there.

Drug lords
Well as the saying goes, the guns go south and the drugs go north. We cannot hide from the fact that a route exists up from Columbia and through to Mexico and then to the USA.
I have never ever personally met a drug lord, not actually want to.

Updates and you

Well here I hope to put in this blog all those things people that contact me want to know about... tips and places to see etc...

Nothing yet but I am working on it... so under construction.

And I really do enjoy all your comments... keep writing me

If anyone has something to contribute, add to or wants to know about something I know about, just write me.