As I reviewed my blog, I noticed that I have updated you all on my travels, a bit of work and training, and little else. With that said, I had a topic come up over the weekend that had an effect on my plans and is a prevalent one here in Guatemala. I am referring to the crime problem in Guatemala.
As some of you may have read, heard or even learned the hard way; Guatemala can be a dangerous country and has a fairly high crime rate. While I have yet to experience this, not counting the ayudantes trying to take a few extra quetzales here and there, it is a problem that others have had to deal with. This past weekend, Katie, myself, another volunteer named Sara and Katie's friend John from the States were planning on hiking Volcan Acatenango and spending the night on top. Sara's counterpart, a Guatemalan gentleman, was going to accompany us and he had made the trip before so we were assured that everything was secure. As we talked to a few people about it, it came to our attention that this volcano has been the location of numerous robberies, usually involving guns. So that was nice. As we talked to our security officer at the Peace Corps office about it, he said it was our call, but he would prefer if we had a police escort to the top, which always makes for a nice hike. Usually, I really enjoy having an armed police officer around me, but this just did not seem like one of those times where I would want that. So, we called the municipalidad (city hall) to see if they could provide one, they could not, therefore we decided to postpone our trip until either they can or we feel better about making the hike. It was a very strange experience to think that in order to go camping, I would need a police escort. So, it was dissapointing to not be able to make the trip, but encouraging that I still have all my possessions and did not have to hand them over at gunpoint.
After we decided not to do the hike, we went to Antigua for the day. We went to the bus terminal in Sara's town to find a bus to Antigua, when the ayudante told us that there were no buses to Antigua today, as the owner of the buses running this route had been killed. He obviously did not go into details, but just said that the always mysterious "they" had killed him. Here in Guatemala it is common practice for gangs to extort bus drivers and/or owners for money. If they do not pay up, then "they" kill them. While I am not sure, I believe this to be the case of why we could not find a direct bus to Antigua, having to travel 15 minutes out of the way and backtrack. It was odd how the criminal element could have an effect on my weekend, luckily not a direct effect, just by their actions towards others.
Having said all of this, I want to make sure that I mention that my site is one of the safest places not only in Guatemala, but probably on the face of the earth. My biggest threat is chuchos rummaging through my trash or figuring out new ways to sneak in my fence. The volunteer before me has been in Guatemala six different times with Peace Corps (tough act to follow) and told me that he thinks this place is the safest he has been in Guatemala. So while crime is out there, it has not been a problem for me thus far and I intend to keep it that way. Still, crime is a major problem in Guatemala and has an effect on all of the people here in one way or another. It is a pity, but a fact of life here.
Also, there was an interesting 2 part series on NPR about crime and vigilante justice in Guatemala a couple of weeks back. Check it out here:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98614371
That is all for now, take care.
