Guatemalan Culture (part 1)

I am frequently asked to write about the Guatemalan culture, which as you can imagine, is hard to do as a visitor. Writing about ones culture is hard enough, but I am here as an outsider trying my best learn and accept the culture as it is (without looking through the eyes of the U.S. culture). Over the next few blogs I will write about a few topics that will help you all learn more about the Guatemalan life and culture.

Guatemalans are a warm and friendly people, regardless of how much someone has; sharing is an inherent element of their culture. As a whole, they are more patient and relationship orientated than us ‘gringos’. It is essential to learn the history of Guatemala to fully understand the mixture of cultures, reasons for the customs, socio-economic status and struggles of the peoples. Unfortunately, this is something that you will each have to research on your own. Here are some tools to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Guatemala-HISTORY.html

The People: The majority of the population of Guatemala are direct descendants of the indigenous Mayan peoples, most of whom live in rural areas of the country and still wear traditional clothing (huiples y corte). Here is a link that has video of clothing typical of each region: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJH5_OReJX4. People of mixed European and indigenous (also known as ladinos) ancestry make up the second largest portion of the population and the third group is of the Garifuna or Afro-Guatemalans whom are primarily on the Caribbean coast. Although Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, it is the second language of many, and from what I’ve read there are 57 living indigenous languages.

Catholicism is the most common religion of the Guatemala peoples, followed by Protestantism, Evangelicalism and native beliefs.

Food: The staples of Guatemalan food are black beans, corn tortillas, eggs, rice, tamales, bread, milk, atoli (similar to oatmeal), various fruits, soup, chicken, pork and beef, coffee. Lunch here is the largest meal of the day and is usually around 1pm, dinner is small and usually later than we are accustomed to. Last night we ate dinner at 10pm, but typically most people eat around 7:30 or 8:30pm. A sample menu for a day would be as follows: My favorite breakfast is - scrambled eggs, refried black beans, dry/salty cheese (can’t remember how to say that in English, do we have a word?), fried plantains, tortillas and coffee. Lunch could be chicken, soup, tortillas and fresh fruit juice. Dinner – refried black beans, rice, tamales and tea or coffee. Champuradas (a type of sugar cookie) are a common snack to accompany coffee in the morning or afternoon.

Lunch is the largest and typically the most important meal of the day. In the past, families would take 2 or 3 hour lunches at home with the family, but in recent times (especially in the capital) lunch has turned into an hour at the food court or at the corner Pollo Campero (the national version of KFC). The overwhelming presence of fast food has definitely influenced the culture of Guatemala. As an example, in one small mall close to the Y there are 3 Burger Kings. Yes, three! One full size restaurant outside of the entrance, one mall-sized store front in the food court and the last one (which is small but always busy) is in the garage level. The only reason I can figure is that they didn’t want any McDonald’s competition in the mall, so they bought all three spaces.

I have both read about and personally noticed the love of refined sugar, which is used in large quantities here both in the villages as well as in the capital. When I lived in Totonicapan, I was often served a bowl of boiling milk, already sweetened with raw sugar, and then give me a box of cornflakes to poor into the bowl. It took a while to get used to cornflakes and warm milk but it actually makes sense due to the colder climate on Toto. Here in the capital sugar is used in coffee (often too sweet for me to drink), on pancakes, added to plain yogurt and even on fruit.

“Buen provecho” is what you say after someone finishes eating and also what you would say if you walked in when someone was eating. It basically means “that it serves you well or that you enjoy it”, a typical response would be “gracias, igualmente buen provecho”.

Good 'ol Wikipedia has a few interesting things to say about Guatemalan culture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Guatemala. If you would like to learn even more about the history, politics, religion, food, demography, etc: http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Guatemala.html

Profiles of the 3 Volunteers

People have all been asking for more information about the 3 YMCA volunteers that lost their lives. Below are profiles of the 3 ACJ/YMCA Guatemala Volunteers, this is also available in a bilingual PDF if anyone would like it in that format.

The three young men volunteered in Amatitlán, Guatemala as part of a team of 15. Each of which are all very dedicated to the mission of the YMCA and to their community. We deeply miss the presence of these three YMCA leaders, and support the commitment of the rest of the volunteers that continue working in their honor. All three funerals were on August 14th followed by a service planned by the rest of the volunteers at which time they sang and shared fond memories at the YMCA program site in Amatitlán.

Eleazar Bernabe Hernandez Rodas, 22, had been involved with the
YMCA for a total of 14 years, he served as a volunteer for the last 7 years of his life. His mom raised the kids as a single mother, and he was the primary breadwinner for the family. Eleazar had to work in iron metal work to help his mom pay rent and support the family. Now that he is gone, she is now is struggling to find a way to feed the family. Eleazar is remembered most by his friends as always being the happiest one of the group, always telling jokes, and was a friend to everyone!

Juan Luis Navarro (he is on the left), 19 , had been
volunteering for the Y for 1 ½ years, while working as a mechanic on heating and air conditioning units. He was attending school to learn about electricity, especially in how to wire houses. Juan Luis's mother recently had a unsuccessful operation to remove cancer and unfortunately is not expected to survive. Juan Luis was trying his best to help support the family through this difficult time. Photo is of: Juan Luis (left), Eleazar (right)

Mario Rene Gamez Luna, 23, had volunteered for the YMCA for 6 years and was passionate about helping other youth. He was a dynamic person that made friends quickly, he loved making people laugh. His passions were acting and working with youth and all of the kids loved to play with him. He was great at fixing all types of electronic devices such as computers, tv's, radios, etc. The last project he was working on before passing away was planning to dress up as a clown to entertain the kids of the village.

Solidarity with the Guatemalan Community

As most of you have heard by now, 3 of our beloved Guatemala YMCA program volunteers were brutally killed on Sunday night/Monday morning. This tragedy has shaken the community here, and is especially difficult for the family and friends (most of whom are also volunteers at the Y). We ask that you keep the families, friends, and Y community in your thoughts and prayers during this challenging time.

We are still trying to put all of the pieces together to identify exactly what happened and the YMCA of Guatemala is calling for a full investigation. There names were: Mario Rene Gamez Luna, 23; Eleazar Bernabe Hernandez Rodas, 22 and Juan Luis Navarro, 19. All three funerals were yesterday, the funeral for Juan Luis was held at a church while the service for Mario and Eleazar was held at a YMCA program site in their village of Amatitlan. There was a press conference today and we expect to have more information soon.

Thank you all so very much for your messages and support that I have received in the past few days. Please know that I do not feel that I am currently in any danger. I am stationed in the office of the YMCA, which is in the capital of the country, I am accompanied by other YMCA staff and they are always very cautious of where they take me and our surroundings.

Again, I truly appreciate your concern and all of the support that I have received via email from the Seattle community. Please note that if you would like to show your solidarity by writing an email to the family or to the other volunteers (who worked closely with the young adults), I will gladly translate them and pass them along bstapleton@seattleymca.org

Muchisima gracias por su solidaridad!
Becky


This is a press release from the World Alliance:

Death of YMCA Volunteers in Guatemala

Yesterday, 12th August, the World Alliance of YMCAs was informed of the murders of three young volunteers from YMCA Guatemala.

Eliazar Bernabe Hernandez Rodas, age 22, Mario Rene Gamez Luna, age 23, and Juan Luis Navarro, age 19, were volunteers at the YMCA in Amatitlán. They were well known for their work with children and youth in the community.

According to reports from YMCA Guatemala, they were taken from their homes on Sunday night and driven to an unknown location. Their bodies were found on Monday 11th August in the San Vicente Pacaya district. They had been brutally beaten and then killed.

The World Alliance of YMCAs supports the call made by YMCA Guatemala for a thorough investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office to clarify the facts, and punish those responsible for their deaths.

We extend our deep condolences to families, friends and colleagues of Eliazar, Juan Luis and Mario, and pray that God give them courage and comfort in these difficult times.

Shalimar is in Guatemala!

Shalimar Gonzales, Director of Membership and Community Programs for the DT YMCA is in Guatemala! She started her journey in Guatemala and will continue her vacation traveling throughout Central America. It took a while to figure out where we could meet because transportation here in Guatemala is a bit complicated (which I will explain below). Shalimar is staying in a hostel close to the airport and I live close to the main University, University of San Carlos which was one of the first universities in America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidad_de_San_Carlos_de_Guatemala, although we are in two adjacent neighborhoods, there aren’t methods of public transportation between the two.

The bus system is complicated here in the capital. We do have the Transmetro (I wrote about in a previous blog), which is great and I believe will eventually solve the transportation problems. But until the city has the funding to build additional lines of the Transmetro, it is necessary to take a bus or taxi. The buses are overcrowded, stop running at 8pm and can be dangerous (lots of accidents as well as the occasional robbery). Really, the only other option is to take a taxi which is almost the same price as taking a taxi in the states. Last night for me to travel from dinner with Shalimar to where I live, I was quoted 100Q which is roughly $14.00 and the drive (without traffic) took less than 10 minutes. I lucked out and someone I know recommended a trusted taxi driver, and since he made me wait for a total of 1 1/2 hrs, after some negotiating I only ended up paying 50Q (not the norm).

This weekend Shalimar is in Antigua (former capital of Guatemala), which is actually where I went last weekend to say goodbye to some friends. Antigua is a very unique city, due to the mix of extranjeros that now live in and own businesses there. This is one of the favorite place of tourists from all over the world. Here one will find: prices listed in dollars, crepes, bagels, Mexican/Korean/Mediterranean/Italian/Chinese restaurants, locals that speak fluent English, tofu, veggie burgers, sushi, world music, “happy hour” and “ladies night” (in English). Antigua is a beautiful and clean city surrounded by hills of forests and active volcanos. My weekend brought many mixed feelings – Antigua is gorgeous and I love that it is safe for me to walk around by myself during the day and night; and yet I can’t help but be reminded of Tijuana. For those of you that have been to Tijuana, you have seen how U.S. culture has influenced and changed the Mexican culture. There are some beautiful things about sharing of cultures and we have so much to learn from other countries, cultures and peoples. My concern is that with the ‘melting pot’ method of cross-culturalism, we may be slowly starting to lose the authenticity of cultures. DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against Tijuana or Antigua, both are great cities and I fully recommend that you visit them, this is simply my personal observation.