Going from 30 degree F to 84 degrees F was a nice change. The beautiful green countryside, the homemade Guatemalan food the rich culture was a welcomed change.
It was also interesting to see how many motorcycles there are on the streets, with motorcycles coming down both sides of your car and people transporting construction materials, families of 4 and 5 including new born babies. People do this because they don’t have any other option. I also saw very young children riding motorcycles, my guess is that they were about 10 or 11 and often they had brothers or sisters with them. These were not small motorcycles but full size machines. I saw people on bicycles with babies in the baskets, eggs in the baskets and all manner of things to sell. I passed a shop where the barber was cutting hair and not ten feet from him a lady was sewing clothing. I entered a market that was blocks and blocks of stores with all manner of things to sell, we went into the inner area of those shops and you could get lost if you did not have someone with you.
There are palm trees with coconuts and all types of fruit everywhere. We had an almond tree and a cashew tree right near my family’s home. There were flowers everywhere and at night you could hear loud music from several different bars or places to eat. One night I went to the closet one and fed the large stereo machine with coins to play music that I like so I could support the music being played.
The cost of living in a small village like the one we stayed in is about $650 dollars per month and more in a larger city. The current wage is around 60-$100 per month for a normal job and about $200-$250 for the best job that can be had. To meet the cost of living you have to have multiple people in the home working and often they work 6 or 7 days a week.
When the power goes out which is often you also lose water since the pumps don’t work. It gets dark early and people just go to bed early or make a fire or light candles. The experience was very interesting and quite an adventure. I also got to drive while in Guatemala and that was also quite the lesson in aggressive driving.
