Guatemala and Its Flip Side

It is simple, Guatemala is gorgeous, warm, and welcoming.  And like a siren beckoning from a rocky coast or fatal hypnotic attraction, its stunning beauty masks the furious catastrophic capacity that lies inside the heart of its volcanic mountains or below ground in its faults.  Guatemala tugs at you and seduces you with its natural beauty.  It is picture postcard colorful; its landscapes, quaint towns and farms are pure art, and it is blessed with kind and gentle people.  To make a friend, just tell a Guatemalan that you love his country.  They almost melt!  You’ll get a big smile, and a fist bump, at least Stan does; I often get a hug and a warm smile.  These are dear people. 

So why then do so many people leave this natural paradise?  What makes some despite the risk, danger, and debt, leave their family and home country especially one so graced by God with such beauty? 

For some, they have little choice, they must leave.  It’s more complex than simply seeking higher-paying work.  Crossing the border into the USA means survival.  Survival, not just for those who take that chance but for families left at home as well.  Let’s dig into this a little.  The minimum wage for non-farm workers is about 3,343 Quetzales or less than $450 per month.  For those lucky enough to earn this much, this hardly covers costs for even basic living costs for one much less a family.  Because so many employers fail to pay minimum wage, $450/month, has in many cases become the maximum wage.  While the definition of poverty can vary by country, poverty exists when people do not have a basic standard of living. To paint a clearer picture, people living in poverty here might go without proper housing, clean water, healthy food, and medical services.  Over 55% of Guatemala’s population lives in poverty.  Indigenous tribes in the interior of the country are the most severely affected group in which 80% live below poverty levels.   Even in non-indigenous groups, the poverty level ranges around 38%.  It is serious and it is real.  

According to news sources and social media, we know illegal immigration is a fact, and it is concerning.  But here’s the interesting part.  The trend nowadays is that once in the USA, migrants send money back to Guatemala so that family members can remain at home, to care for the family, build a house or start a business.  Those remittances are contributing to keeping Guatemalan families afloat.  Today, remittances back home account for 19% of Guatemala’s GNP making it the second largest source of foreign income just behind tourism.  But don’t think remittance is isolated to Guatemala.  Guatemala received an estimated $15 billion in remittances while India received $120 billion in remittances from family and friends in the US. Mexico, China, and the Philippines are also large recipients.  Just let that sink in a minute.  On the one hand, immigrants could be spending that money in the US, giving momentum to the US economy but on the other, helping people back home stay at home reduces immigration. 

Source:  https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/remittances#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20top%20five,since%202008%20(ibid.). 

I ventured into this story about poverty and the hard lives suffered by so many people in Guatemala because it is only fair and right to tell the whole story.  After all, this is not a travel blog meant to paint a picture to entice and attract tourists. It is simply my journal.  Poverty is the flip side of this “natural paradise.” If I speak of Guatemala at all, and especially if I praise its beauty, I must also write candidly of its sad, vulnerable underbelly.

Moving on, though, today’s story covers just three things, the National Museum of Art, the Kite Festival, called Barriletes Gigantes or giant kites, and delicious Guatemalan food — with the help of locals, we have finally found restaurants that serve the dishes like Guatemalan abuelitas make at home. 

So here we go. 

The National Museum of Art is housed in the Royal Palace of the Captains General of La Antigua Guatemala, originally from the 16^th century.  The building has been destroyed and rebuilt several times following earthquakes, but today, its facade and skeleton from the devastating 1773 earthquake sit on the north side of Central Park. Built around the ruins, this is a sophisticated, first-class museum and though not much is free in Antigua, admission to this lovely place is.  Although museums are not our greatest interest as we’d much rather be outdoors, we spent several hours wandering around this amazing hall of art. 

Let’s go to the Barriletes Gigantes!  Our apartment host told us about the kite festival.  It occurs once a year in celebration of the Day of the Dead.  On November 1 and 2, people traditionally gather in cemeteries to feast and honor family members who have passed away.  But in the small towns of Sumpango and Santiago, the Dia de Los Muertos celebrations are like those found nowhere else in the world.  This Mayan event dates to a time before European influences were forced on the Americas. Back then cloth kites “represented the union of the underworld of the deceased and the land of the living. According to the legend, the specifics of the designs on the kites helped the living communicate with their ancestors, and deceased children, and assisted them on their journeys back to Earth to visit family members without the interruption of evil spirits.” 

Source:  https://maximonivel.com/sumpango-giant-kite-festival-guatemala/ 

Today messages displayed on these gloriously artistic kites give honor not only to ancestors but also to a hometown or Guatemalan icons like corn, the resplendent national bird, the Quetzal, or the marimba musical instrument, and other emblems of Mayan heritage,  Some kites’ messages ask for peace and hope for the living and some reflect current social movements like calling an end to careless violence or government corruption. 

As I understand it, young unmarried men from villages spend many months creating the message, the artistic design, and piecing together these colorful tapestries of cloth, paper, and glue – all natural materials that will be mounted on bamboo frames.  The kites are a marvel to see.  Many are only about 10-15 feet across, but some stand as high as 40 feet tall.  Because of their sizes, the largest kites don’t fly, but hopeful families make and buy smaller colorful kites to mimic the giant ones.  Kids run about yanking the strings to their kite trying to catch air.  They zig and zag in the sky over the parade grounds but often crash to the ground.  Of the gargantuan ones, those judged the biggest, the best design, and that stay afloat longest win prizes. 

We were picked up by a tour transport along with about 8 other travelers.  The ones we met were an older Canadian couple who made the leap a few years ago, left their country, and now live in Puerto Villarta.  Our van also held four cute young women who are USA teachers at the international school in Guatemala City.  We were dropped off on the side of a road and told to follow a path.  It was a rutted yellow-dirt path that went straight up a very big hill.  Along the way, people had already set up charcoal grills and gas-fired caldrons for grilling meat, chorizos, frying chicken, and making tortillas.  Even at 9 am, the fragrances were enticing.  Mouth-watering!! 

From the entry, we peered down the hill where giant kites were being assembled and set upright at the far end of a large flat, packed dirt field. The crowd on the grounds was sparse when we first arrived.  And though there was not much wind, it was a good time for kids and their dads to try to get their smaller kites aloft.  Only a few of the gigantic kites were standing already, tethered to tall poles stationed deeply in the ground.  As the hours passed the crowd grew and grew until it was almost impossible to walk the grounds.  After weaving our way through the crowds to see each kite, we found a place to sit and just enjoy the day.   

Although we brought sandwiches for fear of the perils street food cooked in a park might bring, we finally gave in and joined the throngs of natives and tourists in chowing down.  Making a choice was torture.  Everything looked and smelled so, so good.  We shared a taco de carne de res at one family stand and a grilled chorizo just off the grill at another stand.  Both were served with freshly made tortillas, a generous helping of guacamole made on the spot, and homemade salsa.  Both were knock-your-socks-off good and went down easy.  Either we have developed a tolerance to the famed bugs that cause stomach distress, or it was as simple as luck being with us when we selected our vendors.   What a day!

That brings about more discussion on food.  Guatemala is not known for its cuisine, but I stand to correct that.  Many of the dishes we have had are beyond flavorful, unique to this tiny part of the world, and delicious!  Most recipes include varieties of unfamiliar dried and fresh peppers, ground seeds, tomatillos, and strange-looking squash.  Even though most dishes include spicy-tasting ingredients, Guatemalan food is not hot or picante.  But small cups of smoking hot salsa can be served on the side if diners like me insist on a little heat.  Broths, the basis for many soups here are rich, old-recipe Guatemalan and so, so good.  A chunck of corn on the cob is often plopped into their soups giving the dish an appealing look but to my taste, their corn stays on the stalk a little too long. My grandmother would have called it field corn or food for the animals.  It is common to see people grilling ears of corn over a charcoal fire until some kernels begin to blacken.  Green shucks act as the plate for the hot corn.  People rub the salted, grilled corn with a wedge of lime, and then like picking a peanut from your palm, they pluck a single tough, chewy kernel off the cob and eat it, one kernel at a time  This treat always tempts me but having tried it before, I know I prefer the other kind made with tender grilled sweet corn, slathered with mayo, dry cheese, and plenty of spice.   

My primary care doctor in Atlanta sent a questionnaire recently asking, “Are you monitoring your BP?   Are you exercising regularly? Are you maintaining a diet low in sodium and high in fiber?”  I had doctor-pleasing answers for all except the one about diet.  I replied.  “I am enjoying myself in Guatemala.  The food is delicious, and I am doing the best I can.”