In Guatemala about 36 Hours. The smells, the land, the buses, the people so wonderful: I feel at home. However, the poverty is so pervasive, it makes the middle and upper classes seem so much richer. And everything accompanying the inequities much more sad.
This is such a lush land that ever the weeds are flowers. Still seeing trees being cut and carted off (maybe that`s the wrong verb since campesinos carry such huge loads on their backs they are horizontal). Wonder if there will be noticeably more deforestation when I wake up in the village tomorrow?
The PanAmerican highway is being doubled in size: 5 new bridges since I was here a year and a half ago. My friends mention how much of the construction funds are lost to graft and I am reminded of how many American tax dollars going to private companies for supposedly building infrastructure in Iraq.
The presidential run-off is Nov. 4 I´m glad I won´t be near the cities. They say the candidate promising "El Mano Duro" (the strong hand) is ahead in the polls. Given the fancy new airport (Aurora) in Guatemala City, I guess appearances count with tourism.
Once I´m up in the village I will write about more promising pictures.
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