Guatemala from the perspective of a US citizen

Guatemala. Located in Central America, is a smaller country 1/4 the size of the state of California. It is an area of land rich with history spanning back into the BC era. It is a region of the world where the climate, soils and air are perfect for growing some of the worlds most beloved crops such as coffee and chocolate(cacao). The people living there have suffered from conquests, civil wars and political discourse and corruption but standing and talking to the people I had met you would never know that.
As a US Citizen I do not like our culture or state of affairs. Sure, we may have luxuries that many people on the planet would love to have yet I feel like our mindset is missing the markers on what life can be. To me, we lack soul, depth and individualization. I think so many of us struggle to find more or be more so that we can experience more. In the USA, capitalism is a religion and consumerism is a frequent prayer to corporate products. Stanley cups being the latest obsession of excess.
In Guatemala, from my anecdotal experience, is a mindset of doing more with less, practicing gratitude, civility, reusing and making things work. Motorbikes had frequent repair marks; Gas tanks bondo’d, zip ties, tires getting the last possible miles. Plastic bags are used until they can’t hold anything anymore. Obviously, whether through affordability or not, things don’t have to be shiny or new to be appreciated or are a detriment to your status symbol.
My wife and I spent three weeks here with the primary focus of attending Spanish school. We work in healthcare and work regularly with Spanish only speaking patients. Not to mention that learning Spanish can unlock a large part of the world for you to explore. Every person I met was kind, respectful and were patient. People couldn’t always speak English, so learning Spanish was important as a lot of times if someone had the time they wanted to know about you and why you chose Guatemala to visit. The food was amazing, the culture was deep and the atmosphere was oriented to having close ties with one another. Neighbors seemed to be neighbors and especially in the smaller community we stayed in everyone seemed to look out for each other.
The land of Guatemala is also beautiful. It has been shaped by aeons of lava. There are 37 volcanoes, each with their own unique story. We hiked two of them, that being Volcan Pecaya y Volcan Acatenango to view Volcan del Fuego erupt. One of the coolest moments of my life was to see a volcano erupt in the middle of the night, seeing chunks of lava fall from the sky. I never knew I needed to see that.
Another thing missing from the equation was huge corporate stores. Due to the absence of car-centric land developments small businesses were much more frequent as many people walk or take a scooter to get around. Therefore there are no huge shopping malls with vast parking spots to take up a space. Instead you only need to walk a block in most places to buy something from a little tienda store.
I thoroughly enjoyed the people and time here. Guatemala is definitely a place to visit more than once. It will help you center yourself and realize what living different can mean for you.

The Cosm of the Central Valley

The Central Valley of California is an interesting place. Influenced heavily by agricultural practices and urban sprawl — it is anything but a walkable and livable community in the heat of summer. The valley is a car-centric mecca of Capitalism and personal individualism. Many people spend a large percentage of their lives inside of their vehicle, waiting in well-established drive through lines for iced coffees to beat the heat, yet refusing to go inside to beat the line as even a few minutes without air conditioning could spell disaster when returning to a parked vehicle inhospitable from insatiable heat. Many people choose to live in the valley as the cost of living is lower and migrate elsewhere for work such as the bay area, willingly entering traffic jams and contributing to snails pace roadways as single occupant vehicles are the majority of the blockages. Cars become dehumanized and a lane merge to cut off another vehicle can mean being somewhere a few seconds faster, disregarding everyone else on the road in a journey to shave down their hours long commute. Ironically, public transportation projects are scorned upon by many which would help take cars off of the road and make transportation faster and safer for all. In a way, a hivemind develops of irregardless behavior as everyone is out for themselves.

Coincidentally, the valley is a fasthold of conservative logic and behavior, as farm owners continue to practice outdated techniques such as flood irrigation, only considering the maximum yield and profit margins for the next harvest, rather than seeing into the future of resource conservation and less water-dependent crops. As you drive along the interstates, many farmers blast signs on their land next to the highway to convince you that the drought is brought to you by sinners, or that every drop of water in a river belongs to man and their fields, rather than the habitats and species that rely on riversheds to provide life. Logic is replaced with confirmation bias, repeatable factual information is dismissed entirely, and Biden this, or Newsom that is the front runner in the reason why wells are going dry, or that man-made climate change may spell for longer periods of no rain. Before you know it, many of the occupants of the valley subjectively come to believe through these billboards and wordsmithing that the state is letting 78% of the water running through the rivers just run out into the ocean instead of evaporating in farmers fields.

Conversely, the valley can be respected in some facets. The valley is an economic and food powerhouse in its own ways. As you drive down the interstates and highways, there is an arterial network of rail and trucking transport. Every now and then along the highway you see massive grain silos commanding notice as they rise above everything else in the flatlands of the valley, towering over roadways and repeating stands of fruit and nut trees. These silos and railway distributions feed countless millions of people and provide substantial economic productivity to the area. Through humanity’s industrial and agricultural revolutions humanity has figured ways to feed the masses and transport crops around the planet — for better or for worse as you may feel fit. Without these hubs, no volume of food could be distributed or enjoyed by so many. Ostensibly, the valley also becomes a place that is unlivable to many without the automobile. Due to the sprawl of agriculture and the massive distances of lands dedicated to agriculture, there has also been a large encouragement of urban sprawl as well. Single family homes are the primary zoning regulations and the distance between everything increases, contributing to larger footprints of land necessary to habitate people.

Nowadays, through tradition of expansion of single family homes, population growth and interdependence to the automobile, the people of the valley commonly enter gridlock through the arterial pathways of their area. People spend much of their time trying to get from point A to point B, slowly losing out on some qualities of life that are enjoyed by other areas with better walkability and livability in exchange for a lower cost of living, jobs, and personal domains as everyone slices out a piece of life for them in the sweltering summer heat. Instead of living in a higher density condo or townhouse, many people choose to acquire the largest house available to their income and live in the valley. For many, the rat race continues and on the road a podcast may be the only fleeting comfort for a driver as their foot dashes between the accelerator and brake pedal on their daily multi-hour journeys.

To some proud residents of the valley my portrayal and representation may seem unfair, but sometimes there is a bitterness that is looked past by the locals as a way of justification. I grew up in the Central Valley. It provided me an education, friendships, family and for a white person, a little culture. I have no lasting qualms about existing in the valley but as an outsider I can’t help notice what has gone wrong with the chase of urban sprawl and agricultural practices that has led the valley to where it is today. As the planet continues to grow and change, the Cosm of the Central Valley seems to just tread in a slowly and foreseeable shrinking pool of water.