My trip to Guatemala - Day 16

September 27, 2010

Today was a pretty typical day: I went to class in the morning, ate lunch and dinner with my roommates and then retired to bed. We've officially entered the rainy season, so I think my days or aimlessly walking around and sitting in the park might be over. While I wish I could get outside more, there's something very peaceful about hearing the pitter patter of raindrops on our house's tin roof.

One of my favorite parts about traveling is pondering the subtleties in cultural differences of where I am versus where I am from. One of the differences I've noticed is greetings. In Guatemala, it's considered rude if you don't greet someone as soon as they walk into the room. Like, you actually have to interrupt what you're doing in order to shake their hand/hug them and ask about their day. This is true even if the person stumbled late into a meeting or event.

In the US, if you're late to a meeting, I find that we appreciate it if you quietly find a seat, settle in and perhaps quickly apologize for not being prompt. However, in Guatemala, if you come in late, it's like a party. Everyone breaks from the meeting's agenda to take turns greeting you.

I first noticed this in my classes. When someone would walk by our table, my teacher would always invite them over and say hello. They would shake my hand, ask how we both were doing and briefly detail how their morning had been going.

I kind of like the way they do things here. It makes you feel special, acknowledged. I feel like we're so quick to rush things in the US, and even when we are exchanging pleasantries, I feel like people don't really care. They say things like, "hi" or "how are you?" because it's customary, but I don't know that they really want the answer. Here, it seems that people actually do.

I've also noticed that there are a lot of young, single moms here. Birth control is very frowned upon (and I believe abortion is illegal) since it's a predominately Catholic country. In fact, birth control is so hush-hush that some clinics have a scar-free way of performing tubal ligation surgeries so women who undergo the procedure don't have to tell their husbands/partners. Since it's Catholic, I would assume that people would get married when they're relatively young (since, the last time I checked, sex before marriage was still a no-no in the Catholic church). But, they don't seem to. Instead, they seem to have relationships which result in pregnancies, and then it seems like a lot of the women are left to take care of the babies. The same is probably true in the US, but perhaps I've been noticing it more here.

To view some pictures of my trip, go check out my album on facebook.