i hesitate writing about this because i'm not too sure how to put it in words to describe what happened yesterday. i don't want to make it seem as if a huge deal, and i don't want to dismiss it as nothing. all in all, i think it's worth writing down.
when we first moved here, we were put up in a hotel and taken around by a realestate agent looking for an apartment to live in. we drove around for hours with this lady and she told us numerous stories about how dangerous the city is. repeating things like not being able to walk around during the day, or especially at night. not talking on your cell phone, even in a car. don't wear a purse. no jewelry. try not to look like a gringo. don't look lost. yada, yada, yada. it spooked me! i mean, i knew guatemala had a reputation for being unsafe, but i thought it was in certain parts of the city, and that we would find the safe parts of the city, and never venture to the danger zones. i went home one of those first nights living in the hotel and glued myself to the computer. researching: how dangerous is guatemala? top 10 dangerous cities in the world? what are the safe zones in guatemala? travel tips in guatemala? well, that night of searches had me even more spooked! i looked at ben in tears thinking, "what did we get ourselves into?" the school had given me a few contact numbers, so i decided that night to use one of them. i called sarah. she heard the panic in my voice and invited us over for dinner. we hadn't met any of the teachers at this point, as we were still in the hotel looking for an apartment. sarah had invited other young teachers over for dinner and we were put at ease seeing other teachers living in the city and enjoying their lives. that night really saved us. from then on, life has been life, and we never google searched the dangers in guatemala ever again. we have a lot of friends here and ben and i live a very rich life.
there are rules you need to follow. the realestate agent wasn't trying to scare us away from living here, she was just being helpful.
the rules:
1. never walk on the street, ever. night or broad daylight.
2. don't carry a purse with you, maybe just a bit of money in one pocket, and phone in the other pocket
3. never leave the house with nothing in your pockets
4. don't dress to flashy
5. never carry cameras
6. never talk on your phone outside
if you follow these rules, you're less likely to be robbed. it pretty much means take a cab every time you leave your house, and don't take anything with you that you don't want to get stolen.
yesterday, ben and i woke up to a sunny morning and i decided it was a perfect day for going out to breakfast. we called our two friends and they agreed to join us. first, we broke rule #1, and decided to walk (it's about a 15 min walk to the restaurant). second, broke rule #2 and i carried a purse. third, broke rule #4 as i was wearing a bright yellow dress and a scarf.
we were a group of four gringos sauntering down the streets of zone 14 like we owned the place. a black car fully tinted rolls up, two guys jump out, one of them cocks his pistol and they take everything from us. i would guess the whole experience lasted about 30 seconds. in my mind, i had kind of gone over what i would do if it ever happened, and it didn't seem that scary. what i did wrong? the guy with the gun came straight to me. i opened my purse up hoping to "pick and chose" what to give to the guy. wrong! he possibly thought i was reaching in for a weapon, so he became super defensive and grabbed my arm to stop me from reaching in. he yanked the purse from my arm, and off he went.
no one was harmed. lessons were learned. the couple we were with, this was their third time being robbed in eight months. now that, just sucks.
i lost my iphone, 300Q, debit card, drivers license, colegio maya i.d., favorite little wallet, favorite purse. not too bad. all replaceable. we still continued on our way and had breakfast, only because i get a little crazy when i don't eat, and i refused to let this experience come between me and food. we also still went out to dinner to celebrate our friends birthday last night. life continues as normal.
now this happened in broad daylight on a busy street on a saturday morning around 10:30a.m, in the "safe" zone that we live in. it could have been a lot worse, and it wasn't. the government in guatemala really sucks in that the police are corrupt, there is mad drug trafficking, and there are children starving. high risers are creating shadows on the shacks all over the city, and the money that ben and i spend doesn't ever make it back to the community. the high disparity in this city is more than i've ever experienced in all of my travels, and nothing seems to be changing. gangs and poor people are stealing from the rich, as if it's their job. it's really sad.
the good thing, we learned our lesson with breaking all the rules we did, and now we will be safer. ben and i say goodbye to this city on july 1st and it's too bad this had to happen to us right before we leave. we've loved living in guatemala (besides the bus rides for me) and we will continue to love this city until we leave. this experience hasn't jaded us and our feelings towards the city, at least of of today, just one day after. if anything, it gives us perspective of how many people in this world have to go through that experience without having the luxury of moving away from it.
