Look both ways when you cross the street

I have learned a few really usefeul skills this past week. The first is that I can now walk on the sidewalks here without tripping and without looking down at my feet all the time. It is hard to understand how useful that ability is until you have walked around here. The one thing that I will never be able to do is walk here in heels. To me, that is a superpower. There women here who walk around in these tiny stilletos and their foot always lands on the cobblestone rather that the big hole in the street next to it. In all seriousness I have watched women doing this and I do not think it would even be safe for me to try.

Another thing that women can do here is ride side saddle on motorcycles and mopeds. They dont even appear to be hanging on. I think people have been just been using the same kinds of transportation with in their families so the adapt and learn ways to get by. People ride two to a bike. It is not uncommon to see 3-4 or more people on a moped. There are cars, but I think the majority of the cars are tourist vans, took tooks, and taxis. Rarely do you see just one person in a car. There are always people out walking. While I know that cities in the US are larger and people commute greater distances ,and we have winter, I still often think about how things could change in the US if we followed the same principles

I have also gotten pretty good at crossing the street here. In the US, pedestrians have the right of way, but in Guatemala and most other countries in the world, it is the other way around. Bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, took tooks and cars all have the right of way before people. The trick is to walk into the street 4-5 feet so cars see you and when they back up at a stop sign you walk through them. Sometimes a person is nice and lets you go in front of them, but this is very rare. It is not because people are not nice here or are impatient, well some are. It is actually becasue in lots of streets there are not any stop signs so if you stop for a pedestrian you are really likely to get a bumper crash. It is actually kind of fun working your way around town. It is a different kind of experience.

This post is turning out to be all about things in the street so I guess I will tell a few more things about the streets and sidewalks here. Very different from sidewalks in the US is the friendliness. People say hello and how are you doing to eachother as they pass by on the street. There is a better feeling of community then I think we have in the states. Often hello can turn into a small conversation, where did you get that bag, you have a beautiful child, what are you up to today. If this happened on the street at home, it might be considered a little odd or to forward. Here it is very common and I love it. I love people so getting to meet maybe ten new ones on the way to school in the morning is nice. Also people have the same routine so I see some of the same people at the same time everyday.

Guatemala used to have a serious problem with garbage in the streets which then gets into the water. They also had an unemployment problem. Thus, the street sweeper was born. In the morning before any one is out, there are people who come out and pick up the streets, make sure they are clear if it has rained and report back if any repairs are needed. They are assigned an area that they take care of. It makes the streets really pleasant to walk around on. You arent in danger of stepping in someone elses gum or old food. However, street sweepers do not take care of alleys. Thus the alley to our house is full of garbage, food, etc. I really need to get a picture of the alley so you can see what I am talking about. Unfortunately I will not be able to duplicate the smell, oh darn.

I have gotten to know my way around town really well. I dont know the street names but I just sort of know where I am by where the volcano is, where the church is, etc. This seems to be a common way of getting around for people here.

I hope this post on roads and sidewalks has not been to boring. I am just fascinated by all the little and some big difference between home and here. I think that part of why I am here.