Thanks for this post, Mark. Possibly it will help tourists and those who have not lived here for any length of time to better understand the great need for guns in the proper hands.

With the level of crime being so high, and law enforcement being almost nonexistent, I would hate to think of what this country would be like if only the criminals had guns. I often tell guests that Guatemala is much like the Old West of the U.S. when it was just being settled. It only takes a few days of being here before they no longer consider me to be crazy for saying this.

This country has many laws, and the politicians are passing more every year, but this country has no law enforcement (fewer than 3% of all murders in this country were prosecuted last year). People from the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe must realize that each of us here is responsible for our own well being.

They are all winners.

Cristina's analysis is extremely accurate. The cruelty and lack of caring and understanding is a natural part of life for many people, and not only Guatemalans.

Why would a person be expected to be in favor of population control for pets, when they don't even have the common sense to practice it themselves, to better the lives of their own families, increase the amount of food available for a reduced number of dependents, reduce violence toward their spouse and children that is due to increased frustration from too much responsibility and too little money and other resources.

The children experience this frustration and anxiety as well as their parents. After the first couple of children, and the oldest child reaches the age of 5-6, the parents abrogate their responsibility and put the oldest child in charge of their brothers and sisters, so the parents can try to take care of the newer babies. These older children are often not put in school, but none the less they are expected to stay out of the one or two room home during the day. How can these children not feel unloved, abandoned, frustrated, and resentful. The parents are inhumane to their children, and the children pass it on.

If I am not mistaken, this is the Cristina who has backed up the detrimental effects of no family planning by a great deal of good research and strong sources. These facts are discounted, out of hand, by the people who let their religious leaders do their thinking for them, and they don't accept any knowledge that is not approved by religious leaders that are primarily interested in more people to contribute to the coffers of the church, without accepting any responsibility for the resulting state of physical and emotional well being by their parishioners. It is amazing to me that people who claim to be so pro- life, seem to attach no standards of quality for that life; be it human or lower animal.

That makes two of us.

As I have said for over a year, don't hire any females. Men can clean as well as any woman, can cook as well, can do heavier work, and I have never heard of a man taking even one minute off for a sick child. A man will do just as well helping to rear your children as any woman with only 10% of the problems ( men don't use telenovelas as a life model ). To help you wrap your mind around this idea, just think about hospital orderlies and janitors. Few people take this advice, but it is working extremely well for us.

Next, let everyone know that you neither borrow or lend anything. This applies to not only your hired help, but your neighbors and friends as well. This is difficult to do the first few times you must tell someone no, but after a while people quit asking ( they know you are serious ) and you avoid so many problems and ruined friendships. This applies not only to money, but tools as well.

Most of us who live here refer to ourselves as gringos. It simply signifies a white person from the U.S., Canada, or Europe. If it had a derogatory meaning in the past we have co-opted its use to the point that it no longer means anything bad. Pinche Gringo, is another matter.

Mark,

It isn't just living next to a finca that exposes one to overwhelming fire and smoke. If you live in an area with a good many vacant lots, owned by absentee land owners, you will be blessed as well. Every year the owners usually pay a local to start a fire in the dry undergrowth, to control the the weeds that have grown to a height of 5-6 feet . The locals happily start the fire, then leave the area (partially due to the heavy smoke). These uncontrolled fires will burn any available fuel, until they reach the walls of the nearest houses. Fortunately, very little wood is used in construction, so the burning embers that land in the adjacent home owner's property, don't catch the houses on fire.

The lying is a vicious cycle. We have several employees who want to please us, so they often tell us what they think we want to hear. However, when they try to tell us the truth, they have often been lied to by others, so what they tell us is still inaccurate. Not all Guatemalans are liars, but it is a strong part of the survival techniques of some of the lower classes here.

Mark,

What should we do, apologize for the fact that most atheists in the U.S. are among the most intelligent and best educated people in the population?

Congratulations on surviving your first year, Mark. You will probably find that all the coming years will be progressively easier, but they will definitely not be boring. Life in Guatemala is always a challenge, not only for gringos, but for Guatemalans as well.

We gringos who live in Guatemala do so out of choice. My wife has asked me what would I do if we moved back to the U.S. I tell her we would probably buy a condo in a high rise in Miami, overlooking the ocean, and drink ourselves to death out of boredom.