What makes people run away from their lives and move elsewhere is a question I have asked myself in the past. More so, how this affects our little community down here in Antigua is; why do they chose this part of the world, this particular region, and most exactly, why this town instead of the towns around or other areas of this Country?
For starters; why this part of the world? Well, for most people, including myself, it had to do with the economic advantages it could offer any individual who thinks about improving a social or quality status in their lives. While this is true, undeniably, and most people enjoy the perks of living in this region of the world for this reason alone. Your dollar power is 3 times greater or more or less depending on assets you wish to purchase. One aspect I enjoy is domestic service. $10 usd per day offers you a full service top to bottom cooking cleaning windows and drapes. Insurance, home taxes, and the advantages of travelling all over the region is another bonus about the central American region. Fresh produce in local markets. All these reasons we all dig.
Guatemala has a terrific double port entry for goods and supplies (a port on both the east and west coasts). Logistically quality improvements were made with previous administrations on roads and ports and these modifications will push Guatemala into the 21st century as a leader, one of the strongest economies, and offer them a very senior seat in the Americas. If Guatemala demonstrates that it is a sole economic power base with focus on liberties and less social and policy making influence from anywhere else in the world, it would exceed any expectations that currently hinder their future growth rates. The most important, for aspects about this land however, are the touristic attractions, ecological and economic opportunities, multiple biospheres, natural seismic threats of eruptions or catastrophic disasters, and the cultural threats that begun as a civil war and is still currently close to a failed government state threshold due to political corruption and a war on drugs that continues to cause more crime and deaths and instability than what it is designed to counter. The good and bad that continue to exist here in Guatemala is a juxtaposition of both the most beautiful and the most ugly. The people can be the most generous and some who are the most dreaded. We interact with them daily. They sell us bad food, cut corners, pollute the countrysides, contaminate waters, poison rivers and streams, and kidnap and extort innocents. This makes Guatemala the most beautiful fucked up country to live in, in the region.
Like a NSA satellite zooming in with pinpoint accuracy, we are now looking into the Sacatepequez region, focusing on Antigua. Now why here? It can be simple to consider. Some 65 years ago some people found a lazy town, detested by the who’s who of Guatemala, till this day many of the families that existed back then still refuse to have an investment home or plantation in or around the area. Some foreigners however, they felt different. They were Canadians and Americans. Mostly adventurous types. They bought homes for next to nothing and made pilgrimages to visit and escape their lives in the north; as some people did with fishing camps and African safaris. Over the years they brought friends down who also invested and gradually it grew to what we have today. We have a very international flavored town, rich in tradition, captured a most unexpected future vision and modeled itself unlike any other Guatemalan town. In fact, a town like this would be replicated based on the success it has but no other town wishes to replicate the success. Most towns are very content without being a touristic town, extremely content in keeping tourism numbers down, blaming tourist for drug trades or alcohol abuses which are home grown in nature. Antigua has a rather stable water source, electricity, Internet, and other services, which do not go out constantly, compared to other towns around Guatemala. However, Antigua rates high in tourism destinations because of all the items listed above. It is a travel central hub. Of 2,000,000 visitors to Guatemala their place of entry and departure may very well be La Capital, or Guatemala City, but this is only to say hello and goodbye. Like a sailor in the port, they do not stay very long making Antigua the travel Mecca of the country and other regions all taking back seat to the Antigua region. I suppose it was the vision of 65 years ago when some people saw 9 square blocks surrounded by riveting volcano views, vista hermosas, historic architecture, and a very polite society that gradually improved Antigua over any other travel region of the country. Retulaleu, it has one of the most beautiful Palm lined streets and makes a perfect postcard, but the people who have ran the muni there for the past 65 years had no taste, nor vision, and it may be the capital del mundo in their eyes, for others it is a dogs breakfast. Taxisco, Iztapa, or any any town close to Monterrico, a favored travel destiny and they both fall short on making a significant break through in keeping the streets and beaches clean. Over the past 20 years a great influence has been generated in the area but with all the investment and taxes they generate they still lack proper schooling, focus on keeping the area clean, and have wide spread corruption and theft of tourists that shoots itself in the foot. Rio Dulce, now there is a cool place to be. They have made a terrific place of the Rio. I am sure it has its own challenges. Atitlan is the most beautiful lake in the world and the people around the lake are lost in corruption, and stupidity, and they allow for the continued pollution of the most beautiful lake in the world. I repeat, the most beautiful lake in the world… and it is mindlessly being polluted.
Antigua brought together some great attributes, it kept a focus on architecture, it put in place some laws that have been neglected religiously because they do not take in some commonsense. Corruption is systemic in most levels of the municipality except, well, currently, there is no municipality. They consistently send squads of police and municipal workers or tax people to extort bars on Friday and Saturday nights at peek hours … where this investigation could be performed on Saturday mornings but this is another abuse that takes place headed up by religious people who are trying to close down the town to back packers and wish only for teetotalers. This is the most whacked of the bunch and their generation is growing older and running out of steam. This is not to say they are not seriously well backed financially and at the highest levels of the whose-who in town. They are. They even have a powerful allies within the international community that runs counter logical especially seeing they are trying to run policy that goes against freedoms and liberties. But this is the way politics work and your enemies enemy becomes your friend.
There are great moments enjoyed in Antigua 7 days a week. At the very least, when you walk into a small bar when there is no tourism, poor your soul out across the counter, run into the town celebrities like Brendan, Toto, a Don Tono, Jesse, or yours-truly, you hear about the rumors or chisme on any of us, you get some highs of popular stories like Ecofiltro or a video that went viral. Or who is sleeping with whom and did you hear what happened with this bar owner or another. These resort town stories will only carry forward for as long as the oldest person stands. I am sad to see the Walter Whites and the Heenan’s move on. Generations are lost without the Johnston’s. I would tip my hat to those who could tell me how these people lived, the chismes… as a person who is not a fan of these loose lips, I would cherish to know how and what they did. I figure we are doing pretty much of what they use to do. I am positive we are. They were the foreplay to our pursuits today and we carry on they way they did too. We are “them” personified. Of course we are different, but we are much the same as we made our way here in the same desire as they led the course. They beat the path, for us to come in more comfort because they made it so for us.
Now we are here. Let our voices be heard. Make noise for less pollution in town. Make sure our trash becomes limited with recycling and not dumped just outside of town. Make our water the best in the world. Demand leaders with a future vision, accountable. We are the place that tourist seek to go to from all over the world and they can see the regional beauty, the affordable prices, the fantastic places to hang out, and we are the envy of 11,000,000 people in this country. Ask any person from any town where they would love to live or own a house, their answer is 99% Antigua. Lets invite them to our little how town. But ONLY if they make it a better place to be.
Peter Glover
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