San Marcos

I haven´t had much access to the net, so I haven´t been able to upload more photos. I´m in San Marcos now. Today we visited a controversial mining project by Glamis Gold - they were recently bought by a larger corporation. We also visited the communities of Finca Delicias, Finca San Jeronimo and Finca La Fabrica. They live on coffee plantations, but are in the middle of labor disputes with the owners. They are occupying land as a political statement until they are compensated for being fired illegally. This means they can´t cultivate the land and they are blacklisted from being hired elsewhere. They have very little means of feeding their families and many times rely on the Catholic church for subsistence.

I´ll upload pictures soon!!!!

Sociological Tour

This is where many Guatemala City residents make their living - about a dollar a day. This is only about one tenth of the dump. People dig for valuable goods to sell or take home. They also look for spoiled food restaurants have thrown away to eat or resell to street vendors. This is all amongst potentially toxic chemical and medical waste. Some are there from the early morning until late at night.

La Ciudad de Guatemala

Choi Shin and CIMA Textiles: Maquiladoras in Via Nueva

I haven´t been able to update very frequently because our days are so packed and internet cafes only stay open until 8 or 9. For now, I´ll just post some pictures I´ve taken.

This picture is a neighborhood in Via Nueva, maquiladora central on the outskirts of Guatemala City. We were pulled up next to one of the many maquilas. Just this past Monday, a factory´s owners closed up shop without paying their workers because there was word of a union being organized.


The gate to the maquila. Many factory owners are Korean subcontractors.

These women are just some of the leadership in the only union for maquila workers in Guatemala. They are split into two unions to represent two technically separate factories with the same owner. The second was built to take advantage of the 10-year tax holiday. Both factories produce, and only one exports.



A truck full of Liz Claiborne and Talbots clothing that left the maquila gates. We weren´t allowed to meet the workers inside.

San Miguel & Entre Volcanes: Starbucks Antigua Blend Suppliers

So we went to visit a supplier of Starbucks coffee that adheres to their CAFE practices. They have a clinic on the plantation to serve the workers, use environmentally-friendly practices, and pay wages much higher than average workers on plantations. They are a specialty coffee supplier, however, and only represent a small fraction of the coffee industry in Guatemala.

I´ll add more photos of our sociological tour of Guatemala City, and some more sites in Antigua.

My Home: Antigua

It rained today.
Hardcore.








This is the view out of my window. I was taking a nap, and BOOM!

The loudest thunderclaps I´ve ever heard in my life! I was so startled that I started shaking until I fell back asleep. :)

Here´s more of an idea of my living situation.



Here´s my room. It´s very comfortable. My roommate Lauren and I are living with a nice couple. We`re occupying what used to be their sons´ rooms. It´s nice because there´s an internet cafe right nextdoor.










This is the view from one of my windows into the backside of the house.





Mynor Melgar was our guest speaker in class today. He is a human rights lawyer who is the first to successfully prosecute officers accused of human rights abuses.

Antigua!

Hola mi companeros!

So, I made it to Guatemala after believing I missed the flight out of Houston, TX. No lie, it is gorgeous here. The photos I've taken do not match up to the reality of all that is Antigua. Here is a random shot I took yesterday. I took it while driving in a bus on a bumpy cobblestone road.



The inner courtyard in my professor´s home. The colors are much more vivid than this.








I´ll post some more tomorrow. I have to go read 30 pages before meeting our guest spéaker in class tomorrow. He is the first lawyer ever to successfully prosecute members of the army who committed crimes against humanity during Guatemala's 30 year civil war.

Prelude

I'll be documenting and reflecting on my three weeks in Guatemala. I'm going as a participant in a UW exploration seminar called "The Shifting Terrain of Human Rights in Contemporary Guatemala." The history of this country and its contemporary struggles follow a pattern of experiences in many other parts of the world. I'm taking this opportunity to take witness, make connections, and then share what I've learned.

In preparation, our class holds book club meetings. Our reading selection includes:

• Silence on the Mountain: Wilkinson
• Bitter Fruit: Schlesinger & Kinser
• Enrique's Journey: Nazario
• Paradise in Ashes: Manz
• I, Rigoberta Menchu: Menchu