I have now left Guatemala since almost a week. I have gotten a lot of questions about Guatemala and what characterized it. I answered them all: Guatemala is very human. In every aspect human.

Guatemala and in particular the average Guatemalan do have plenty of challenges of which many are very foreign to outsiders. Yet the warmth of the souls and hearts of the Guatemalans will strike you. It is so present. It is so inviting.

Guatemala will harden you. The environment is in many ways ruthless as so is the nature. It will test you in all possible ways. Guatemala is also about hard labour. I mean really hard labour. In an instance, the weather can shift from sunny and peaceful to full storm in the mountains. Add on frequent earthquakes and volcano eruptions. The list goes on. Now imagine you will work in that environment and that you will do that every day of your life. That is hard labour. 

Yet it to be at least seemed as if the concepts of time and stress are not really known. Even though many Guatemalans live a very tough life, they still do take the time to do what they have to do and to interact. In many ways it was the most refreshing part of Guatemala. The concept that you will have time to say Buenos dias, Buenos tardes, or Buenos noches. You will have time to chat for a few minutes with friends while on the way somewhere. The environment that way seemed so much less alienating than what I have experienced in some so called developed countries.

I do believe it could be rooted in the unpredictable and powerful nature of Guatemala. You can try to plan what you would like to do, but both nature and traffic can instantly and indisputably change your plans whether you like it or not. It is a matter of just accepting it. It doesn’t take long on the road until you understand that the Guatemalan nature could really change your plans and that it is absolutely nothing you can do about it if nature decides to.

Nature is the ruler and you are but only a very small piece of it. It is very humbling and throughout my visit there it seemed to me that the people there were fully aware of it.

“You should always walk as you are walking a long way.”

A dear friends uncle said that. It is so true and really encapsulates what I saw and felt during my time there. When you see people walk you don't see a stressed walk. You see a calm walk. The hours long walk if only it happens for 10 meters.

In the seemingly chaos and unstructured, there is a peace and rest that we outside Guatemala have a lot to learn from.

To be human and to be humble against nature.