I slept in super late yesterday and it felt great. A new room, new bed, and new beginnings. There was nothing set in stone for the day, so I started off by doing a few menial tasks that I’ll need in the days to come – printing off some more release forms and typing out a letter to the Municipal Fire Department to see if they’ll let me come along and film one day.

As I was walking home from the internet cafe I got a call from Mingo. He’s leaving tomorrow for yet another journey up to New York to retrieve another bus – today is my last chance for an interview.

I stopped what I was doing, swung through my hostel to grab my gear and took a cab out to Chimaltenango. We sat on the roof of his new house (which is still under construction) and talked for an hour or so. Two boys from the neighborhood had wandered upstairs and decided to come stand beside me as I interviewed him. They watched the image on the flip-out LCD screen as he spoke.

We agreed to cross paths sometime in New York and then took off on our separate ways. He went back to his aldea in Rosario Canajal and I headed out to Tecpan for the night. Along the ride there I saw a bus on the side of the road, completely smashed and safely pulled into a parking area with at least 20 people standing around it. Within five minutes, as we proceeded up the hill, most of the passengers on board the bus began rubbernecking out the windows, peeking at what was there. When I looked I didn’t see much, just some dirt on the roads. But the reaction of the locals gave me reason for concern. I quickly put two and two together – there had been a landslide of some sort. After arriving safely, I got online and found out that at least 12 had died from the landslide that landed on top of the bus as it passed by just hours before our bus took the same path. I really hope the rains start to cool down a bit, but it’s unlikely things will change. This year is supposedly the worst rainy season in Guatemala’s recent history and it’s going to continue to get more intense as October and November approach.

Today I got a call from Ermelindo, who said that the bus will be ready to start its new route tomorrow. After almost two weeks of back-and-forth and changing dates, I was really psyched to get his call. He sounded confident and his confidence was contagious.

According to a few of the taxi drivers I’ve talked to over the past few days, the route from Guatemala City to Ciudad Quetzal is one of the most marginal and dangerous extra-urban routes that exists (the routes within the capital city are far more dangerous). Last month I began looking into the option of having an armed police escort come along in plain clothes to accompany me for the shoot, and the spokesman for the National Police willingly agreed to have someone available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But something about it just doesn’t feel right.

I suggested the idea to Ermelindo a week or two ago and he seemed unsettled by the idea, but I’m not sure why. He assured me that he and the other members of his collective have been paying the extortion money regularly and that there won’t be any trouble on the route. He’s not the type to speak beyond his means, and at this point we’ve spent enough time together that I feel like I can trust him So, we’re set to meet at Geronimo’s junkyard at 8:00am and will take things from there – tomorrow will be the maiden voyage…

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Mark Kendall
www.markkendallportfolio.com