tourism (backpacking) - you decide

this stunning community of maya people exist the way they did for thousands of years with one small difference, me and other like me. for better or for worse the lucky few of us have found this idilic place that feeds all sense, that calms the soul and opens your eyes. the negatives exist true, with the arrival of whitey so came the drug trade in a community that frowns on drinking and drugs it is not hard to believe that drugs (beyond those used religiously) never had a presence here and if once there was the strong community values quickly had it expunged. now san pedro, due to its stunning location, its inspiring people and beautiful energy, quickly became known amongst hippies and backpackers alike as a destination that easily set itself apart from others. it is not hard to see how that started to happen and probably not that hard to imagine what that does to a community. for example the other day i was chatting with a 14 year old boy (i should point out here that my chatting with kids is by no means nefarious rather their language skills much match my own so at most opportunities as i go to and from school or even on my many walks about town if a child doesn't engage in a conversation with me, which they usually do, i will initiate. this has already greatly helped with my confidence in speaking), when i asked him about school he said he didn't need it. foolishly i asked why. "i sell marijuana, want some?" not wanting to be rude of course i said yes....just joking mom if that were true this would be a pretty hypocritical story, no?......actually, i said "no gracias". how could you say yes? sure a smoke can be fun but look at what is being encouraged but in this instance i would have be putting the proverbial "nail in the coffin" with regards to his education or lack there of. exasperating a situation and a persona that i am not pleased to be associated with even by association. therefore in short the dark side of tourism has created means and opportunity that removed a small boy form school at the age of 10 and countless or youth and adults that now prosper or suffer as a direct result.

yet that isn't to say i regard tourism as bad (for if i did that would imply i regard what i am doing negatively, and that is not the case) for it offers many positives to a community one of which being foreign money into a primarily based on substance agriculture. and the second being that of keeping a culture alive, let me elaborate...as can be witnessed all around the world in developing and developed countries alike is that the traditional rural agriculture is slowly dying this in turn results in an influx of people into a city. in guatemala, if a young child was growing up in a small community that sees hard economic times simply due to weather or other more complex economic reasons well beyond the scope of their understanding, a better life is dreamed of, spoken about and eventually realized as they move to the "big city". (note: guatemala is a country of approximately 10 million people, guatemala city has approximately 3.5 million people, the next biggest city xela has approx. 350 000 people) true much of the mass influx of people into the city can be attributed to the savage civil war that tore up the country side that is just now starting to rebuild and heal the scars that were invariably left however many more left their rural agricultural life behind for a life where they may control their own destiny. unfortunately, a dream is not always reality and this certainly proves that point. with so many 'agricultural refugees' ending up in the same spot there is certainly not going to be enough work to go around. slums grow and grow. where they once could at least grow food if have little else they now find themselves even without that option. is it any wonder that guatemala city ranks among the most dangerous cities in the world? humans have a strong survival instinct and for lack of money and food people are forced beyond their moral comfort zone into the world of crime. and their children grow up in a hopeless environment and it isn't before long they join some of the roughest and toughest gangs in the americas, so much so that there are many section in guatemala city that the police simply do not and will not go. {back to my point} so communities that would invariably start to lose it populations can begin to rely on a new form of fairly steady income, tourist. and well beyond the point of money is culture, something that can easily be lost or forgotten for more pressing issues and concerns. for example, here in guatemala there is a large population of maya. (note: the maya people can be divided up into many tribes and regions but for the sake of this blog i shall refer to the maya generally, much as we do in north america with our 'first nations') making textiles is a large part the maya culture and traditions. the art of weaving is passed down generationally and can get lost and forgotten ever so easily (see 'first nations' in canada) tourism ensures that this skill is indeed passed down for almost every visitor to guatemala will leave with some form of maya textiles from hammocks to wraps to ponchos, a profitable market for traditional clothing has opened up creating income for something that was done out of practicality in the past. so here we see that as a result of tourism, a local maya culture is remembered and passed down generationally and that rural agricultural substance communities do not go the way of the do do. here in san pedro, maya women and girls weave stunning textiles and sell them to tourist and one another. one of the remarkable things in san pedro is that the majority of the population young and old still wear traditional dress and it is stunning! it is primarily a substance agricultural community meaning that it eats what it grows and now has the opportunity to continue on its traditional path with but a few interruptions from tourism.

life just isn't as black and white as our fearless (fearsome?) leaders would have us believe just maybe there are many sides to an argument. i, stepping out of myself, looking around and seeing the world again through new eyes has got me thinking quite a bit. re-examing what i believe and remembering why exactly that was rather than just because. as such, i will continue to travel as i always have with my eyes and my heart wide open, respecting and helping the people and cultures that i have the opportunity and privilege to visit. hoping always to leave with my hosts and new found friends a positive memory and idea of what tourism (or as i more appropriately see myself as a nomad) is and can be.

of course there are many reasons, positive and negative, surrounding tourism and i have only touched a few of them. this was not meant to tell rather to inform and open your eyes and mind to what else lies out there and how we all affect it. if you bared through this my evening ramble, thanks. and if you didn't then you didn't. should you have strong feelings on this subject one way or another i would love to hear it so don't be shy and share.