just a quick note to tell you that all is well. after a grueling day - 22 hours of travel - i woke up in a comfy bed in my sister's basement. walking up stairs i heard my sister and her two lovely children playing in the family room. upon opening the door to the basement my niece looked up and with such a look of surprise and joy that all of yesterday's angst melted away. the day was spent playing, playing and then there was some more playing. i also found some time to finish editing a video from monday's adventure (i still haven't told you what i did but soon you will see!) and finishing some potential posts i started while waiting the day away yesterday. below is one called "how is this justice" and it should be noted that my friend who's name isn't jim (i changed it just in case) is no longer in any danger of arrest or anything but that shouldn't make this any less interesting....read on....
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how is this justice?
just a small note to tell of a pretty crazy thing that is happening to a friend and a little advice should you ever find yourself in a similar situation while in guatemala...
the other night while my friend was in his apartment a german guy who somehow got on his roof subsequently fell off the roof. from inside his apartment, jim saw through his window the man falling from said roof. being human, jim rushed to the man's aide, first finding him in the bushes then calling the ambulance and police. wow. but that isn't the crazy part.
yesterday i met with him and he told me that the german died in hospital and that the police wanted him to go to the station for comment but what we learned that afternoon convinced us that going to the police station was a BAD idea. why? well, in guatemala they have a strange law that says the last person to 'touch' someone who then dies is legally responsible and in this case that person was jim. kind of messed up as jim did not invite the german up to his roof, jim did not push the german from the roof, jim did go to his aide and the german did die. considering the law, the country and the situation we both agreed that going to the police station was NOT in his best interest, rather calling the consulate and DC lawyer were what was in his best interest.
i was blown away by the law and by what it ensures, that an injured person is unlikely to get any kind of assistance on the street from passerbys. the government is breeding a negative moral fabric to this beautiful yet fragile society.
not much of a post i know but i think it is important to not only extol the beauty and the majesty of this stunning country but to also show the 'other side', the ugly, the unforgiving, the unjust.
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