Heartquest-guatemala

Secret Mining operation in Elliot Lake

2016-08-18T16:17:00.001-07:00

Secret Mine in Elliot Lake ???

Word has it and this come from a very reputable source (aren't they all) that someone, persons unknown are operating a secret uranium mine in the Elliot Lake area. The source mentioned Dennison Mines. As to whether Dennison Mines are secretly mining again the source was unable to comment on. Or possible it is Dennison Mines that have uncovered this information.

It is all hush hush and very secretive with no one really willing and ready to commit and come out and say it. Of course it could be just a rumour. But rumours come from somewhere.. so we shall delve on further awaiting more news all knowledgeable about this amazing story.

What do you know about this?

We are all downstream.. The apocalypse of Uranium

2016-07-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Uranium is a dirty and dangerous metal. From the struggle to mine it from solid rock extracting with chemicals, it leaves behind a legacy of destruction. The tailings from such mines will go on poisoning people forever like some 76,000 years. Some mining companies have constructed huge dams to contain the tailing which are then covered with a metre of water. This procedure help control the acid formation.

Can such dams survive and be safe for 76,000 years? I doubt it. It is just that cheap short term solution, leaving the real problem for future generations.

http://janetsplanet.ca/uranium-got-47-minutes/

We are killing this earth for profit. I went to Elliot Lake because it was presented as a cheaper place to live. The controlled propaganda of Elliot Lake Retirement was a sales pitch hiding the real facts. This place is a radioactive time bomb.

The truth is that in the early days (radioactive) rock rubble from the mines was used to build some of the homes of the miners. Then there were the roads that also got this treatment. The result was that homes laced with radioactive rock had an increase of 40 % cancers in the people that lived in them.

The building I am living in I was told, was built in the mid seventies. So am then living in a radioactive building?
I know that in some homes Radon Gas detectors are common. It it time to turn my smart phone into a Geiger counter? Radon gas is a naturally occurring and problematic issue, but in Elliot Lake the risks of Radon gas poisoning are higher.

Back when Uranium was first discovered in Elliot Lake both the Government of Canada and the province of Ontario along with the Workmen's Compensation Board refused to put a connection between the increased cancer cases (20%) of men working in the mines and the cancer that they contracted. Their argument was that the cancer must be from smoking.
It was only when the United Steel Workers put pressure in place that a correlation was put into effect. And even then dieing miners had to fight hard for their claims.

Back in the early days of the nineteen fifties the solution to waste products and tailing was to dump it all into ravines and lakes and rivers. The hope then was that mother nature could fix that. She couldn't and guess what? Some ten lakes died and the Serpent River system which feeds into Lake Huron and down through the great lakes through the St. Lawrence River was not just affected but badly damaged.

I was recently on a Facebook chat link and I brought up the subject of "can you eat the fish in Elliot Lake?" This stirred up a whole can of worms and people were upset and angry at me for even thinking to ask such a question.... If I am wrong, I will admit it. But you see I just needed to know beyond the ignorance.

I asked because I wanted to know the truth. The truth beyond the housing sales pitch and truth beyond government and big company control.

I went on a mine tour that took us to two former mine sites that have been decommissioned. So what you see are large water areas and we are told they cover the tailings. We ride in a bus and up onto the top of one earth and stone dam. These sites are encaptured with chain link fences and heavy gates allowing only controlled access.

What are they really hiding?

The only issues our guide (who works for the mining company) is acid formation and how they control that. I ask about radiation and am told any radiation present is only a low level gamma radiation. Really!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_tailings

Anyway back on that facebook chat many people gave out their opinions and at the end of some two hours of interest, the bottom line and the word was that for anyone serious about fishing, well like that women in the store I chatted with.... you need to go north where the water is pure.

So now my thoughts now are... if you shouldn't eat the fish, should anyone be swimming in any of the lakes? And oh yes and guess where the drinking water comes from?

The waste of Uranium mining is everywhere here. Elliot Lake has more waste tailings in the area than in all of the rest of Canada.

Which of course makes it a great place to retire

....or die in.

Elliot Lake The Way I see It.

2016-06-25T17:11:00.001-07:00

Do you see it too?

There is a scene in that film 2001, by Stanley Kubrick where a space suited attired and helmeted man looks across the room where his space craft has landed. He looks into another room and sees yet another man eating a meal. Then we see life as from the man eating and of course it is the same face as the man in the spacesuit.

***

Today I had planned to go and see a movie. They show them free at the library here in Elliot Lake and it is I suppose a place for people to socialize. It was Saturday morning and I had got up in time to shower have my breakfast and go there. All went well and I was feeling really good about what could happen. I got to the library, parked and headed to the door. The library is on the second floor which you take the elevator to get to. But inside the first floor when you first enter is multi-tiered array of plants that climbs up three levels. Although the rest of the building is air-conditioned the entrance panorama is humid with plant life.

I opened the door and went in. And then for some strange reason I left.

What I did instead was visit a plaque that I had seen on the highway, coming into Elliot Lake. Here parking in a rough graveled area, I followed a short path with pesky black flies about that led to a small cairn. I was standing in the exact spot that uranium had first clicked wildly on a Geiger counter. I wondered how much radiation was present looking over the landscape. With pesky black flies about and the thought of radiation, I did not stay long.

I then drove without purpose and found a road that said boat launch ahead. It would be yet another lake access I though and perhaps something I needed to see. It was a paved road for most of the way that took me on a turn to a gravel road. I followed the loose gravel road as it meandering and then to an open open space. Here there was a natural sloped part and a half floating dock to launch from. I parked and wandered off but not too far, but enough to see what was about. There were two lakes with one boat launch. It could have of course been one lake that bent around a stub of land. To find out that I would have had to hike a rough tracked road that off road vehicles had left their evidence of being there.

Instead of a lengthy hike to nowhere I decided to sit this one out. I always have paper with then and hunted for a pen to write with. I found one.

***

I drive and see some lake. I see another then another lake. They all have weedy flowers and stringy weeds that grow out of the waters and dance with the warm breeze. It is warm, but not tropical so not so difficult to handle. There are boat trailers nestled and in deeper the trucks that hauled them. I park close to the water, examine the uneven shoreline. The black-flies are here but most are blown away. A short three section floating dock is there. But then, when you look at the dock, only one section is actually free and floats and bobs and sways when ones walk on it. Across from the dock and were I am parked is another lake, It is gentler there and protected from the movement of air as the water sits almost glass like flat. I also see the remains of the Great Canadian shield; rocks that slip and fall washed by time that gracefully slip into the dark waters.

A small car rolls in, its darkened windows hiding who these people are. They take a swift look about then they are gone, retreating into their air-conditioned realism.

I wonder if they have not seen it.

Have they not seen the way the ripples of water that are brushing against the shoreline. The way the sunlight is reflected and dances like tiny stars blinking and pulsing light. The way young birch trees with their multitude of leaves like tiny pads of colour each leaf bleached and embracing a different green hue.

Another car has traveled in. The occupant a man steps out and looks at me strangely before walking off. He walks first into the trees, and then later I see him looking at the lake. He is thin and gaunt and bent over now and I felt he must have been taller before. Strangely he looks remarkably similar to me. He wears a white wide brimmed hat and loose baggy long sleeve shirt and pants, like I do. He walks with a hiking came. He does not walk far, but he looks. He looks deep at the water and the trees.

I think he sees what I saw.

Protection Island

2016-05-25T13:46:00.002-07:00

I had just arrived back from several months in Guatemala. I had stopped over in Ontario for a short trip to visit family and suddenly found myself on Protection Island, in British Columbia. Talk about culture shock.

Protection Island sits just off the shores of the city of Nanaimo, 1.5 kilometers north east to be exact. Originally known as Douglas Island after James Douglas the first governor of Vancouver Island, it was renamed Protection Island in 1960.

Protection Island is tranquil, calm, and friendly and not one person that I ever met or passed me, as I walked about, ever passed by me without saying hello.

Protection Island is laced with roads with names like Captain Morgan’s Boulevard, Pirates Lane, and Captain Kidd’s Terrace. There is a park with a small lake in the middle of it called Smugglers Lake. There is of course Long John Silver Bay, Billy Bones Bay and Smugglers Beach. I wondered if pirates plied these waters and if their treasure was buried somewhere.

Getting about Protection Island involves walking, unless you have a bicycle. Many of the people that live on the island permanently use electric golf carts. The golf carts incidentally all have to be licensed and insured. There are also an assortment of older pick-up trucks, vans and ancient cars on the island. Some of the permanent residents also have their own small power boats, so that they do not have to use the Dingy Dock ferry that plies between Nanaimo Harbour and Protection Island.

Speaking of the Dingy Dock ferry, it also carries people over to the Dingy Dock pub, which I am told is the only permanent floating pub and restaurant in all of Canada. It has a commanding view of the lights of Nanaimo at night and of Nanaimo Harbour as it moves up and down with the tides.

Living on the island involves planning, as there are no convenience shops at all and that ferry stops running at about 10:00 pm. One can arrange to have large orders of groceries shipped over on a barge for a cost.

Protection Island also has a history of coal mining. With an interest in local history I took a self-guided tour to check to all of that out and found it very fascinating.

Another interesting point is neighbouring Newcastle Island (a provincial park) can be reached by walking over to it when the tides are very low.

Protection Island is home to just over 300 people most living on the island full time. For others it is their cottage country. A map supplied by local real estate people is handy if you don’t want to keep going in circles forever. Then there are the several parks, interconnecting pathways, all those gravel roads, the zig-zagging stairway that can keep you busy for ages. If you are into birding a variety of birds make Protection Island their home including a large Heron population.

But if you are used to city life it could give you cabin fever pretty fast. To offset any feelings of isolation I would sometimes walk over to the gravel beach near the pubic dock, where I could sit for ages doing practically nothing and feeling quite satisfied. But if I needed a more exciting break well the Dingy Dock ferry boat was always there to take me to the city lights of Nanaimo.

Oh that treasure I mentioned earlier, well I actually did find that treasure....

The treasure is Protection Island itself.

Drop down wallets and traveling safe

2016-04-14T14:06:00.002-07:00

Travel safe.

I read all sorts of advice online by people that some, I feel are just armchair travelers, and have never been anywhere..

They advise you to hide your money somewhere on you when traveling.

Hide it where?

Thieves are not all stupid. Some are well versed in how travelers carry their cash. They might have been fooled the first time they tried to rob someone... but they learn.. they learn all about the tricks that travelers use...
So be wise, be forewarned...

Forget money belts, that is the first place they are going to look. Your socks (duh) yeah right.

Dummy wallets or drop down wallets with fake cards and some cash.. These are an insult to any intelligent thief. Getting robbed is one thing, insulting you thief is another.

And another thing, they, the thieves don't just come up to you and ask politely "oh please, please can I have all your money?"

Most likely they will be very excited, even to the point of being scared and will definitely frantically waving their arms about and madly screaming at you.

They may have a gun and that may even be loaded, or a machete (yes and sharp). Often times thieves will be just as scared of the whole situation as you are. Robbing someone is a scary and dangerous business. I would think it could even be a stressful thing to do. I mean all they want is to take what you have and leave you alone and that is all.

Throwing down a dummy or drop down wallet, and them seeing it empty... or sort of empty, well they will start screaming even louder. And then when they find your real wallet and its nice stash of bills, they will be really pissed off with you. Do not ever get a thief pissed off at you... remember that they have the upper hand here all the time.

So how do you travel safely?

Don't carry anything you do not want to lose.

Don't carry a lot of cash.

Credit cards are rarely accepted, unless in large stores (Walmart) or first class hotels..

Travelers cheques are useless anywhere but some banks (a thing of the past).

ATM's well these are sometimes aok. I try to use an ATM machine attached to a bank. Or inside a store that I know will be locked at night. Or has that guy with a nice shotgun guarding it. Nevertheless all ATM machines are all subject to and vulnerable to scanners, cameras... scam artists everywhere.

If you are staying anywhere for any length of time, you could open a bank account and have funds transferred to the country you're staying it.

Try opening a bank account that has an affiliation to a bank in your own country. That way it can be easier to do. Some banks will require that you get your passport certified at your consulate. Others will want a utility bill from the address your staying at. The utility bill does not need to be in your name either.

Another way is to open up a Western Union account for yourself and then transfer money online to that account and have sent to you. They will do this, but with some added security questions that will be involved.

So back to being robbed..

If you are ever faced with a situation and in a confrontation with thieves, my advise.

GIVE THEM EVERYTHING...

Your life is not worth a few hundred or worse a few thousand in cash.

Your life is not worth the cost of replacing your fancy I phone or Android phone.

Your life is not worth that very expensive camera you may be carrying that really you should have left at home and brought a cheapo version instead.

Countless time I have had to quietly tell tourists that have that expensive camera that dangles loosely on their shoulder to be more careful with it. That camera is probably worth more than most people make in a year.

Dress down... Hey they all know that you have money, a lot more money than they have... but the best way is not not flaunt that fact.
Don't try to make yourself look rich.
Dress simple, who are you trying to impress? Leave that fancy and expensive jewelry at home, unless of course you want to donate it to a gun or machete wielding fellow.

Travel safe, live simple and have fun.. and oh yes smile a lot.

And remember ... people get robbed in every country out there, not just in less developed countries...

How to make An Assassin... (The Book)

2016-04-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Analyst

Making of

The Assassin

How I conceived this story.

This story is very different than any other story I have ever written. It shares only one factor and that it is a fictional piece. I like to write action, adventure stories with a human element within them. So sometimes they could be classified as love stories. In other words I like to write about people that have love in their heart.

Most of my stories are period pieces that are written in another time than the one I live in. I tried Science fiction and while I love watching good sci-fi, writing it does not fit in with the way I imagine things to be, so you will not see any light sabers, or ray guns pointed your way, nor will we be beaming to some distant planet.

Ideas come from somewhere. Sometimes they are based on factual events, or some, well I just dream them up. In fact dreams do enter into my imaginative equation as I have dream scenarios that I then developed into stories.

The Analyst, well I have been kicking this idea around for many years.

It originally came about when the IRA started bombing London, England in the early 1970’s. Since this was pre-Internet, one would read about these horrific events in the newspapers or on television newscasts that innocent people where being killed by those with a cause. To the IRA they were heroes and to the British they were terrorists. It all is a matter of prospective. Today we have ISIS doing the same thing in London, in Paris, and in Brussels, yes anywhere they deem fit to cause pain, death and destruction. The action is the same, death and destruction.

That is when the What Ifs started.

What if there was an independent organization that would target terrorist leaders and those that carry out terrorist acts and just make them disappear. The purpose with that idea back then, was that such a counter-terrorist organization would spread fear with the groups committing terrorist acts.

So I had the seed and from that idea a story germinated.

The Analyst that I needed to write. So I did some research, no let’s change that,

I did a lot research, almost 18 months’ worth of research.

I had to personally learn about things that don't fit into my way of life at all. Things like guns. The weaponry that he was exposed to while in the military and then later on in life (all different and sometimes in subtle ways). Then things like explosives. Things like combat fighting and how to kill people, how he would do that. The way he preferred to carry out his missions.

His wife Penny is a totally different character and much needed to balance Jack's complex thinking.

Two daughters. Anne the perfect mom and just like her mother Penny, then Liz who was more like her dad than perhaps he wanted her to be. Then there is Anne's husband William, a police detective and with his curious mind, seeing that something in the way Jack presented himself did not quite add up.

Then I had to work within a time line. The story starts in 1944, just near the end of the 2^nd world war. My hero was not even born then, but the influences that would make him who he is now, needed to be explained.
So that is where it all begins, moving through his life, his growing up, his involvement in the Royal Marines, then the meeting with a woman that would become his wife, his family and so on.

As he is a complex character, I needed to have some conflict in his life. After-all he is actually like two men inside the persona of one man. He somehow keeps it all separate, all so secret. So I decided to introduce some tragedy into his scenario to see how he would handle change, loss and how he would he able to adapt to that.

I decided to make his background, his family life a little different. His father was German and his mother is English and they met during the second world war in what I felt was a very different way. All to be explained later.

It has all been written with an open end, yes room enough for a sequel (at least one).

The Analyst

A man with a secret: Leading a double life.

Coming soon to an eBook…

The Analyst, A man with a Secret: Leading a Double Life....

2016-04-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Analyst

Chapter One

The Company

part one...

Somewhere in every part of this world, in every country, in every city there is someone, some organization that sits above the law. They are corrupt beyond corruption. Some are terrorists in nature, allowing some misguided belief system to kill for their own objectives. They kill, they maim and cause pain to everyone they touch.

They are also seemingly unstoppable by any government level of law enforcement. They pay their way out of any situation they get themselves into. They eliminate witnesses that have the potential to put them out of business, they strike fear into anyone that tries to confront them. They control high level judges and government officials and that is something that they take in their ease, in their pocket. They bribe, blackmail and control. It is something we may expect in a third world or developing country, not in civilized nations.

What if in this world there was an organization that was capable of eradicating such situations, such people, and such organizations?

What if there was an organization also above the law that existed, but with a moral duty that was set into its standard of existence. The organization would or could not have any political or policing ties. Within the strategy of this organization would be a standard for decision. Each case would be individually investigated. Cost and danger factors would be investigated and taken into account. The organization would be internationally based. A vote would be taken on information available. If a target was deemed in the best interest of everyone to be eliminated, an operative would be sent out to take care of the problem. The hit would be silent, not publicized and certainly no responsibility would be declared about the assassination. It would be a clean, a silent and swift attack.

International Insurance & Fraud Corporation Inc. (I.I.G.F.)

New York, New York (Head Office)

Branch Offices Paris, France & London, England.

It was started sometime during the cold war. Started in a time when there seemed to be that need. Originally the company seemed to evolve as rogue operation in a little known department of the CIA. Deep in the bowels of some think tank it grew from ideas to ideals of operation. The Company was not just started from just ideas, ideas thrown about by madmen looking for reason, but by a small group, then a growing group of people from all over the civilized world and all fed up with compromise and corruption.

The formation of The Company did not happen overnight. It did not just happen. Happen just like that. Whether it was a supposition or a proposition of “what ifs” is not the point. The point is that it did happen. Sometimes stages developed through a well-timed thought out process, yes embattled with ideals. Other times such creation needed that head bashing struggle to see reason in all of what it could stand for. Never-the-less it happened. It exists. Now operating like some well-oiled machine for the termination of problematic concerns it works well within the confines of its own existence. Is it perfect? Nothing is perfect. Nothing is without struggle when that existence involves the taking of a life. Morals or religious beliefs aside what does is take and then recreate an unbalancing of a situation and make it better. Make it more balanced by bending the rule of existence through termination. Can it cause other problems to occur? Perhaps, but that is not the purpose that The Company represents.

It the U.S.A., The Company exists literally deep within the bowels of an insurance company, the (I.I.G.F.) who own the building which is situated in New York City. The Company has no street address, no mail address, no email, no IP address, and no organized open contact. But while it has total ambiguity it also is very real in a way needed.

Three stories beneath street level The Company lives. It is encased in fiber reinforced high performance resistant concrete and steel, a sub structure designed to soften both explosive blasts and impact of a falling building. Access can be gained through the use of three of the twelve elevators in the building.

Tied into electronic networks, it taps into communications and visual imagery within the building, the adjoining close circuit camera systems, and satellite telecommunications, as well as certain high level law enforcement allies.

I.I.G.F. holds offices on the third and twentieth floors accessed by one high speed dedicated elevator that also feeds The Company down below.

People that work for The Company and I.I.G.F., do so after rigorous screening and personality profiling. The operation being secretive in nature, full clearance is given on a need to operate basis, as to the total complexity of the operation. High end security clearance is limited to people that have had ties with other high level security forces.

Operatives are a field force. Operatives hold a dual role. In one they are field fraud investigator operatives. In the other role they eliminate threats working as highly trained assassins. Some operatives also work for I.I.G.F. in a real role analyzing data and detecting fraud. They are obliged to take field trips as part of their involvement for further investigations. This allows them to travel and investigate without suspicion and to carry out their other role as highly trained assassins.

One such Operative is Jack Stryker. Formally trained with the Royal Marines, 3 Commando Brigade with which he served in many highly sensitive missions, including a combat role during the Falklands war, he was decorated for bravery and rescue operations several times, he is dedicated to his position with both I.I.G.F. and The Company in both his roles completely.

He received further training at The Company, Field Operations Branch. Field Operation has no address. Here he was subjected to virtual reality physiological training, languages, strength testing, arms and weaponry, jungle fighting, high speed driving, advanced coding.

Jack is married to his wife Penny a school teacher. They both live on a small farm property just outside of Nutley, New Jersey. They have two daughters, one of whom is married to a Detective with the New York City Police department and together they also have a daughter, making Jack and his wife grand parents. Jack and Penny’s eldest daughter works for the CIA.

Jack is a much respected man with his family, his friends and in his community. Unbeknownst to everyone in his life, Jack is a Man with a secret: Leading a double life.

Jack is an assassin.

******

Jack’s cell phone was buzzing as it sat beside him on that passenger seat as he was driving home. He looked down at it and could see that Penny was calling him. He was particular about rules and safety, so he carefully slowed down and looked for a place to pull over. Most people would just answer the phone, but not Jack. Then he saw a parking spot and pulled over and put the car into park. She had left a message that she was going to be late getting home. “Okay” he said, “fine I guess it’s whatever’s in the fridge for me for supper.

Then as he was about to drive off, his phone rang again, it was The Company. “Darn” he said “what now.”

An encrypted message was texted to him.

“Darn it and I thought I was going to have a normal night off tonight.”

He opened his attache case and pulled out his small laptop computer and turned it on and then he logged in. The encrypted message was there as well and using an unlocking code he decoded the message. It instructed him that he was working tonight. Details would follow, but he was needed for a special job. “It’s always special” he said and lately I seem to be working more than others are.”

“Bet I am going out of town as well,” he thought. “I think I need to have a serious talk with these guys about losing a few hours or maybe even working on a casual basis.”

Jack was 55 and he felt that what he should be doing was less, a lot less. He was even thinking about retiring soon. He had worked for the company for a good many years and while he was still very good at what he did for them, there does come a time, when one needs to seriously think about retiring.

He waited and then another encrypted message appeared.

Destination: Mexico City.

Duration: two days.

Target: XXXXXXXX

Contact: Eduardo

It was always the same. The target was never known until almost immediately before he had to take action. The contact was always one name and someone he never really knew.

In the old days, he had been involved in planning and in a lot of the strategy, the time and place, the weapon even. Now he was just the trigger.

He had argued that of course that he should be allowed into more of what was happening. But that never worked and just fell on deaf ears. The planning now was done by someone else and it might be with a group of people who have never ever been in the field or seen any action at all. “Okay” he thought, just this one last time and then I make my case to them.

“Shit” he said, “I had better call Penny and let her know I am working late and I even have to go out of town, yes yet again.”

He called Penny but could not get through to her, so he left a standard message, explaining that he had to go out of town. He also told her that he was not happy with the arrangement, which was true. He closed by telling her how much he loved her and that he would make it up to her with something special.

He drove out to the airport, and to a large hanger, away from the main terminal where a private jet was waiting for him. “At least I don’t have to go regular fare” he thought.
Jack parked his car and left his keys in the car just case someone needed to move it. Everything he needed would be either on the plane or at his destination. That he never ever had to worry about.

“Eduardo” he thought, “I wonder what his real name is and I wonder what this is all about..?”

to be continued....

Weather and el niño

2016-03-06T13:43:00.001-08:00

el niño

Everyone, yes well maybe not everyone as some people already know, that whenever I speak with them about Guatemala, all they can think of is "heat."

Well that is true is has heat here.

But not exactly where I was.

By that I mean I was hardly ever in a tropical zone. I lived mostly in the western Highlands and at an elevation of 2330 metres or for you folk still not in metric that is 7600 feet.

Now back a few years ago when I lived for a time in the Canadian Rocky Mountains well yes those mountains are a lot higher than the mountains in Guatemala. In western Canada, Alberta and British Columbia I lived at an elevation of around 1460 metres and once again for the folk using standard measure, that's around 4600 feet. At the time well, I thought I was living at a high elevation.

In Guatemala there are two great major mountain chains and then three major geographical areas. There are also several sub-geographical areas The difference in elevation which can be drastic produces sharp contrasts in temperature and all in such a small country. I come from Canada and it is really big, so yes Guatemala is small compared to that. (heck every country but China is smaller than Canada).. But this blog is about Guatemala, not Canada. I should start that Canada blog soon.

Anyway back to temperature differences...
This link maybe explains than a lot better and in greater than I can.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Guatemala

All that aside, here where I always seem to end up, is warm during the day and yes cool at night.

Warm is being say, mid twenties Celsius and again for you folk still in that old way of measuring things, that is around 80 F during the day and yes sometimes it can get a lot cooler at night. I have seen frost in February (early mornings) which is darn cold, in Celsius or Fahrenheit.

So is it hot and sweaty in Guatemala?

Well Quetzaltenango (Xela) being at such a high elevation (remember) the air is dry and very comfortable during the day. But just about an hour or so west towards the Pacific Ocean, well it starts to get hot and sticky really fast. You can actually feel it happening the closer you get to the Pacific. And once there on the Pacific shores well, it is very hot and yes very sticky and a sweaty place to be.
There is such a major difference in temperature and humidity in such a short distance.

BUT

I have seen it rain, that is heavy rain, not just a shower in the dry season.

So what is happening?

Maybe as people are saying is is all because of

el niño

Global Warming

Well something is happening, because things are somewhat, a little different than when I first arrived down in Guatemala back in early 2010.

Who knows what that is...
But I somehow suspect that we (humans) are involved in this change of weather patterns...and that is not good at all.

Climate change happening here?

Well, that is a real concern because I came here to escape the winter...

I just hope it does not snow in Guatemala.

Guatemala and Canada

2016-02-24T14:15:00.003-08:00

Guatemala and Canada

When I first started writing this blog way back then it was to let people now what I liked about Guatemala and to maybe have them experience what I have experienced in Guatemala.

http://visitguatemala.com/en

I did that and and experienced a rush of people from all over the world wanting to know more about this enchanted country. Guatemala is a special place. It took my heart, it was my quest and thus my blog became heartquest.

Most people, the Guatemalans and sometimes people from the USA that I meet and experience here think I am an american. Well I am in the sense that,America is a continent (not a country as some people wrongly think) and I live on that continent.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/north-america/

The actual country on the continent of North America that I am live in, is called Canada. It's the big one just north of the USA.

http://www.rcgs.org/maps

We are actually the largest country after China on planet earth.... so here is a very BIG link...

https://www.google.com.gt/search?q=cartoon+map+of+canada&tbm=isch&imgil=rlj1bLweyYUvrM%253A%253BlBbKsDlV4TeHxM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.lahistoriaconmapas.com%25252Fatlas%25252Fcanada-maps%25252Fcartoon-map-of-canada.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=rlj1bLweyYUvrM%253A%252ClBbKsDlV4TeHxM%252C_&usg=__cs9hOX65ZLcAvXMQZTt_MHlzxCs%3D&biw=931&bih=446&ved=0ahUKEwi7hoX3rJHLAhUI1R4KHR3YBt8QyjcIOA&ei=gyHOVvu4IIiqe52wm_gN#imgrc=rlj1bLweyYUvrM%3A

That aside, our population is very small for such an expanse of land.

Some history...

Canada is what is called a constitutional monarchy. The top person in charge of the the country of Canada is voted in and that person is a Prime Minister (not a president), while yes Queen Elizabeth the Second is our head of state. A governor general represents the queen in parliament.

Etc bla bla bla...

Unlike the USA we have more than one party that can be elected and become the leading and ruling party of Canada. In the last election there where several parties wanting to be elected. We had the New Democratic Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. There where also smaller parties such as the the Green Party but in reality it was only three main ones that that had any chance of success.

The Liberal Party who's platform was change won the last election.

http://www.liberal.ca

In Canada the term of office for any party in charge is four years. But that party if it remains a favourite of the people can have as many successions of that four year term as possible. There is no limit in Canada like there is in the USA (two terms of four years) and Guatemala (one term of four years) so in Canada a party could in theory remain in power forever.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is our current leader of the Liberal Party in Canada. His platform was change and change to happen for the good of all Canadians.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/meet-justin-trudeau-canadas-liberal-boxing-strip-teasing-new-pm-n447636

In part of that change his cabinet has an equal number of men and women (a first ever) in it. Also for the first time two members of the first nation people are on his cabinet, giving them a strong visible representation.

We call the first people that settled here in Canada "first Nation people" not Indians. After-all
Indians come from India not from here... and the only Indians in Canada now well they immigrated to Canada from India, didn't they?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations

All of this makes me think that some of the people that wrote the history of the early days where not that educated... and the anyone that thinks the same way today, well ditto.

Meanwhile back to the main topic...

Canada through one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promises is allowing refugees from war torn Syria to be settled into Canada. He is doing that and many have already settled into a new life in Canada. From my prospective and from similar moves that happened in the past all these people will become solid deeply involved in the future of Canada.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/welcome/index.asp?wbdisable=true

Back once more to that main topic... Canada... ah I get distracted so easily.

Well... Canada has ten provinces.

And Canada also has three territories.

I, yes well I was not born in Canada. I was born in a small country in the United Kingdom called Wales.

http://www.thewalesmap.com/

The language of Wales is Welsh, not English, although English is spoken there as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language

In the country of Wales (Cymru), the language Welsh (Cymrieg) is now officially and a compulsory language in the school system. Where I was born in Wales (north Wales) you must speak that language Cymrieg in school and in business first and English as a second language.

http://cymraeg.llyw.cymru/splash?orig=/

So what happened next then?

Well what happened next was that after being in Wales for almost ten of my first years on planet earth.. well...

THEN

Everything changed...

http://www.lastoceanliners.com/

My father, my mother, my young brother and my sister.. and along with me, well we all got on a huge ocean liner and sailed across the North Atlantic, got a little seasick along the way and yes immigrating into Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQyrEzUsQ8E

It was a long journey and back then the only way to travel.

Foolishly I have done that twice since, crossing the North Atlantic Ocean, yes and getting seasick on a steam ship. The last time I crossed the north Atlantic Ocean we ended up on the tail end of a hurricane. I will never do that again, nor should anyone else, unless you like hurricanes at sea.

HOG TOWN (Toronto)

http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/10/how_toronto_got_the_nickname_hogtown/

My family all settled in Ontario (one of the ten provinces of Canada) and are still there. My father was a minister of the church and had found a Welsh United church in Toronto that needed a Welsh speaking minister. He was set up pretty good there and had a very good life in Toronto. The church is still there and is called Dewi Sant Welsh United Church and is the only Welsh church in Canada. http://www.dewisant.com/

I grew up in Ontario, namely the city of Toronto...
http://www.toronto.com/

THEN

Then well I had itchy feet for travel it seemed and thus I did and traveled and lived and worked in five of the ten provinces and one of the three territories. So while I am not an expert, I do know and understand a great deal about Canada.

The ten provinces are (from east to west)...

Newfoundland; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Ontario. Manitoba; Saskatchewan; Alberta; and British Columbia.

http://lizardpoint.com/geography/canada-quiz.php

The three territories are Northwest Territories; Nunavut; Yukon. In 1999 a part o the Northwest Territories was separated to form Nunavut.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/province/nwtz.htm

I have worked and lived in Quebec (a summer); Ontario (many years, growing up there); Manitoba (a winter..brrr); Alberta (several years) and presently I call British Columbia home.

I also lived in Yukon one of the three territories. Yukon is known as the land of the midnight sun and for part of the summer the sun never sets in the far north of Yukon anyway. Then of course for part of the winter the sun never rises.

http://www.travelyukon.com/Explore/Midnight-Sun

I live now on the west coast of British Columbia on an island called Vancouver Island. It is about a three hour ferry ride, or a twenty minute float plane flying experience, to the city of Vancouver.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g154935-d4782219-i136466913-
Harbourfront_Walkway-Nanaimo_Vancouver_Island_British_Columbia.html

http://www.explorevancouverisland.com/travel_map_vancouver_island_bc_canada.htm

I have been down into Guatemala five times (and my espanol should be better). My problem is that I write in English and a lot. I write a blog, well more than one, but one is the main blog.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/396598310907603439/

I have also written some stories, books even. I wrote a screenplay (Clowns) and then wrote the treatment for it with the intent of selling it. But if I can have my way (hope, hope) I would like to produce that myself.

I also wore a musical based on some Latin music. It was originally written for the Tango, but then I changed it for the Salsa. I also wrote two other stories, both period pieces, one set in 18th century North America and the other set in 11th century Wales.

I also have the background and story-line for something called Back Stabbers a project that I am also working on which is partly based on true events.
.
My main fictional work that I am presently toiling on is an action, adventure,romance story which is nearing completion. I will publish that one first, most likely within the next few months

http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/canadian_money.html?mediapopup=555161

Living in Canada on a Canadian pension is impossible without working at least part time somewhere. I do that when I am there in Canada or I work seasonally sometimes.

I can though live very well in Guatemala on my pension even with the weaker Canadian dollar.

The problem with that is that when one gets older, we like to be closer to family and they are all in Ontario, Canada aren't they? Another move coming?

In the meantime, writing stories is my outlet, is my part-time work, possible my seasonal work as well and is my way of subsidizing my pension monies.

It works.
so off to work, I have much to accomplish...

Back Stabbers

2016-02-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

TRUTH...

I believe that truth will set is all free.

Let me tell you a little story.
I live in Canada and from time to time, a lot it seems, I travel down to Guatemala and when there I help people in whatever way I can.

That could be helping with money, with giving someone a bed when they have no place to sleep, giving someone a better chance at a new life by putting someone through school.

It could also mean helping with something as simple as fixing their shower, doing some electrical work, teaching someone to drive, helping out with housing construction projects, helping out with ideas and new ways to do things.

It works.

It works because the people I help well they become better off from my actions and it is better for me, because it makes me feel really great.

Whenever I live in Guatemala, I seem to collect things. Things being furniture, kitchen equipment, appliances, tools (to fix and help people with).

Some of these things I use to make my life easier and others things, I use to repair things and other things I have to be able I to give away to people that needs these things.

I am not a rich man and I live on a pension when in Guatemala.

I cannot afford to keep getting new things every-time I am in Guatemala, so then I was offered a free place to keep everything I had collected.

This was from some people I had met and they where from Texas. They where running a parking lot in Guatemala, which is another story altogether.

At the time I was very happy to accept their very kind offer.

BUT

At the time I did not know about their illegal activities.

But what I found out later was pretty horrible as they where involved in some despicable things that involved

drugs

alcohol

human trafficking
(The latter I feel is a rumour... but knowing them now it could be true).

But as I said, at the time all I knew is that they had a place that was being offered to me and it was (free) to store my things in, for as long as I wanted.
I suppose looking back I should looked closer at what they where really doing.

Then something terrible happened.

When I arrived back in Guatemala, they had either given away or thrown out all my belonging.

It wasn't a lot as far as money goes, maybe 20,000 Quetzals or about $4000 CAD, but it was things I needed to assist me in helping people.

The only explanation I got was that I had bad mouthed them to strangers.

This is of course was totally untrue.

Why on earth would I ever do that?

I was in the business of helping not hurting people. I knew that for some reason, someone I knew or knew them had.... Back Stabbed me.

So can I forgive them for their misguided actions?

To be truthful, I am having a difficult time doing that, but I am trying.

When it first happened, I felt like giving them a taste of their own medicine but I am not a person that is violent or into vengeance.

But then I thought that something needs to happen.

So I have decided to tell the truth, the whole truth and allow everyone reading these words to be the judge.

I will not do it here, this blog is not the place for that kind of activity.

So I have decided to put together a book that I will publish online, an eBook. Proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards helping people.

I call the book Back Stabbers.

The Analyst, A man with a Secret: Leading a double life

2016-01-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

The Analyst

A Man with a Secret: Leading a Double Life.

The story is based on a premise, a scenario of "what ifs."

It seems whenever we look at the news on-line or in the newspapers there are people out there and all they do is create havoc and pain for everyone else.
Above the law they are in control of:

drugs
prostitution
gambling
human trafficking
child porn
money laundering
terrorism
organised crime

They have their causes, bend the rules to suit their needs, misinterpret values and religious ideologues to suit their own goals that have little to do with reality.
They are above the law it seems.

They know how to use the systems to their advantage, buy off witnesses, bribe officials, make people disappear... they are above the law and it seems untouchable. They even get away with murder, yes literally.

"What if" there was as organisation out there that would take care of these people, these organisations and the undesirables that control them.

"What if" this organisation operated separately from other law enforcement groups, and operated without bias and yes in total secrecy and above the law.

No fancy announcements when the "bad guys" are taken care of.

They would just disappear, without any fanfare, or proclamations of "we did it" and they would just be gone.
Just a silent disappearance, never be seen or heard of ever again.

"What if"my story was about one of the operatives that works for such an organisation.

The organisation is simply called The Company with no real street address, no phone or fax numbers, no Internet IP addresses and for all practicality it only exits in thought, in ideas.

The Company is totally autonomous and needs to be, to operate effectively.

The Company operates under the guise of another organisation that investigates highly level fraud in and with travel it allows its operatives (assassins) to travel freely anywhere in the world without suspicion.

So our hero, the operative (the protagonist) lives a dual life.

On one hand he is a well liked man with a loving wife, two daughters, yes even a grand daughter, has a great job, and is well known and liked in his community.

But in his other life he is a well trained and highly skilled assassin.

His background:

Born in England he immigrated to Canada with his mother after his elderly father dies. He attends schooling (university) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

He later goes back to England and joins the Royal Marines (dual citizenship) working with 3 Commando Brigade. The missions are highly secretive. During this time he also works on occasion along side of other commando units such as Navy Seals on joint operations.

Returning after several years he is recruited by The Company and receives further intensive and specialized training.

The Company is hidden beneath the confines of an insurance
company.

International Insurance & Global Fraud Inc.
New York, New York (headquarters)
Paris, France (branch office)
London England (branch office)

Our hero lives in a small town just outside of Newark, New Jersey, USA with his wife, who is totally unaware of his real work.

Interested? Want to read more....

The Analyst

A Man with a Secret: Leading a double life.

COMING SOON ... to an eBook near you..... free for early orders....

Magical Christmas moments

2015-12-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

Pushing through the clutter of my memories, I can still clearly see precious moments in time and yes remembered here. My father was a church minister and back then, no one doing that kind of work had any spare money. There was also no real security in the profession really and as God was more concerned with capturing new souls, well dad was not going to get any help there.

He used to build us toys for Christmas. Now in a childs idea of reality what he built back then and the imagination created was pretty well very much right on par. He somehow was able to capture what we needed and I have no idea how he did that. Then with whatever he could scrounge, beg and borrow he was able to create such magic.

There was that small steam engine train he built out of mostly discarded tin cans, to the fret cut wood donkey and cart and yes I just cannot ever forget the toy fort with its sliding front entrance way corner turrets and raised walkway for soldiers to guard the treasures within. Years later, after I had exhausted my imagination he rebuilt that same fort for my younger brother. He was in reality creating for us what he missed himself in the bare existence he experienced as a child.

What causes someone to do that?

Love of course was there, but beyond that I believe he also just needed to play himself. So through labour heavy intent he created such mystery captured with each evening in the emotions that happened and in total top secrecy.

How can you keep secrets from children?

We always knew he was up to something but finding that before Christmas would have spoiled not only the magic that was somehow happening, but would have thrust us away from that time a child needs to develop their imagination.

Whatever happened it changed me. It changed me in the way I developed into a man. My imagination is as wild as ever now and sometimes it still interferes with my normal life. That all equates to the fact that I in some ways I never really grew upand that I am still there playing with that fort. No big deal really and yes God still can't find time to save me from that.

So thanks dad for the toy train, the donkey and cart and yes that wonderful fort and for instilling in me through what you did, such incredible memories and that understanding that in some ways being a child is not really all that bad.

Season Greetings everyone and try to keep a little of that child alive in you this special time...

So if you will excuse me now, I have to play.

Guatemala, I traveled light, hey why not come down and join me ?

2015-11-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my wonderful readers.
I cannot believe the amount of readers I have and yes from all parts of this shrinking world.

After a long trip.... I space it out, I have arrived in Xela, Guatemala.

Hello as you know my name is Gavin.

But I am also known as Gavino... or Gabino as some locals in Guatemala call me.

Jokingly I am also called Gabino Herrera after the late Mexican revolutionary, which incidentally many B-western movies that where made in Mexico have featured. Gabino Herrera was a revolutionary during the Spanish mexican civil war and womanizer I am told, having had several wives in his colourful past.

Now just because I have had several wives (actually three), wow...those rumours, well he bares little resemblance to me and my lifestyle.

I am not a revolutionary in any aspect of the word, choosing a more solemn life style. I would always fight with the pen and not the sword.

Yes, I have expressed political views from time to time and yes I even did that here and in this blog. But the real purpose of the blog is not for political demonstration or even financial gain. It is solely to inform you the reader what traveling to and staying in or even living in this beautiful country of Guatemala can be like.

Anyway I am here once again. This is my fifth trip to Guatemala and should last a duration of six months tops. The reasons are many.

While living on Vancouver Island seems idyllic to most people with its mediterranean climate, it is that dampness I am experiencing now that is painfully aching to my older bones. Injuries of the past haunt me in this damp sea climate, so I have decided to wait out the winter out in Guatemala. Daytime temperatures where I will be staying will hover in the mid twenties celsius (the eighties in Fahrenheit).

I have also spent the past year and a half writing a book of fiction about a man who leads a double life. He is a nice family man and well respected on one hand but also a very secretive side to himself on the other hand. He is an assassin. The story takes place in England, Canada, the USA and in Guatemala. Being here now in Guatemala I will be able to do further research in certain parts of this country.
To make any fictional story believable one has to have facts that are correct. This process makes the characters in the story appear real.

While the present ailing Canadian dollar makes living in Guatemala a little more expensive now, it is still very affordable, certainly well within my means and perhaps yours. Perhaps with our new prime minister, the economy will improve in Canada.

As I have mentioned in other blog entries, one can live very well, yes very reasonable in Guatemala on less than $500 dollars a month. This is still very true and this amount includes accommodation, food, travel and of course some fun. Yes for $500.00 you are living upper middle class in Guatemala. The one thing you will not have is a vehicle, but since public transportation is so inexpensive, why would you need a vehicle of your own?

The costs I offer here are the ones you would experience in Quetzaltenango. Costs can vary in different parts of Guatemala, of course just like it can in different parts of the USA, or Canada or in other parts of the world. Soon my plans are to check out the lake as it is known. The lake refers to lago Atitlan and is about an hour and a half away by chicken bus. Parts of Lago Atitlan offer a cheaper way of life and a little warmer with lower elevations (1800 metres).
Not certain what centre In shall live in while at the lake... but I will et you know when I arrive.

Most of my journies to Guatemala have me staying in Quetzaltenango or as the locals call it Xela.

Xela is a derivative of the k'iche Mayan word Xelaju.
The actual wording is Xelaju noj, which translates to "below ten spiritual leaders." The city is surrounded by ten mountains, thus the spiritual leaders. There is one active volcano called Santiaguito also called the angry baby as it spits and fumes from time to time. It sits directly behind volcan Santa Maria. Santa Maria has been mostly dormant since 1902, when a huge eruption levelled the city of Xela.

Xela with a population of approximately 250,000 people it is the second largest city after the capitol in Guatemala. A good fifty percent are indigenous.

It is also termed the "Cradle of Culture" because of its many (10) universities and several more (30) trade schools. Also within Xela are about thirty Spanish language schools and now some English language schools.

I originally chose to travel to Xela back in 2010, because of the large indigenous population and for the fact that the people do not cater to English speaking tourists.

Learn some Spanish or stay confused and disconnected.

I also really like the elevation 2330 metres (7600 feet), which gives you warm sunny days, cool nights and yes no bugs. So (for me) perfect.

Yes I am going to be in Guatemala for several reasons. Since I am there and a part of my journey will be to examine where the main character of that book I mentioned I am writing about, and his experiences in Guatemala.

His name is Jack and he spends time in Panajachel (Pana) on lago Atitlan which is about an hour and a half away by an exciting chicken bus ride away from Xela. So yes I shall also spend a quantitative part of my time in and around Pana and take lots of pictures while there that I will upload here to this blog.

I also want to travel if time allows to El Mirador an architectural pre-columbian structure north of the El Peten area in northern Guatemala, Lastly I want to visit parts of Quiche.

On my first trip to Guatemala in 2010 I met and discussed a project with some local professional business people in Xela. This is a project that would provide housing for people with no land or hope. While there are several organizations and groups that help people with building housing, the majority require that the people have free-hold land. This is usually to secure a bank loan to purchase building materials.

Along with some professional business people I personally know in Guatemala, I would like to help those with no land and no hope of ever having help. Who will help them? We want to.

We want to get this going, at least started. It will include the possible startup of an NGO to operate, plan and gain the funds they will need. As an NGO (non-government organization) has to consist of at least seven Guatemalans, so I will take a back seat to this group. It also needs a fixed address.

Then there is that needed dental work, um yes. Yes we all really do not like that dental experience. Mine is softened with a huge difference in costs.

Did I mention that the cost of dental work is one tenth the cost of what it is in Canada... 1/10 the cost, imagine that!! ... with the same procedures and well trained dentist and surgeons.... That sure works for me.

So if you need some dental work done, contact me as I can set you up with great professional dental services and along with that show you how to have a great holiday at a fraction of the costs of anywhere else.

It is going to be a busy and exciting time...

I traveled light, so hey why not come down and join me?

Biting pests

2015-07-22T15:31:00.002-07:00

Bed Bugs and Fleas have one purpose and that is to bite and drain you of your blood.

Yuck eh!!!

They look sort of similar, but there are differences.
They are both very very small, more tiny than small.
They both bite you.
Like all critters of the biting ilk, they both will bite you to provide for their eggs and new young critters they produce to bite you more...

Surprisingly most people that think they have been bitten by Bed Bugs have actually been bitten by Fleas. Meaning bed bugs have had a bad rap to some extent. Never-the-less they, both the Bed Bug and the Flea create a bad itchy experience for you. The itching is caused by the anticoagulant they put into you to prevent you from bleeding...

Bed bugs like fleas are attracted to body heat and carbon dioxide (that part of our breath air we breathe out). We are a natural feeding place for both of them. But Bed Bugs and Fleas both attack us in very different ways.

Okay to begin, Bed bugs do not live in beds, period!! The will live near the host. They will live under the bed, in the cracks in walls, in electrical wall sockets or anywhere hidden, but not usually in the bed with you..

They are nocturnal and are incredible so tiny that they are very difficult to see. Then sometime before daylight about usually about two hours or actually just before it gets light they climb the walls to the ceilings above you and drop towards you. No parachute needed it's just a free-fall to their waiting feast (yes you).

They work their way into you, past blankets and night wear to reach their target and your skin, and then they gorge on your blood.

Fleas are not climbers at all, but jumpers and can easily jump from the floor onto your bed and you.
Once there they too work their way through blankets and bed clothes to their target and your skin to gorge on your blood.
Nice eh!

So how do you know here as to whether you have been bitten by bedbugs or fleas. That is if you want to know.

Bed bugs bite in a loosely straight line pattern, while fleas have no pattern at all and will bite you all over the place.

When I have been told by people that they have been bitten by bed bugs, I always ask about that pattern. Most people just say "I have a bite and it must be a bed bug bite.

"Um really,"is my answer.

Well for one thing both Bed Bugs and Fleas just don't ever bite you once. You will be bitten at least 6 to 8 times by one bed bug or flea, and never just once. So if it is just one bite, it is most likely that you have been bitten by something else. Maybe a spider.

Bed bugs are everywhere and will travel with you wherever you travel to.

People think that Bed Bugs live in dirty places and associate bed bugs with low class housing or yes less developed countries.

NOT TRUE...

In both the USA and Canada it is well known that bed bugs hide out in movie houses and you can get bitten there. They have also been found in all sorts of high rise building and fancy hotels even.

There are all sorts of products and remedies for getting rid of Bedbugs or Fleas.

Coming up next:
How to prevent Bedbug and Flea bites.

Te amo Guatemala muchas

2015-05-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Love

Love comes in many patterns, colours, ideals, strengths...
interests even.

I love you...

How many times have you said that?
How many times have you heard it said to you?

I love your smile.
I love your attitude.
I love your clothes, your fragrance, your views on life, your interests...and..and so much more.

So much love...

So
I love the people of Guatemala.

Why?
Why you may ask?

Hmm yes why indeed?
I just do.. but that is not an explanation or a complete thought.. not a feeling.. even, is it?

That is just me writing that down here words that say nothing really, for you (my ever growing readership) words to read..

yes just me saying that.

So what and why do I love these people? What do I love about this land?

There is poverty and death associated with that... I do not love that.

To qualify what I am writing, I suppose I have to examine
"what is love to me."

Well compared to my complex world, I am attracted to and yes love the simplicity amongst the people in Guatemala.

They live a basic life.
They are poor, some well below the poverty level.

The first time I traveled to Guatemala, it was early, well actually is was in February of 2010.

I remember clearly the happy smiles, content with who they are, they live a simple life.

I remember the different boats on Lago Atitlan.

It is that very simplistic comparison of acceptance, being able to smile about it, that has grabbed my attention of these people. I see through and with them, the love they have.

The love they openly give and share.
They will openly accept you (better if you have some espanol).

It is a different country to live in. But if you can accept the shortcomings, accept a simple life in Guatemala, you will have a wonderful experience.

I remember friends made

Not everything works in Guatemala as it does in more developed countries.

I used to shake my head at what I saw in how things worked.
The plumbing for instance, or the electrical wiring. Both scared me at first but also made me think in awe of how they made things work. So for just the ways things are done and for all its (to my thinking) shortcomings.. well it works here and it works really very well.

I also love the loud lavish garish colours, that innocent brashness of loudness and wild contrasts, the excitement of life.

Loud music? Is there any other kind? Loud music is everywhere. When people don't seem to listen, the answer to that is simple. Just turn the volume up.

I love the way they depicted history.

I love the smiles and happy faces.
I love the children with their beautiful eyes.
I love their innocence.

I love the cerveza (beer) here and yes the scotch that I buy for one half the price of the same thing in Canada.

I love the fact that my rent is extremely cheap and that I can rent a (simple) house for around a $100.00 a month.

I love that I am close to the centre of the city of Xela.

I love the fact that there are three street markets all within walking distance and that I can buy fresh vegetable and fruits and meat all so very close to me...

I love the fact that Xela (unlike other centres such as Antigua) does not cater to English speaking tourists or travelers.

I love the fact that even though Monsanto exists here, most farmers cannot afford their pesticides. So I love the fact that most the I buy is more natural.

I love the simplicity of life here.

I also love how easily it is to help people here. I do that through this blog and in other ways.

Yes,
I love Guatemala.

PS...
I love my readers and the fun you allow me to have, writing this blog for you.

Guatemala...will you travel First Class? Yikes!!

2015-04-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

Traveling to Guatemala or on any other multi-plane flight program you need to be comfortable. If you are like me and cannot afford to fly first class, you need to make the most of that crammed in area at the back of the plane.

Note Here...
I did fly first class once and not because my budget allowed that (my book sales hit a high point), but because my seat was needed in the back of the plane to keep a family together. Who was I to keep a family apart and so I obligingly agreed to suffer the extra roomy seats and excellent service that first class does offer.

Would I squander extra cash for that kind of treatment if I could afford it (more book sales please) ? The answer is an unequivocally and an resounding yes, of course I would.

Anyway getting back to the basics of travel here.
I usually wear comfortable clothing. There is a contradiction of
argument here. Because if weight allowances are that issue, one always wears the heavier clothing just to save on weight stored below. Never the less why travel with any clothing that is not comfortable to travel with?

Footwear.
Sandals have low heals and slide off easier. This can also be easier if you have to remove your shoes as you must when going through some airport security check points.

Warmth.
I also take along with me a light weight fleece sweater. It can get cold on some flights and blankets are sometimes not available for everyone. First class get better ones.

But aside from comfortable clothes, there are three items I will not fly without.

1/ An inflatable neck pillow.
I choose the inflatable variety of neck pillow because when you no longer need it, you let the air out and neatly fold and pack it away out of site. Inflatable neck pillows take very little space when not in use you are not encumbered with this huge stuffed half ring. You already probably have enough to carry and worry about, without that as well.

2/ Ear plugs.
Whether they are the ones that are tied together with a plastic string or just plain foam plugs these little things are worth their weight in gold to help block out all the noise.

3/ An eye mask.
I never ever thought I would ever be seen anywhere wearing an eye mask, but now I am a complete convert. It allows you to control your surroundings and block out all that glaring light.

Where to sit?
An isle seat will get you a few centimeters of extra room. But you will be constantly bothered by people wanting to visit the washroom.

The window seat is smaller (the curved plane wall remember) is sometimes cooler because of the window and for you to get to the washroom you will have to disturb people.

The dreaded middle seat. Sitting in the middle you must be assertive. By that I mean claim both arm rest as yours or you will have none and be jostled and squished and bothered and you will have nothing to lean on.

Since in all my many many flights I still get a real kick out of take offs and landings (in that order) and I also do not wish to be bothered by anyone, my seat of choice (first class not counting) is the window seat. Here I can still feel the thrill of take off and landings and in between hide with my fleece jacket to keep me warm, my inflatable pillow, ear plugs and wonderful eye mask.
Shucks, now I just want to fly again and yes soon...

Um I wonder if I can do that first class again?

SEX & LOVE & MARRIAGE

2015-04-08T15:05:00.001-07:00

SEX & LOVE & MARRIAGE

All of this happens pretty much the same as it does elsewhere in the world.

There is always that old stereotype thinking (for example) that if a man marries a woman in Guatemala, well you marry the family.

Well in some cases this is very true and only because of the tight and close ties a family has for its members. The concept of family is perhaps considered more sacred in Guatemala than in more developed countries. Part of this has to do with the strong religious connection the people have especially with indigenous people.

The Roman Catholic Church has always had a strong presence with prevailing family beliefs. But this influence is now being under mined from an ever continuance of the growth from the evangelical sector. Saying all of that primarily the Maya people of Guatemala have always had a strong spiritual connection and it is not uncommon to see them worship the many archaeological monuments with their own form of religious and spiritual beliefs.

Okay let’s get back to Sex and Love and Marriage or the birds and the bees of attraction and what that can lead to.

If you are going to get lucky in Guatemala (man or woman) you need two things, well let’s make that number actually three things. You need the language, or some of it. You need to be able to dance (the salsa). You need to be available.

This happens very differently for men and very differently for women.

Part of that difference is again is within the culture. The machismo effect is in full swing in Guatemala. Men control that meeting arrangement (or think they do) and women are stubborn (they are). So in all, it becomes a perfect balance.

It is not uncommon to see young Guatemalan males with girlfriends usually (blond and white skinned) happily walking about arm in arm. More and more are seen with European and North America men. Most of these women are either close to the mans age or well are yes older than the guy is. While this behavour does not happen very much in the reverse, it does happen.

I was once chatting with this Mayan family. They told me that they had only three children, one a boy and two girls. The norm is that most people have several up to ten children.
The father had retired and no longer needed work. In the hierarchy of the Maya people, he was able through money or connections to live an easier life. His wife was admiring my hat. Jokingly she even offered me the daughter that was standing beside me for my hat. In actuality if I was considered a good man and that they could see I had money. having a very young wife is very possible.

The age difference of couples where the man is of European or North American origin and a Guatemalan woman is a lot younger is more pronounced. Some women are half or less the age of a man.

Guatemalan women seem to get more serious the older they get, or is that because they are more desperate. If you can believe this, but many are still virgins well into their thirties. In fact it is their belief that if you do not have a fiance or husband by the time you reach thirty, no one will ever want you. If you are an unmarried woman with a child, it is almost a certainty that no man will ever want or touch you.
Even though a woman in her thirties is considered a prime age in Europe or North America.

Some Guatemalan woman that have the money or the means to go to university, do so for one purpose. They are searching for a promising partner for marriage. A partner that has good family connections, money and a future career that will provide her with an easy life.

Sex......
Sex, oh yes sex.... well of course that can be easily had, for a man by just visiting a brothel.

Brothels are legal in Guatemala. They are heavily guarded and fortified buildings.

From the outside none of these brothels, can be distinguishable from any other building, except for the armed guard(s) with their automatic rifle or shotgun standing by the entrance doorway. Don't even think for one moment that the guard has that gun for show. He will use it.

Inside everything is different. Inside these places they look like any nightclub. Drinks are more expensive, of course.

The customers are (mostly) men. Some men for whatever
reason will bring a woman to a brothel. My imagination runs wild and over time as to why?

There is a heavy presence of armed guards. Some brothels have a centre stage, or a stage at the end of a large room. The girls take their turn dancing like in any strip club. Girls in these clubs are usually not from Guatemala but neighbouring countries like either Honduras or El Salvador.

The scantily clad girls will linger about the club. Some will be sitting in a row of chairs within arms reach of you, but a strong warning here, do not touch any of them.

The girls will try to catch your attention looking at you. So if you are interested, the next step is that you can take any you like and invite her to a small table away from everyone else.

At this point practicing espanol is really not necessary.
Here you will buy them an expensive drink that might be watered down. Beyond the small talk and yes the next step, is to go to a small room with a bed in it for sex with her.

Twenty minutes will cost you about $15.00. An hour will run you three times that. What you do in there is up to you, just do not harm a girl or one of those tough looking heavily armed guards will get you taken care of

What does getting you taken care of mean?
Um well....it could be a beating or it could mean getting you shot or killed. No one will help you, not even the police.

It is certainly very easy in Guatemala to have someone taken care of and this practice is not uncommon in any country that is poor. Corruption is everywhere, but that corruption is out in the open. Corruption in developed countries happens just the same way but it is hidden.

Yet in all my time in Guatemala I find it a safe country to visit, to learn some Spanish in, to travel in and yes to live in.

So for sex, love and marriage...
Mi Gusta Guatemala.

DENTAL great and INEXPENSIVE !!!

2014-12-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Dental Tourism

So what exactly is Dental Tourism?

Dental Tourism is basically traveling to another country and having your dental procedures done and yes being able to afford having a free luxury holiday to pamper you in the process.

Many years ago I was told by my dentist... ..

"Go to Mexico, you can't afford me."

He was right of course, I couldn't afford him.
I couldn't afford him because as a retired Canadian gentleman, that lived on a fixed income, I just plain did not have the added cash needed to fix my teeth in Canada.

Hello I would like to introduce you to the many benefits of getting all your dental work done at incredible savings in Guatemala and yes also having that dream holiday.

Today in Canada if you do not have a good dental plan, well the cost of getting your teeth fixed or having an improved look (cosmetic surgery) well the costs are out of this world. Prohibitive for a lot of people.

Let me tell you a story (it won't be be too long).

Well a couple of years ago I was in Guatemala learning some Spanish. I went there to Guatemala to learn Spanish because it is a lot cheaper and yes a lot easier to learn Spanish in Guatemala than in any other Latin American country. Believe me I checked every other country in Central America and even in Mexico which is part of North America.

I was at the time staying in a city called Quetzaltenango or Xela (shay-la) as the locals call it. Xela is located in the western highlands. Situated at an elevation of 2330 metres (7600 ft) well it is high enough that most bugs cannot exist. The weather there is probable the most perfect anywhere in the world. High elevation means no humidity just nice dry air.

Then one day I had this horrible excruciating pain in my mouth... didn't I?"

I needed a dentist and I needed a dentist fast, didn't I?

Getting remedies to fix pain is easy. You just visit a local pharmacy and tell them what you want (in Spanish) and you can get all sorts of painkillers and anti-inflammatory pills.

But of course that is just a quick fix and I needed to know what was wrong and what could be done to fix it properly.

What I did not know at the time is that I needed a root canal done. Canada was way too far away to fly back for that and Canada was also far too expensive for me to afford that in Canada anyway.

So what could I do? What did I do?

Well I painfully, that toothache remember, searched the city I was staying in for a dentist. Yes, found an excellent dental service and close to where I lived right in Xela.

Now comes that part that shocked me.

Cost of the consultation - $18.00 and that included x rays.

Cost of the root canal - $ 100.00
(and he brought in a specialist to do the root itself).

I was first Xrayed with the results happening digitally right there on a laptop for me to see right before my eyes. It was explained to me in detail (the dentist spoke perfect English) what was going to happen next.

He first gave me a series of strong antibiotics to get the inflammation down and lessen the pain. Arrangements were made for me to visit in a few days. The total time for the whole procedure just took two visits and a final one later to check if everything was alright .

During this period of time when I was having the dental work done, I was in contact with a friend of mine in Canada. My friend wanted to know much implants and a new set of dentures would be for her.

Get this unbelievable amount...yes...

Cost of four implants and an appliance $2700.00

Can you believe that, amazing eh!!! It would cost at the minimum ten times that amount in Canada or in the USA. At least $25,000.

This is all done with state of the art equipment and materials and procedures.

Most dentists that practice in Guatemala take local training in Guatemala which is excellent apparently and then additional training in either Mexico, Cuba or The United States. So the very best dentists in Guatemala are all really well trained.

So the reason I am sharing this with you is that I want you to experience what Guatemala can offer you. Inexpensive dental procedures. Beautiful exotic scenery and a kind and loving people.

First off let's get show a few facts. Guatemala is safe. They had a civil war here yes, instigated and perpetuated by the CIA and the government of the USA, but that all ended in 1996. So travel to Guatemala and in Guatemala is just as safe there as anywhere else.

The facts speak for themselves as there is more crime in the city of Los Angeles in the USA than in all of Mexico and Guatemala put together. And does anyone say do not go to Los Angeles as it is not safe there? No never!

Guatemala is truly amazing. And I want you to experience the best and most incredible savings you can ever have, by choosing a fully trained dental surgeon in Guatemala.

I have been traveling to Guatemala several times now, so know my way around. While I should be fluent in speaking espanol, I am not... but yes I do speak enough to get buy with, to ask directions, to book a room, to move about easily... a little bit of helps a lot. More importantly though what I have and can also offer you are some really great, reliable contacts in transportation and accommodation and in excellent dental clinics in Guatemala.

What I can offer you is the chance for you to save thousands of dollars ($$$) while getting your smile back and your teeth done with professionally trained dentists, and in the process having a nice place to live, where to eat and to play and so much more for you to experience. Xela while cool at night is (great for sleeping) and has a wonderfully warm temperature during the day.

I want you to share with you all the fantastic cost savings for you...

Have you save money ($$$).

Getting dental work done in Guatemala could never be easier.

Imagine getting needed dental procedures or cosmetic work done at a fraction of the cost of what is would cost in Canada or the USA.

Yes that's right.
In Guatemala the cost of dental work is 10 % of the comparable cost in Canada or the USA.

I do not know about you (the reader) but I never want to spend my years looking like someone who cannot afford dental work done.

I do not want to walk about with a sagging and gaping smile... with huge spaces or worse still with no teeth at all in my mouth.
I enjoy eating too much... so no teeth would be a yuck (gummy) situation!

******************************

Dental Tourism

Lets just imagine you need some dental work done on your teeth.

For argument sake lets say the cost in Canada or the United States is going to be $40,000.00.

Well that same cost, for the same work done, for the same qualified dentists and the same appliances is going to be a mere, yes just 10 percent of that same quality work and yes only $4,000.00. A huge difference of $36,000 dollar saving for you.

I bet you can have a great holiday anywhere for a lot less than the saving of $36,000.

****************

So just Imagine

The return flight from anywhere in Canada or the USA to Guatemala city...
All ground transportation while in Guatemala..
All your accommodation...
Great food and dining out... (after your teeth are fixed)
Being pampered and having fun ...
Plus a few days holiday in one of the many towns that surround Lago Atitlan...
A must visit to the beautiful city of Antigua...

All for Free

Yes that's basically right as all of this is basically free when you consider the cost difference in savings of having your teeth fixed for so very little...

$40,000 minus $4000, minus the trip costs (approx $3000 to $4000).

What a saving... and I can help you get that.
Yes and I can help you save thousand of $$$.

What are you waiting for?
Lets get that smile back.

Want to know more contact me....<gavjonessm@gmail.com>

Alcoholism

2014-09-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

Alcoholism is a disease that not only affects those with the craving to drink alcohol, but everyone an alcoholic touches. It is rampant here with violence and abuse of women and children, taking its toil on the innocent.

Then you have that tourist alcoholic or those that choose to live here on a more permanent basis.

For most people from the United States or Canada or Europe, Guatemala is an inexpensive place to be an alcoholic. You can drink till your liver sings and swells and eats away at you.. You can drink cheaply till it kills you.

Depression another disease is what feeds the alcoholic. A poor local man with perhaps too many children, or no work, or possibilities and starvation in his family will hide the effects of his life in drink. If he cannot afford alcohol, gasoline or sniffing glue will suffice. His intolerance places blame on everyone but himself, the result are battered women, sheltered in secret places.

The perpetual alcoholic tourist, continues his/her eroding journey coupled with 90 day border rides to get another visa stamp and 90 more days of cheap alcoholism. They live from bottle to bottle. Lost souls from lost generations of life, forgetting some past, or pain, or family in their wake.

Alcoholism kills everyone not brave enough to face the truth.

Travel to Guatemala and Hostels

2014-09-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hostel Prices...

Hostels come in all varieties and forms.
Some are professionally operated and some are not. Some are operated by amateurs, who have no business being in the hospitality business at all.

Some are located close to attractions and some are not.
Some offer that great view, some do not.

The bottom line (for me) is that I never pay the price for a room that they want from me.

I worked in the hotel business for 12 plus years.
Here I learned some tricks.

The hotel or hostel business is very competitive and they all run on some pretty tight budgets. The ones that survive are the ones that are smarter.

Prospective guests want different things and it is the hotel/hostel that MUST learn what you want and how to deliver that quality to the prospective guest without giving too much away. That is a fine line and it is the professionals that know how to walk that line and be profitable in the process.

Okay lets look at some facts.
Hostels operate (or should operate) on a wholesale budget for that room or bed.

The wholesale price is what it takes to maintain, clean and present to the prospective guest that space.

The retail price is what they want to charge you.
The difference between the wholesale price and that advertised retail price is the area of negotiation.

Okay lets say the (developing country) room costs $15 retail. Transfer that to your local currency.

The wholesale price of that room is probably around $2.50 for the cost the establishment needs to break even on that room.

I never pay that $ 15.00 retail cost and go for something in between. That is in between the wholesale price and the advertised retail price.
I want a lower price yes, but I also have to be reasonable.

I know that the hostel wants to makes as much money as they can on that space and I know that I want to pay as little as possible for that space.

Getting the price down is the trick.

If you are a senior citizen then you can ask for the seniors rate. That should knock off a little from the room price.

You can also say you belong to a travel group, or a car insurance group, or a even a large company or whatever. All of these areas should get the price down a little...Usually you do not have to even prove that you are associated with any company or organization.

You have to remember if you are dealing with a professional hostel well they want you to stay there. But if they are amateurs, well they will just stick to the price they want and will not sell that room at anything lower... That is a loss for them.

It is a loss because the cost of maintaining that space is $2.50 remember and therefore that room is now costing them revenue they could have sold. Amatuer operators do not even realize this... and if you're brave enough you could even remind them that by not selling you a room at that price that you want to pay, that they are actually not just losing money on that space but that the empty room is costing them money while being empty.

Some hotel owners have no idea how to operate a business at all... they are amateurs.

Another thing to mention when all else fails is to just say, is that the best price you can give me? If they say yes.... then stall a little as if you are thinking, perhaps pull out a small pad and write down their best price and tell them that you are going to check out the competition.

Or you could even call a competitor right in front of them... even asking prices and what the competitor offers. You could even say " I am in
"such and such hostel" and that "can you beat their price?"

Lets call this shock tactics.

Remember it could work... and you have nothing to lose attempting this..

You can also ask to speak to the manager.

I remember one motor hotel in the United States that I stayed at, while on a long driving journey using similar tactics.

When arriving there on a friday night I had noticed that their very large parking lot was mostly empty. That there was very little customer presence seen inside the hotel either. I surmised that they were either undergoing some renovation project or the hotel had been taken over by new owners. I was correct on both accounts.

When all attempts to lower that price fairly, had failed, I politely thanked the front desk clerk then turned and slowly walked away.

Behind the desk and also behind the front desk clerk I earlier noticed a man in a business suit. When I walked away he did not just ask me to stop, but came after me and asked me what I wanted to pay.

The hotel was under new management and under a total refit of the rooms, so they were not renting many rooms out at all. Any sale of any room was to the total advantage of the hotel at that time, so they were able to give me that room at my price. Yes this is a very rare example but one that is possible under certain circumstances.

Remember you have nothing to lose but a little time.

Also one thing to remember is the season you are there. If there is some big event going on in the area , well you will most likely have to pay their price and it may be even an inflated price.

But if the area is dead of tourists, has a glut of half empty places well that makes you more in control of the situation.

Being direct may make you seem bossy or not liked, but the bottom line here is that you are doing all of this to stay cheaper.

Read the reviews on their place. If they have some bad reviews ask them if they have been fixed. Remember you have nothing to lose. If they are amateurs this is your opportunity to take control.

Some places sell a great view, and can you believe it, some try to sell great coffee.... as an advantage to stay there... Duh..what!!!

Well as a seasoned traveller that great view and that (so called great) coffee do not cut it for me. I need a secure and quiet place, with access to the property on my terms, comfortable and a clean room, with staff that know the value of great customer service. I also want to pay a price that I feel is fair... fair for them and yes fair for me..

Happy hunting...

Remember it can be fun... so take charge and get that right price for you...

You have nothing to lose, so try it.

Drugs.... be careful

2014-04-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

Drugs...

Drugs of every kind imaginable illegal or legal are of course available in Guatemala.

They are really available everywhere.. in the world if you want them.

Please do not get me wrong here.... I am not here to agree (or disagree) with drug useage. Trafficking is widespread and yes dangers exist here or elsewhere in the world.
Buyer beware.

But getting caught with drugs in your possession for a foreigner is really bad news. It is way worse than in Canada or Europe or the USA where the availability has been governed by decriminalization in many areas.

In Guatemala they take a dim view of people from other countries using drugs in Guatemala. Using something as simple as weed is really bad for us. For the Guatemalan people themselves, they might get a slap on the wrist.

So forget it.. and forget the embassy of whatever country you are from, your embassy is not going to be helping you. Forget it for that is just NOT going to happen. What is going to happen to you is that you will be stuck in a very uncomfortable place for a long time.

Yes you will going to jail.

Guatemala you see works under French rule.
With French rule you are considered guilty till proven innocent. Not the other way around.

Dealing drugs in Guatemala is really a bad thing for you to do and if caught you will go to jail. You will go to jail and for a very long time.

Jail time will involve a very uncomfortable experience for you. Forget exercise rooms and big colour TV's, or even an outside exercise area. Forget about your rights as human being, because you won't have any. In your cramped crowded jail cell, which depending where they send you will be either cold or clammy, certainly bug ridden and crowded. You will not have anything, resembling comfort or safety. Yes extra comfort can come from your bank account. With money you can spend a better time in jail. You may not have to work, You may have a blanket at night. With money you may have an opportunity to have a woman visit you.

The only thing you will not have is freedom to leave or be bothered of being taken advantage of or beaten up my other cell mates. They will steal from you at every opportunity and take everything you have.

I have never been to jail, in Guatemala or anywhere else. But yes I have spoken to people that have been incarcerated in Guatemala and in other Latin American countries. My accounts here come from the many stories and desperation these people have experienced.

So the advise here is, don't get caught or better still just stay clean.

Buyer beware... the consequences of getting caught far outways the simple pleasures derived.

CNN Guatemala

2014-02-12T13:35:00.001-08:00

It is another warm day here in Guatemala.

The sun is really bright and the heat you feel on you is filled with warmth. Step into the shade and you soon realize what the elevation here brings with its cool dry air and arid climate. Just a short distance away and towards the pacific ocean (a one hour ride by chicken bus) and you would be bathed in your own sweat, yes in a tropical paradise.

I try to notice simple things.
Looking beyond my doorway I see petaled leaves of the courtyard trees arrange themselves delicately, splattered across the thin stick like branches. The leaves are a vivid collection of pink, magenta, and purple. A soft breeze gently caresses them making slight movements to the array. Some loosing grasp flutter to the ground. A petaled blanket.

I do not watch TV much preferring to connect with the people and alone I write stories, keep my blogs updated or read a good book. I am presently leafing my way through a James Patterson novel on crime and mystery. His words and thoughts well written, linger as I pattern together the jist of the story. It is a friendly escape.

One night recently I decided to watch TV. As my fingers surfed the channels with the remote control, I came across a program on CNN that had something to do with Guatemala. The show featured how medical supplies and other goods that where destined for Guatemala became lost in an mire of red tape and political mumbo jumbo.

Nothing new there.

The hypothesis of the show was how a company called Charity Services International, had collected funds destined for Guatemala. As charities are difficult to manage and yes detect inner corruption, those funds and medical goods had mysteriously disappeared.

Charity Services International is not a charity, but with its somewhat misleading company title, it certainly would fool a lot of people into believing it is. Me included.

Charity Services International, is one of such companies of many for profit companies, who's purpose is to collect funds for charities.
In some aspects such companies are needed, their fixed for profit focus well channeled into generating profit.

The missing sum mentioned was 40 million dollars and in such a poor country as Guatemala with its uneven wealth and power structure that sum would make a visible impact.

It has not.

While I see the production like the CNN show having a moral obligation in exposing wrong doings, what it also does is condemn a country and its people into a much worse case scenario. Mistrust of alleged funds for Guatemala and anyone thinking of donating now to help, will look carefully holding back donations badly needed.

There is a juxtaposition of values here.

The production contributes and exposes wrong doing yes, but all in the face value of self interest. CNN we have to remember is also looking for more exposure for itself, more viewers in a tight market. Yes 40 million dollars gone missing is not just a tidy sum but a huge massive amount, an immoral waste supposedly destined to assist and cure the needy.

It is also perhaps an exaggeration of the truth.

The Anderson Cooper show I witnessed was editorially well produced stabbing blame visually where needed. But hidden within the lines of journalism though, it also contributes to this problem.

The contribution it gives is not to trust, is not to give. This is ethically I believe immoral.

Where is that massive sum of monies?

Perhaps it lives within the imaginations of companies like Charity Services International allowing with its premise figures conjured and molded from representational needs. The premise being that the more money it supposedly collects, the more charities needing funding will look at this company as one that is professional and knows how to work effectively.

Regardless if that sum exists or ever existed, what this expose does, is hurt those that are in need the most.

Twenty percent of the population in Guatemala live on less than a dollar a day. In 2012, 9000 people starved to death. Children are most at risk with infant mortality rates higher than other country. Most children never go beyond the grade six education that is mandatory.

I see in this guise of a story something akin to the vulgarity that tabloid sensationalism is.

Instead of vaguely representing what is truth here with miss directed story babble, perhaps what was needed was discovery of the real truth first.

Instead the viewer was left with that empty feeling of corruption and that whatever happens in Guatemala is well deserved isn't it? After-all isn't it a country embroiled and wrapped in violence and corruption at all levels ?

Truth like history is written by those in control, the winners. The exaggerated presentation of what a country is or is not, is just misdirected truth. It has little to do with reality. We can generalize all we want but that has little to do with the real values or truths a country is all about.

I was appalled at CNN for presenting this visual escapade into fantasy. Get the facts first, then make the story fit those facts. The reverse may sell TV time, but what it truly really does is hurt those in need.

MERRY CHRISTMAS XELA

2013-12-04T15:18:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Guatemala is unlike Christmas anywhere else.
It is so loud, brazen, colourful. It is extreme. It is also closer to what the real meaning of Xmas should be.

In the markets there are countless stalls that sell just fireworks. Fireworks are everywhere and going off everywhere. Then there are these long strings of fireworks that, as I child they where called "bangers." Bangers just explode with a loud noise, no colour, no display, just a loud BANG!!

The banger fireworks that I saw in Xela and elsewhere in Guatemala, are sold by the metre. Some of these resemble long coiled ammunition belts that when rolled out, they are very long. I have seen some that where at least 50 metres (160 feet) in length. When lit they go off in a barrage of continuous explosions, lasting for several minutes. They sound like automatic weapon fire. These are often laid out along a street or through a market place.

Then at midnight before Christmas day the skies are filled with fireworks of every description and size, lighting the sky in an array of colour (and noise) like none I have ever experienced anywhere. This is not an organized event as private parties, families and individuals everywhere celebrate Xmas with fireworks. This array of lights goes on for at least an hour and a half.

In Parque Central there is a huge Xmas tree that is assembled, decorated and then lit up at night. One Christmas all the decorations disappeared one night up to a certain level on the tree. That certain level seemed to be what an average Guatemalan could reach with their hands stretched up high.

The tree is so special that now armed guards protect that tree all day and night long. There are some people (I am told) that would harvest the tree for the decorations that ordain it.

I love a parade. I have seen so many I have lost count as to how many I have seen. There are some pretty amazing Santa Claus parades in Canada and the USA, but none if these can equal the Santa Claus parade in Xela, Guatemala. The Santa Claus parade in Xela is different as anyone can put together a parade float and march or dance on in it, no problemo.

So what makes Xela's Santa Clause parade unique?

Keeping with Guatemalan tradition and way of thinking, why have just one Santa? So in Xela there is not just one Santa, no there are many Santa's in the parade. Santa's of many shapes and sizes. And we must not forget the Santa's helpers...

who also come in several versions, and so very true to what Guatemala is.

The parade is colourful, musical, you can dance to it and it is very long. The parade winds a weaving path through the whole city for a good two hours. This means that most people no matter where they live will have an opportunity to see the parade without going too far away from their homes.

Xmas is also family. I was invited to celebrate Xmas with a Maya family. This experience was so wonderful for me. There home consisted of two houses. Out back was a closed courtyard and then beyond where two cows, a goat, horse, chickens and several dogs and cats.

It was all good because....

I was here to experience Christmas with the family in their simple home sharing just food and conversation.

No presents were exchanged between anyone. Partly I believe because they cannot afford that and partly because to them it is not necessary.

The main house was a typical Guatemalan home one was one large room. Here everyone lived, ate and slept.

Across the room a long table was set up and fashioned from several tables and it sat across most of the length of the room. It was decorated with a festive and colourful paper cloth. Seats, mostly plastic ones and the kind that stack, were placed so that everyone had a place to sit at the table.

We had brought the turkey and without that turkey Xmas would have been celebrated with only spaghetti. I think that would have been just fine as well. Then because I was the guest, it was decided that I should carve up the turkey.

This was such a special experience for me and so different from what I had become accustomed to. In Canada, for so many years, I had become accustomed to that (so called) perfect Christmas. Perfect with its over sized and over garnished Christmas tree that had too many presents underneath that sometimes would spread across the floor. A Christmas where so many people would be giving and getting too much. The glutinous commercialism state that Christmas has become in its perfect state.

Tired of this cornucopia of too much, I had long ago rebelled. I had in fact not celebrated Christmas for a long time.

So there I was in this perfect and very simple way, sharing with a Maya family what Christmas should be. The sharing of communication and belief in a simpler way. It felt good.

That is when I found out that Christmas is Xela is awesome....

Merry Christmas Xela.

Guatemala and Great Travel Tips

2013-11-13T12:28:00.001-08:00

If anyone is heading south to Guatemala... here are some travel tips for you.

I am actually back in Canada right now (I seem to travel back and forth) but busy planning my next trip south to Guatemala. There always seems to be a next trip.

This time though instead of traveling through Mexico to my second home, Quetzaltenango, I am flying straight to Guatemala City.

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala_City

Flights from Vancouver are very reasonable in December... And if you are prepared to fly directly around Xmas time even on Christmas day, well super cheap deals can be had as well. New Years Eve is another great time to travel...

No one really wants to travel on those days.

One trick I found that works a lot of the time, is you choose a particular day of the week that you want to fly on, then you only do your searching (a few weeks before) on that same exact particular day. For some reason only the airline know... it is cheaper doing that. So if you want to travel on a Tuesday, then you only do your searching on a Tuesday.

Here is one of my tricks I use to find my super great travel deals. First, I hardly ever go to a travel agent anywhere ever. With the power that the internet provides any land based travel agency, is basically a thing of the past today, unless of course you trip is more complicated. Complicated in what airline you may want or if you want to avoid certain countries. Then it is far better to use a travel agent as they can search out a bigger variety of flights for you.

There are many such online travel agencies out there.
Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com or Expedia http://expedia.com are two such companies, but there are many others equally as good such as http://www.skyscanner.com. The latter one you can search out a whole month at a time. Here if your travel plans are not rigid well sometimes searching out a month at a time is far more practical.

I use such online travel agencies to locate airlines that are offering cheap flights on then dates and times that I want to travel on. Then when I get the information I need, I go directly to the airlines themselves and I then amazingly I sometimes can get a better deal myself. Sure it takes a little searching, but that is part of the adventure.

A little something about Guatemala... There are many people out there that have this totally wrong conception about Guatemala and that it is a dangerous place to visit.

It survived a 36 civil war that ended in 1996. That war is over and gone with...

The entanglement of the CIA and certain US government levels and their involvements is well documented with its inaccurate misunderstanding and the fear of spreading communism in Guatemala and other central American countries. The coup in Guatemala that was transpired and was fueled by this same connection helped to fuel a war that lasted some 36 years with 200,000 people mostly the indigenous Maya people either being killed or totally disappearing. Whole villages disappeared. The memories have not ended and are not forgotten in this cruel segment of history.

Is Guatemala safe to travel to or live in?

Yes and equivocally without question.

But there are those that wish to spread their versions of misguided truths. I have heard it time and time again. Sure yes, and if you read and believe what is written in the Tabloids (anywhere in the world) believing the journalistic filth, these bottom line publications pump out, you would never go anywhere. Then there are people that from somewhere in their imagination or from hearsay, they conjure up similar untruths without ever leaving their arm chair.

Okay so you have decided to travel (from your destination) to Guatemala, great... so here we go....

There are many routes to Guatemala and I usually travel from Mexico and that information for that is covered in other segments of this blog. This route is from wherever you live to Guatemala City on your preferred airline.

So you arrive and so where do you stay? Well most flights into Guatemala city will have you arriving late. It will be dark already. It gets dark at around 6:30 pm anyway, so yes it will be dark when you arrive.

There are countless hotels and hostels to stay at when you arrive in Guatemala. Most of these will have a free shuttle service right to their location. How do I find the right place to stay?

I use basically the same method as probably you do when you search. This is just like searching for an airline. I search out through online booking agencies such as Hostel-world http://www.hostelworld.com or another such as Hostel Bookings http://www.hostelbookings.com and then I take the information they give me and go directly to the hotel or hostel I want to stay at and I make a direct booking myself.

Como esta tu espanol... or how is your Spanish...

You may know some Spanish or you may know very little or (horrors) none at all. Well the following two places I would recommend are Hostel los Volcanos... they speak English... http://www.hostel_los_volcanos.com

Here you will stay in a gated community and very close to the airport. The people at Hostel los Volcanos will pick you up at the airport for free and the next day arrange for a trusted taxi to take you to the bus station.

Or if you want to be in the "live zone" then Quetzalroo would be more to your liking.
http://www.quetzalroo.com

Hostel Quetzalroo set in the centre of the city is close to restaurants, bars and things to do. Hostel Quetzalroo is near the action. They actually pick you up at the airport for free and transport you to your bus of choice also for free.

Transportation.
Cars. There are a variety of ways of getting about (on land) in Guatemala. Renting a car is one..... But renting a car and driving a car in Guatemala is not something I would recommend anyone doing to anyone that has not driven in a Central American country before.

Driving anything in Guatemala is far removed from driving anything you will ever experience anywhere else in the developed world. Guatemalan drivers are very aggressive and follow their own form of communication. They blow their horns a lot. Toots for warning people, toots for passing, toots for saying hello, toots for hurrying up and toots just because. It is a language all of its own.

The rules of the road are very different as well. They do not stop at stop signs. They will pass a vehicle crossing a double line and do that driving straight at you. The rule is get out of the way.

Buses.
There are several bus companies in Guatemala. ADN, Fuento del Norte, Linea Dorada, Galgos, and Almo.

Galgos and Alamo are more like the Pullman style buses that Greyhound buses use in North America (Canada and the USA) and these come complete with non working washrooms. The washroom doors will have a padlock on them.

The buses that ADN, Fuento del Norte and Linea Dorada all have working washrooms and are styled much like the buses in Europe. The prices for travel are also higher.

Chicken Buses (camioneta) or second class buses.

Chicken Buses a term used by tourists are actually old school buses from the USA. Apparently in the states, these school buses can only be used doer a few short years as school buses in the USA so a lot end up in Guatemala.

Branded in garish loud colours with lots of bright chrome, loud Latino music blaring from them. They veer and sway and loudly careen up and over twisted mountain roads, each driver thinking he is up an coming gran prix driver.

Actually since most drivers do not own the bus there is a reason that they cram as many people in them as possible and drive so fast. The driver has to pay the owner of the bus a certain amount of cash each day the bus is driven. Above and beyond that amount, less gas and other expenses, well that is kept by the driver and his helper.

The average costs of a chicken bus ride is about one third of the cost of luxury style bus.

As I am tall I only really take chicken buses for short trips of no more than two hours. The valued and best seat on a chicken bus for me is directly behind the driver as there will be a little extra leg room there. Oh and it is expected that three people will sit on each seat in a chicken bus. You can though for added comfort buy that extra seat in the middle.

But in saying all of this, you have never truly experienced Guatemala until you have taken at least one Chicken Bus somewhere.

Spanish Schools....
In Xela alone there are about 30 Spanish language schools. Too many to list here.

English schools.
English is slowly becoming more common. Now it is taught in private schools to both children and also to adults in Guatemala.

Trade schools.
There are around thirty trade schools in Xela.

Universities
In Xela alone there are ten universities.
There is this joke that the drug lords will send their kids to school in Xela because it is safer than in Guatemala city. That actually may be true.

Xela is also know as the cradle of culture because tf the many different schools there.

Drug lords
Well as the saying goes, the guns go south and the drugs go north. We cannot hide from the fact that a route exists up from Columbia and through to Mexico and then to the USA.
I have never ever personally met a drug lord, not actually want to.

Updates and you

2013-10-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well here I hope to put in this blog all those things people that contact me want to know about... tips and places to see etc...

Nothing yet but I am working on it... so under construction.

And I really do enjoy all your comments... keep writing me

If anyone has something to contribute, add to or wants to know about something I know about, just write me.