Culture Fatigue in Guatemala

Everyone talks about culture shock when moving to a new country, but I think for me I would use the phrase culture fatigue. As of April 1st, I will have been living in Guatemala for four years. You'd think by now I'd be used to it! And in a way, I am accustomed to how things work here, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with it.
Don't get me wrong: I love Guatemala! If it was actually that bad, I would have left by now. But there are little things that are a shock at first, and you think you can accept them as part of the culture, but you never really do accept them, so it just gets tiring. Hence, culture fatigue.

Examples: gringo pricing, unexpected power outages, dangerous driving, suicide showers, and street dogs.

Why do those things bother me? Well, I'm from Canada, a rather liberal and civilized country. (If I do say so myself!) I expect non-racist pricing, fewer power outages (not none, haha!), traffic rules and consequences for breaking them, hot water showers, and animal welfare laws.

And there are so many other things that even worse here in Guatemala, things that I can't comprehend: child marriages, abuse of women, and of course widespread corruption.

And have you heard about Mayan Justice? Also known as vigilantism. It's when the indigenous people act as judge, jury, and executioner in a crime. They rarely have a trial. Accusations are founded on eyewitness or just hearsay. Mobs will attack police officers and stations to remove indigenous criminals in order to deliver punishment that they see fit. They literally burned two 19-year-old boys ALIVE for threatening tuc-tuc drivers. Those boys are dead for making a bad decision at 19 years old. They will never have a chance to change their circumstances, to repent, mature, and live their lives.
The mob mentality here is inexcusable. I understand where it comes from though. The civil war that ravaged this country for more than 30 years left a dark hole in the hearts of indigenous people. I know it will take a long time to reverse the distrust of power caused by the genocide of the Mayans at the hands of the Guatemalan military. But it breaks my heart to see angry men taking the law into their own hands. Whipping a man at the park for beating his wife -- that I understand. That's merely public shaming and a bit of temporary pain. But burning people alive? While a crowd watches and does nothing? Horrifying.

So my complaints of lukewarm showers and power outage seem small and petty. But these are the things that make my day-to-day life just a little bit irritating, the things that wear me down, the things that make me throw up your hands and go, "Why am I here?"

So how do I deal? Easy. Walk to the beautiful Lake Atitlan. Drink heavenly coffee. Admire jaw-dropping sunsets. Eat the freshest, most luscious fruits and veggies. And rescue as many street dogs and cats that I can.
Oh, and laugh at my Canadian friends who are knee-deep in snow while I'm here in shorts and a tshirt watering my freshly blooming lilies. 😎

Red lilies blooming in my garden.

For more information on how to cope with culture shock as an expat, check out this short article at Family Move Abroad.