I have had my first half of class and we are yet to talk about Spanish grammar or my homework! We talked about the elections and political parties and I also finally got around to asking her about the war impacted her life. So I just thought I would take my break to write some of it down before I forget!
So my teacher has said that she really wasn´t affected too much by the war. However, these are some of her stories... at least the way I understand them
She grew up originally in the countryside outside of Xela, but at some point her parents decided to move to the city so that they could have a better education. It is also possible that they moved because of the war. She said that she doesn´t know if it was true but she heard that often times the Guerrillos and el ejercitio los dos would often steal from the farmers in the countryside and live off of their produce.
My teachers sister was the one most impacted by the war. When she moved to the city she tried to go to college but they would not let her because of her indiginous last name and they said she had to go somewhere else. She she went off to school and became a nurse. When she graduated she looked for the workclose to home ---Which was in another town. When she got there it was not a hospital but rather a public health house in a town here some part of the army was stationed. She was there for 12 years and the first time she was allowed to leave was after 2 years. When she talked with her family she made it sound like everything was fine. But it was not until years later that she recounted that she was not able to leave the village and that they had no food and had to eat beans everyday all the time because its all they had. They also had people that were killed and they had to take care of that and other things as well. She lived many years there and was only allowed to leave because the jefe changed and the new boss told her that she could leave if she left immediately. So she did.
My teacher also has a story that when her mother was 6 months pregnant with her... her mother witnessed her brother shot right infront of her. He had stopped in a car to give them a ride but someone had been watching him... from my understanding he had been helping teachers get into schools in the mountains and so they were waiting to kill him. So to this day her mother says that it has affected who my teacher is today.
There was also a cerfew... toque de queda... at night in the city and my teacher didn´t realize it because when the sound would go off her mother always told the children that it meant it was time to eat supper. Her older sisters and brothers often stayed home because there was fear of being raped or if you didn´t have your identification the men would be taken to reclutamiento forcozo... something like that. She had a cousin how was taken and disappeared for 6 years. When he got back he drank and finally hung himself... no one knows what he saw.
She says that she didn´t understand any of this until she was 18 and went away to college.... including the time they let them go from school early and said taht they were to run straight home from school without taking to anyone and there were men with guns at every corner.
So that is my quick summary of a few of the things that we talked about the war.
We also talked about the current political system and about how many people are assasinated. She told me that it is her personal opinion but that of the all the violence in Guatemala she things 80 percent is politically related and that 20 is de los pandillos.. the gangs. So when one of the forerunning political parties... los patriotas... say that if they take office that they will kill off the gangs... she thinks that really to get ride of the violence they would have kill off each other. Which from what I have heard there are quick a few political assassinations here. The elections are in Sept and it will be very interesting to see what happens.
Torres... is the current wife of the president and so they are fighting for the right to be able to run... they got a divorce for this! And the Patriotas are putting forth a canidate who has been apart of assassinations in the past and wants to kill off the gangs... so it will be very interesting. I´m not really sure what is going to happen.
So that is my news for now. It sounds kind of despressing but if you talk about politics and history in any country you would get the same thing.
So no this is not what I normally see in Guatemala, but it is apart of its past and present just as it is apart of the US.
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