You do see people taking pride here in Guatemala.  Yeah, for a lot of them it’s all they can do to survive, but you do see glimpses where people make real efforts to beautify their little piece of the world– like this home/shop made of corrugated tin panels that was painted shades of blue, and kept very clean in comparison to what else is around.  Can you imagine this being home sweet home?  I have to tell you, this is pretty good for dump standards.  There is much, much worse here.

 

A colorful little corridor of homes and shops.  It might look quaint, but it’s a hard knock life.  You see young guys staggering around completely wasted from sniffing rags soaked in paint thinner that they have cupped in their palm.  They are completely gone. I have never seen that look on a person’s face before. It is scary and sad all at once.

 

You see these pimped-out old School buses everywhere, complete with individualized paint jobs and chrome galore.  They are always spotless and shiny– the drivers take very meticulous care of their prized vehicles.

 

 

Whenever I see the initials RL I always think of Ralph Lauren, yet this (below) couldn’t be further from his world.

 

 

Beautiful Yucca plants surviving in trash.  I have seen so many plastic bags littered, tangled and blowing everywhere that I can never use them  again.  They should seriously be outlawed.

 

 

Custom dash.  Wow.