I pay much closer attention to the news from the foreign countries I’ve come to love than I do to Canadian news. (Maybe this is because last year, the most exciting thing to happen in Canada was when two stodgy white guys formed a coalition to take power from another stodgy white guy.)
Last year in February, I monitored the news from Burkina Faso. I got a bit nervous after reading about the huge food riots and the fact that the main opposition leader had been thrown in jail for allegedly “orchestrating” them. Things had calmed down that summer by the time I arrived for my research trip. While I was there, though, students at the University of Ouagadougou threw a huge protest about the potential privatization of their school. For the rest of my time in Ouaga, when I drove past the university every day the campus was lined with tanks.
Anyways, there’s some shit going down in Guatemala right now, and I’m anxious to go there and get a better idea of what’s really happening.
This is what I know:
Rodrigo Rosenberg, a Guatemalan attorney was murdered on May 10th while riding his bicycle. Soon after, the following pre-recorded video was released, in which Rosenberg says that if he was murdered, it was the work of President Colom.
Anyways, the many people in Guatemala are calling for Colom’s resignation. Others (including Colom, of course) argue that this is a right-wing conspiracy to take down the government. I don’t know enough about Guatemala to know what I think.
An even weirder turn came a couple days later when a Guatemalan Twitter user was arrested for posting a tweet suggesting that Guatemalans should withdraw their money from the bank Banrural, in order to “break the banks of corrupt people.” He was charged with inciting financial panic. Apparently, he has just been freed but will face fines of 6500 US$.
Anyways, weird to think what a prominent role the internet has had in all this. Fifteen years ago, could this scandal even have occurred? After all, it seems to me that the Rosenberg video was mostly disseminated by Youtube, and Twitter is a complete recent phenomenon.
Well, I leave for Guatemala in one month! Guess I will know more then.
Comments 5
Hmmmm, interesting.
Posted 18 May 2009 at 7:55 pm ¶I will also be travelling in and through Guatemala from late June until some yet-to-be-determined time in the future…based in Xela to solidify my Spanish and volunteer for a fair spell. Do let me know if you happen upon some insightful pearls of knowledge!
Hi Ivan,
I have some friends down in Xela who are keeping me updated.
I’ll be arriving in Xela June 28th I believe. What Spanish school are you studying at? I study at Celas Maya.
Posted 18 May 2009 at 10:52 pm ¶Oh excellent.
At this stage I think El Nahual will be my haunt, but with no firsthand experience in Guatemala I’m open to suggestions. I opted not to study in Antigua, but have been reading some positive stories about San Pedro too, so may even decide once I get there. Do you normally homestay or seek out other accomodation options? There is an animal sanctuary in Peten that I would like to volunteer at also…not sure if I can combine the two though….:-)
Posted 19 May 2009 at 10:27 pm ¶Well, I’ve only studied at Celas Maya, which I would certainly recommend. All the teachers I had were fantastic and my homestay was great. I have also heard from reliable sources that Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Español and Casa Xelaju are also good. I haven’t heard anything about El Nahual. In San Pedro I’ve heard that the Cooperative Spanish School is good, although I would recommend studying in Xela first and seeing how you like it. Xela is GREAT! I love it obviously since I’m going back.
good choice to not study in Antigua. pretty enough, but wayyyyy too touristy and expensive. I also didn’t find that it has much “soul.”
I did homestay last time and found it a good experience and it certainly helped my Spanish. This time I’m staying in a guesthouse… just because I’ve stayed in a lot of host families throughout my family and I just want a break from them.
As for volunteering… i guess it depends for how long. I don’t really believe that short-term volunteering (ie less than a month) is really that helpful or meaningful but this is just my opinion. I think it would be better to work on your Spanish then you can always come back for volunteer work. That said, there are organizations in Xela that you can volunteer for while you study.
Let me know if you have any more questions! I can always meet up with you in Xela in July and show you my favourite spots.
Posted 20 May 2009 at 9:05 am ¶Thanks for the input!
My brother’s Spanish professor also championed Proyecto Linguistico when I first mentioned my plans, and has a colleague working there. So that is (another!) option. I think I will wait till I get there to decide on accomodation…
Meeting up sounds great though, shoot me an email perhaps closer to the time if you would like to rendezvous.
Ciudate!
Posted 20 May 2009 at 4:51 pm ¶Post a Comment