On the road to El Remate -- Immersion/Awareness

The shifts that occur while one is traveling from one social construct (social culture) to the next occur in a manner that is both linear and non-linear.  On one level there is the straightforward progression from one location to the next.  On another level there is the very non-linear overlapping, receding, encroaching, layers of diverse foods, speech, beliefs, and economic status that distinguish the elite from the majority population.

This first blog post of this journey will focus on the awareness of relative value and social constructs of goods and services that support consumerism. 

We were picked up by a van on Tuesday morning at our home located in Jennings Lodge, Oregon, a community in the Portland metro region. The cost of the van for a round-trip between our home and the airport – a total of travel time of about 20 minutes and less than 18 miles was $32.50.  Compare this to a micro-bus ride in Guatemala that I have reserved for Sunday, where my one way trip is $20USD/per person and the time that I’ll be traveling is five hours and hundreds of miles. The first class bus ride that I took from Guatemala City to Coban, a five hour ride, had a total cost of $15USD/per person.  It needs to be noted that the gasoline/diesel prices in the USA are lower than Guatemala.  Currently in the United States the costs are approximately $4/gallon whereas in Guatemala they are $4.87/gallon.  Obviously, the cost of travel has many variables.  Among them is ability and willingness to pay.

Paying attention to where one is in with a change between social constructs involves being aware of the information that surrounds one.

Upon arriving in Guatemala City we exited the plane to a tourism advertising campaign based on the 13^th Baktun, the 2012 roll-over of the Mayan calendar.  A photographic poster display running the entire length of the concourse highlighted the diversity of Guatemala – whether by ethic group, religious belief, hair color/style, or type of clothing.  The airport is seemingly sleek and modern – promoting the goods and tourist attractions of the country – just like airports in the United States. 

What information is being transmitted by these signs? It seems to be noticeable within the airport that consumerism is the “rule” of Guatemala – just as in the United States.  Once outside the airport and in the shuttle to the hotel, the fast food restaurants blaze their logos.  There is McDonald’s that looks like every McDonald’s in the USA, and all the others are the same and they are all here . . . Burger King, Chucky Cheese, Subway, and so on.  Then there are the ads for the latest releases of consumer electronics goods -- for Apple iPad 3, the Samsung Galaxy III, and those are followed by the signs at the urban bus centers for the Ford Escape hybrid – and all the advertising follows the same high gloss iconography that  in the USA.

The global reach of multi-national corporations pervades the consciousness and within a very few minutes one has seen so many familiar signs and brands that you do not notice the sinking level of economic wellbeing of the majority population – that is, unless you maintain your awareness.  To see the man with amputated legs in a wheelchair, happy to receive two quetzals in coins, a total of $0.50USD because with that he can at least buy a few tortillas.  And, then one remembers the many homeless veterans and others in the United States who live in their cars or seek shelter under bridges – some are jobless – some are working multiply part time jobs – yet still unable to afford to rent a room.  The challenges in both places, USA and Guatemala, are parallel.  The degree of difference is in the decimal point for the dollars to quetzal costs of goods and services.   Both are caught in a social construct of global consumerism that serves the multi-national corporations.