The Future of Petén

It’s the last leg of our journey back from Guatemala and I marvel at the difference in the landscape from above — houses neatly dotted against the foothill ridges and valleys of California’s sloping red terrain inching all the way from Los Angeles in random sproutings of civilization. It’s the same feeling I had while staring out at the Pacific from Playa Del Rey today — kids ran from the onrush of crashing waves and boogie borders chased their boards, only to bounce on them within an inch of a quick slide beneath their feet. Five hours away is Guatemala City, chaotic, sprawling and a nightmare in city planning (if there actually was ever any real planning behind the city’s massive overpopulation during the some 36 years of war). It’s a research project unto itself, how a city like la capital developed into such an unwelcoming place in its design and the impact it must have on the psyche of its inhabitants.

I think of this now while on the plane and am grateful for the seven hour layover at LAX that served as a much-needed transition into US culture. Nadia and I also had the opportunity to practice the summary of our trip. Sole-sucking mud, ear-eating black flies, mule-chasing jaguars, howling monkies’ disembodied cries, and our bodies in a constant state of crisis. But somehow it didn’t seem that bad in retelling it. We both hate telling war stories, but somehow the sharing of it forced us to give some coherence to it all. Afterall, how can you really grok these kinds of experiences unless it is done experentially? You will believe it more if you learn it for yourself. But video helps.
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