Which world am I living in?

Am I in the first world or the third?

Sometimes I'm not sure. Yes, I'm surrounded by poverty that would shock most Americans and Canadians. People have to walk for kilometres (that's miles for you Americans), carrying jugs of water on their heads. And that water, though it's all they've got, probably isn't what we'd call 'drinking water.' They do hard labour on farms and roads, doing work that in other countries is done by huge machines. They earn around $2/day and have to feed the whole family of 10.

But the first world elements are here, too. There's a Benetton store in the big mall in Xela, as well as a Lacoste. And a Puma store, too. Not exactly bargain shopping. We didn't even have those stores in Saskatchewan. And Guatemala hasn't been left out of the SUV craze, either. But then in the market is the man on his makeshift speaker system yelling out "Bloomer 2 por 10 Quetzales. Bloomer. Bloomer." Bloomer. That's underwear. Bloomers; though to me bloomers have always meant the huge granny kind, like Granny Clampett off whatever that old show was called. The contrasts are everywhere here.

My latest entrance into first world living is my new cell phone, hence the pictures above. I just bought it last night, because my old one didn't give me reception in some small towns. I have to admit, it's fun and exciting. And look at how darn cute it is! But then I feel guilty about getting so much pleasure from this purchase and I soberly remind myself that it was needed for my job. I can't get away from the Mennonite guilt over buying something, can I?

The cell phone business is a funny one in Guatemala. I used to think of cell phones as something more for the wealthy. In this country, that means Ladinos. But most of the cell phone stores here in Xela are filled with Indigenous people in their full traditional clothing. And a lot of Mayan women stick their cell phone down their huipil (their colourful woven blouse). They stick it inside their bra, right alongside where they keep their cash. Funny, I wonder if some smart entrepreneur in these parts will come up with an 'inside the huipil cell phone case'.

Villages with little going in terms of an economy do booming business with cell phone cards and phones. Some of these towns used to have one phone in the whole community, maybe in a corner store. Almost nobody had home phones (and many still don't). But now suddenly everyone, it seems, has a cell phone. Many families are being kept afloat here by someone working (usually illegally) in the US or Canada. And I've heard that cell phones are one way for Indigenous people who are in North America to be able to keep speaking their Indigenous language. The way they used to communicate from the US was by sending cassette tapes through courier companies, since many people here are illiterate. Interesting, isn't it? I had heard that cell phones are slowing down the business of the courier companies. But I love the idea of sending a cassette tape to keep in touch.

I'm living in a strange mix between the first world and the third. I don't know what "the new black" is. I don't know if jeans are still "the new dress pant." Toronto friends, I'm sure you can help with that one. But even though this is a country where more than half the people live in poverty, I'm still surrounded by so much consumerism. What a strange world this is.