We recently moved from San Cristobal to San Lucas. It's about a 10 minute drive from one town to the other, or 15 all the way from home to school. I have likened it to moving from West Chester to Monroe. It's far less driving than I did in the States. Guatemalans, even some other missionaries, act like this commute is horrible. And most days I think it's really no big deal. But I certainly wasn't always this comfortable with driving here. If you know me, I'm an on-the-go kind of gal. I literally ran the wheels (and brakes) off my vehicles in the States. Before we moved, I was seriously upside down on miles of my leased vehicle. Surprisingly, the first six weeks we lived here, I would not get behind the wheel. It is a little crazy. Between the insanely dangerous chicken buses, pedestrians and animals all over the road, and a general lack of adherence to or enforcement of any traffic laws, I was terrified. At the time we were living in Antigua and could accomplish most anything on foot. But once we moved into the city, I realized quickly that I would have to suck it up and get behind the wheel if I wanted to feel even remotely as mobile and independent as I was used to.
The truth is even though I'm more comfortable driving here (I think of it as a video game: dodge the goat, swerve to miss a flock of 8 pedestrians), every time you get behind the wheel here, you assume a certain amount of risk. If my car breaks down, how will I handle it? If the police pull me over, will they be trustworthy or corrupt, expecting a bribe to let me go? There are numerous armed robberies on the roads here every day, especially in the city. What will I do if a motorcycle or suspicious vehicle gets too close? Aside from all this, my absolute worst fear is hitting a pedestrian. Only about 7% of Guatemalans own cars. Most have never driven. They have very little concept of the danger of proximity to a moving vehicle. Fatal accidents occur pretty much daily. What seems like public safety 101 to an American is simply an unfortunate matter of ignorance and is a fairly recent problem. So, it's a little noisy in my brain while I drive here.
My other greatest fear here is getting lost. Certain zones of the city would be very dangerous to be lost in. Roads aren't straight, Guatemalans give very vague directions, and half the time when I approach the place I'm looking for, I can't believe that this could actually be the right place (really? this muddy canyon is the road I'm supposed to turn down?). Fortunately we have Waze, which is a very accurate real time GPS and traffic app. Unfortunately, if I lose signal, I tend to panic. Unless absolutely necessary, I avoid venturing downtown by myself. So, if I stick to my familiar commute and my main commercial shopping areas, I'm pretty safe.The commute is gorgeous. It's all green mountain on one side and panoramic view of Guatemala City on the other. (Note to self: blog needs pictures.)I head up the mountain on one main road. If I can avoid the traffic at the major retornos (the turn around to get to the other side of the road. Intersections and traffic lights are RARE on main roads), and avoid getting pulled over at the two Puestos de Control (police traffic check points where you are pulled over and your vehicle searched), I can get home safely in 20 minutes. There are days when this is just not to be however. Today was the first day back for most schools, so the commute home was agonizingly double the normal time. (Note to self: car air conditioning needs repaired!) The longest it has taken is an hour when there was a major accident on the highway. And, even though it hasn't happened yet, when I do get pulled over, I have the American Embassy at the top of the contacts list of my phone.
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