Western Influence in Guate

Living in the United States, you can't really grasp the impact our cultural has on so many others until you travel abroad. Here in Guatemala, you can see Western influence in clothes, music and even food. I can walk down the cobblestone streets of Sumpango and I am surrounded by what could be my own culture (if not for everyone staring at me and saying hello in Spanish). Guys walk down the street in American Eagle shirts (of course it isn't the same AE but they don't care) and girls are wearing straight-legged jeans with flats. I was walking to the bus the other day and I heard Lady Gaga coming out of someones car and then when I boarded the bus they were playing Justin Beiber. It makes me wonder how our relatively young nation has made such an enormous impact on other countries.

Even though American culture is seen in clothes and media, I feel like Guatemalans view Americans solely as ridiculously rich white people. And why wouldn't they? The tv stations they get include MTV and Cartoon Network. I was watching tv with my friend Kim and the only thing we could find in English was Paris Hilton acting like an idiot. My friend Wondor, who is an African American volunteer, told me her family doesn't believe she is actually American because she is black. But I guess that is one of the reasons we are here. To educate ourselves about another culture and in return teach them that not all Americans are Paris Hilton wannabes.

I was sitting at lunch the other day with another volunteer, Becky, my Spanish teacher, Marisabel, and Becky's host parents. We were eating guacamole and fresh fruit and listening to AC/DC. As the band shouted "you shook me all night long", Marisabel asked if it meant what she thought it meant. I couldn't help thinking to myself "Wow. I am sitting in Guatemala listening to AC/DC while the woman sitting next to me is wearing traditional Mayan clothing." It seemed pretty surreal.

It is so strange to enter into a a culture that seems so completely defined by its traditions. As Americans we are kind of like a hodgepodge mix of cultures from all over the world. Here in Guatemala, there are two main categories of people: The indigenous/Mayans and the Ladinos. The indigenous people are completely woven within their customs. The women still wear traditional clothing and adhere to traditional gender roles. The Ladino people have been more influenced by the West. They wear similar trends and listen to pop music. But each group has, in some way, been touched by the West.

Culture within itself is a complicated phenomenon that one can only truly understand when immersed in it. Even then, you still question motives and traditions because they are unlike your own. I am learning to embrace different aspects of this Guatemalan culture while maintaining my own identity as an American. Throughout the next two years, I am sure I will create my own fusion of Guatemalan and American culture. Hopefully, I will find a happy medium.

"When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable." - Clifton Fadiman