San pedro 3

12/01/26

Poor San Pedro. Many years ago, it was a small self contained village of Mayan Indians. And slowly the invasion of foreigners began. When I was here 8 years ago, it was still a small village with a discrete section catering to a back packer crowd: bars, hotels, restaurants, juice kiosks, all crowded in one or 2 winding dirt paths. The local people very reserved - almost unfriendly. Ada reminds me that I said I would never come back because of the unfriendly people.

Now the tourist section has expanded. A big wide street near the lake plus all the winding trails. More hotels, more restaurants. Art galleries. Language schools. People selling their jewellery and handicrafts on tables on the street. ATM machines. (that don´t work) Tuktuks abound. The lake is still there down below, ringed by volcanoes. But the focus is here on the street. Buy. Buy. Buy. And the local people are definitely unfriendly. (understandibly so)

My hotel is a case in point. It is one of the original ones, The housekeeper tells me that she has been working here for 20 years. The workers smile and greet me when I initiate a greeting but there is a definite hostility.

We come with our obvious richesse, our "cool" clothing, our tablets and ipods, our fancy luggage, whether it is an upscale backpack or suitcase,. We hope to be well received and taken care of because we think we are boosting the local economy and are of value. There are people that come here annually or stay here full time. But have we really helped? I had a zipper changed on a cloth bag. The man charged me a dollar. My hotel bill with private bathroom is less that 5$. There are drunks on the street in the day time and lots of drugs at night. The people in the market are sullen and harried. Poor San Pedro.