It was bound to happen sooner or later...

:: Day 77 in Guatemala ::

So I had almost decided not to post to the blog this week because nothing exciting had happened. This week was slow. Sure, stuff happened, but nothing to write home about. Here's a quick recap of everything that was marginally interesting this past week:

Aura's Birthday!!!

-- Saturday we had a party for Aura from MTM because Sunday was her birthday!!

-- Monday was just another day at work.


-- Tuesday was blah, but then we (everyone from MTM) went to the hospital to try to donate blood to Paula's grandfather. Which I guess is interesting because the whole office went. Apparently you need to bring your own donors. And if they aren't an exact match (which I wasn't because I'm A+ and apparently most people are O+) they won't take your blood at all. It just seems like they really want families to have to PAY for each pint of blood their loved one needs.


-- Wednesday was the next Diplomado workshop. Unfortunately, this was the worst one. The first day was really repetitive because it was about Domestic Violence, and we already talked about that.
Wednesday Guatemala also beat the U.S. in Sub-20 soccer - making Guatemala eligible for a world cup for the first time in over 100 years. So the whole city went wild around 10pm at night, and unfortunately a man died because of the excitement. He was the father of a woman who works closely with MTM. Just as they were celebrating the win -- he died from a heart attack. He was only in his 60's.

-- Thursday the Diplomado was about "Health" which is a great idea in theory, but poorly executed. When we came back to the office there was a meeting with the director of Open Society Institute in NY, apparently she is a BC Law alumna! She asked me to contact her when I get back to Boston.  (Oh, and I finally talked to Xochil & Mami via Skype!!!)


-- Friday would be just another day in the office, plus a funeral, but then....




On Friday April 8, 2011, my 76th day in Guatemala, the inevitable happened:


Aura was going to run some errands for the office, which required driving downtown to Zone 4. It was almost lunch time and I was wrapping up what I was doing, so I joined her. It was really hot out so we were driving back with the windows half down. As we are rolling to a stop at a red light, Aura spots some guys who are headed to our car and who clearly are up to no good. We both hit the window buttons to roll them up. But they are just not fast enough. Two guys come to her window, one guy comes to mine and they stick their hands in the window to stop us from rolling it all the way up. The guys at each of our windows stuck their arms all the way in the windows - they were rolled up too high and the car is an SUV so they couldn't reach very far in to the car. They were both kind of pulling on the windows - either trying to force them down or break them. Meanwhile all three of them are yelling at us to give them our cell phones, money, wallets...

This whole time I'm trying to figure out what to do. Our doors are locked. The two guys with their arms in the windows clearly aren't armed, but maybe the third guy is. I've got my purse in my lap - which I instantly grab and hold towards the middle of the car where they can't reach. I'm fumbling with my purse trying to stall and trying to figure out what is going on... meaning: trying to figure out what Aura is doing. My instant reaction is - I'm not giving them ANYTHING. But, I'm in a foreign country with a high incidence of violence and everyone warned me that I'd probably be assaulted at some point and the smart thing to do is give them what they are asking for. So I followed Aura's lead. She hid her wallet but gave them her cell phone and the Q10 which were sitting on the dash. Since this other guy had his hands all in my face - although I don't remember him actually touching me - I fumbled with my purse for a while then remembered my phone was in my pocket. So I gave him/ he took my cell phone. We were still trapped at this red light long enough for him to yell at me more to give him my wallet, to which I respond I don't have one, even though I'm clearly still holding on to my purse. He looks at my purse and I say, "its full of books!" which is only partially true. It also had my debit card, camera, and house keys in it - so I was definitely not going to let that go as easily as the cell phone. The light finally turned green and we were able to go.

In the end, neither of us were hurt, but we were short two cell phones and Q10. Today (Saturday) the plan is to go to Tigo and try to get them to give me a new phone with the same phone number. It could have been much worse.

Moral of the Story: Guatemala is dangerous. Just when I was getting comfortable, three delinquents decided to remind me that I need to constantly be on alert.

Truth is, this week has been full of stories like this. On Saturday two men tried to do the same thing to Ana Lucia (the director at MTM) while she was stopped at a red light. On Monday, Hugo, who just got hired as an accountant at MTM, was assaulted while he was riding the bus home. They took the Q10 he had on him and basically just left him so shaken up that he took the next day off from work. Someone else was telling us this week that her brother was held up at gun-point while riding another local bus. And then Friday, Aura and I were assaulted while driving just a mile-and-a-half from the office.

I think I have avoided mentioning the scary stuff in my blog. For instance, the first time we went to Coatepeque was actually kind of scary. They had warned me that one of the defendants was a narco-trafficker and that he had made threats against Yasuri, the attorney for the Fiscalia/MP. As we were waiting and during the trial it was no big deal. But suddenly, as we were getting ready to leave it was like Yasuri went into a panic. She kept glancing outside and started calling to see if anyone from her office could come pick her up. She even called for a police escort. Apparently the defendant's family members - who are also involved in whatever drug trafficking business he has - were waiting around on the outside of the courthouse. The police came and made people leave, but she was still afraid that they'd just be waiting around the corner and find her as she was walking to her car. We ended up staying with her in the courthouse for at least 45 minutes after the trial was over. The longer we stayed, the more worried I became. We finally decided that Yasuri and the victim's family would go with Paula in the car we brought from MTM since it was parked across the street. Meanwhile Aura, Jenny, and I would go find Yasuri's car and meet them back at our hotel. I think I was nervous that something would happen until we actually pulled into the parking lot for the hotel. The threats against Yasuri became so extreme that they took her off the case. They replaced her with a different lawyer and she is requesting a transfer to Xela.

There is some good news in the Coatepeque case, however. Now remember, this is the case where the 13 year old was raped by three different men. She became pregnant, and now has an adorable daughter who she also named Yasuri, and contracted HPV. Well, there had been problems because the STD tests - which could provide crucial evidence for proving the rape by the other two men - would have cost over Q13,000 ($1,695). That is simply money that MTM and the victim's family do not have. Yasuri has been great on this case and did everything she could to convince her superiors that MP should pay the costs of those exams!

But anyway, the scary stuff comes with the territory. I knew what I was in for when I agreed to come to Guatemala. In fact, that was part of the reason I decided to start a blog - its almost like a weekly alert letting you know I'm still okay! But, I feel like I've been lucky because my experiences here have been more good than bad. I've got big plans for this last month, and I'm going to make the best of the time I've got left! But don't worry, I'll be careful. 

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Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011  (Happy 21st SLG!)

Days in Guatemala: 77

Date of Return to Los Angeles: May 4, 2011

Date of Return to Boston: May 18, 2011

Barbri Bar Prep Start Date: May 19, 2011

Graduation Date: May 27, 2011

California Bar Exam: July 26-28, 2011