Living in Guatemala City

I officially arrived in Guate three weeks ago! Guess it's about time I share a little about where I'm living,  Guatemala City. Guatemala City, if you couldn't guess, is the capital of Guatemala. It has a little over a million people living in the city with about 4 million people living in the metro area. It's also the largest city in Central America!

People seem to have lots to say about Guatemala City, so here's what I heard about it before arriving:

1. You either love it or hate it.

2. It's really different from the rest of the country, which is generally rural. 

3. It's dangerous...one stat I heard is that more murders occur in the 'ciudad' than in all the other parts of the country combined. YIKES!

4. It's a city (very insightful I know!). 

5. The city clashes with the insanely rich and the poverty stricken person. 

6. June and July (the time I'll be in Guate) is their winter and rainy season. 

7. There's a lot of volcanoes. 

My impression three weeks later...I kind of agree with what people say. 

1. This is the one point I might to disagree with. In my three weeks, I can't say I love it, but I also don't hate it. I think I would love it exponentially more if I had a car cause I have come to realize this is definitely a driving city!

2. I've only been to Antigua so far and, yes, Guatemala City is definitely different. It's fast paced for one thing. 

3. Yep, this one appears to be true. Knock on wood, nothing has happened to me so far. But all you have to do is talk with someone to hear a bunch of personal stories regarding the safety of the city. But, really the safety of the city depends on where you live. Just so ya know, Guatemala City is divided into 18 'zonas.' The four safest zones are 10, 14, 15, 16. Luckily, I work in zone 15 and live and in zone 16 (on top of the mountain!!). Zone 10 is where all the restaurants and nightlife are located and my gym. As you saw in earlier posts, our clinics are in zone 3 and 4 so sometimes I go there. Zone 1 is the old city and is pretty dangerous at night. Zone 18 is uber-dangerous (embassy won't come help you there!). Airport is in zone 13. Based on where I live and work, I have to say I only see a small part of the city! I also learned this weekend that legally you are only allowed to have 1 person one a motorcycle at a time. Why you might ask? Because there were too many assassinations occurring with two riders on a motorcycle. I think that accurately reflects the safety level. 

4. It's still a city (SHOCKER!). 

5. Definitely true that there's an interesting mix here in Guate of rich and poor. At a mall you might see someone with 2-3 bodyguards. Step outside and you'll see people with nowhere to live. 

6. So it's winter here for Guatemalans. Apparently there are only two season, winter and summer, and which one it is really depends on the day. Kind of strange! Oh yeah, it's also rainy season. We don't get as much rain as other parts of the country, but it still rains at least every other day.

7. Guatemala City is surrounded by beautiful volcanoes. And these volcanos are ACTIVE! Just last week, I experienced my first ever earthquake as a result of an active volcano!

To finish, I thought I should include some pics of where I live so see below :)

One of my roommates we call 'gatito'

Brad Pitt (let) and Lolita (right), two other roommates in the house

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Awesome stairs leading to the bedrooms

Chicken Bus. I've only had the pleasure of riding these one time. They are super interesting! We actually don't ride them here in the city because it's really dangerous. Lots of bus drivers are killed every year because they won't pay extortion fees.