Volcanoes, pandilleros, and chicken buses…oh my!! What is a chicken bus anyway?! If you want to travel, discover, and do something worthwhile, then Guatemala has a lot to offer.

"Perdóname" is still playing in the background as I ride back to Antigua from Guatemala City in the 60-person capacity old American school bus coined a "chicken bus" in Guatemala. Just picture an eclectically painted and pimped out school bus flying down the mountainous roads. There are 150 hot, musty, and sweaty bodies stuffed on the bus. Every time the ayudante on the bus hangs out of the bus door, yelling "Antigua, Antigua" or "Guate, Guate" (bus going to Guatemala city) as if he is auctioning off the bus, I mumble to myself "Are you serious? Isn't the bus already full enough? Please don't let another soul on!" The next thing I know, 15 people try to squeeze into the minuscule crevices of space left on the bus. The ride may be unpleasant, but it is part of the Guatemalan experience. An unpleasant experience can easily turn into an amusing one. I couldn't help but to laugh as a stranger fell asleep on my shoulder, two inches from my face.

Although Guatemala has recently ended a 36-year civil war in 1996 and still harbors corruption within their government and society, the natural beauty of the country and of its people still shine. We all know that the spirit and soul of Latino people never dies! 

The town in which I was based for three weeks was a quaint, little colonial city called Antigua. It's one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites meaning that everything is preserved in its colonial state. Cobblestone roads never cease in this town and give it the picture-perfect town feel. The tall ruins left dilapidated from a series of earthquakes are dispersed throughout the town amongst the vibrantly colored tiendas, adding to the antiquity in the atmosphere. My homestay was down Segunda Avenida Sur (2nd Avenue South). This particular street was embellished with the picturesque volcano at the end of the street. I woke up to this view every morning and took a minute to soak in the beauty because I knew that as soon as I returned to states the closest thing to a volcano would be the polluted smoke coming from power plants. There’s something about volcanoes that entrances me, their majestic aura.
 
In the midst of volunteering, I was able to fit in an exploration of Guatemalan naturaleza. My group spent a weekend at the beautiful Lake Atitlán, which is surrounded by volcanoes and mountains. The weekend was complete with a hotel perched in a tropical paradise but it turned into wilderness central after night fell and the enormous spiders came out. I remembered I was a girl scout, I can handle the great outdoors and the creatures that come with it (sometimes!). With that said, of course I didn't freak out when I saw a spider with three-inch legs crawling towards my bed!  The six course meal for only $10 helped to balance everything out. Lake Atitlán is home to thirteen villages where many indigenous Mayans reside. Our waitresses were a Mayan mother and her two daughters, who spoke Spanish to us, but spoke in their Mayan dialect to each other. The Mayan language is intriguing and it's amazing to me that people still speak it after centuries of colonialism and social injustice towards Mayans.

After resting in the calming niche of the mountains, I returned to the harsh reality that Guatemaltecos live in daily. I was lucky enough to have a weekend getaway, but for many Guatemaltecos, there is no getting away. Riding the chicken bus become a normality for me, until one day we were told that the bus would be hours late because our regular driver's life had been threatened by gangs. The pandillas in Guatemala seem to have control over one of the most routine Guatemalan rituals: taking the bus. The gangs exert their force on the private bus companies and demand a weekly tax per bus. When that is not paid, the bus driver and helpers are in grave danger. A gang member would hop onto the bus, shoot the driver and the helper in the head, and then hop off the bus as if nothing ever happened. Where is the justice, what's the action plan of the Guatemalan police, or god forbid the government interfere to ensure the security of its citizens. Incidents such as these go on in Guatemalan society often without notice of authorities or maybe even with them being complicit in the corrupt activities. Sadly, I wasn't able to say goodbye to mis hijos at Camino Seguro because my bus route was deemed the most dangerous. This only furthered my understanding for the integral purpose of Camino to eliminate the possibility for the youth to surrender to gang involvement. Oddly, this experience does not deter me from wanting to go back to Guatemala. Underneath its layer of corruption, there is a Guatemala ready to flourish. I left Guatemala ready to go back and see the kids' luminous smiles, the magical volcanoes, and the cobblestone streets once more.