14 October 2010

Getting into Guatemala has been a real hassle.  In Mexico I picked up a guy after he convinced me he could quicken the immigration process. This turned out to be completely unnecessary. He directed me to immigration and then we went to the offices of his company and not the office where I needed to get my vehicle permit. He charged me Q300 for some copies and another Q300 for his trouble.  The permit only costs Q40. He overcharged me enormously and I think at the next border I will not hire anyone to streamline the process.

However if I had not hired him I would not have met Carlos who directed me to a mechanic to fix my strut. He did not have the part so we had to drive to Malacatan. We made a trip  to the ATM and then three auto parts stores before we found the part. I told him to drive back to the bank but he did not so when we got back to the border the mechanic started work on the car while Carlos drove the taxi back to the bank. Now I have to pay twice for the taxi. Q300 for the taxi. Q500 for the mechanic. Q1600 for the part.

Juan is the mechanic. It took him a while to bang everything back into place so the shock would fit. In the process he used a long metal pipe to press down on the drum tie rods and he broke the brake line. But he fixed it and did not charge extra.

Here’s what happened to my documents: the tramitador took them and gave me his work badge to hold. So the whole time my car was getting fixed my papers were safe in the aduana’s office. When he took my papers and ran off I was extremely nervous and uncomfortable. It wasn’t until I went to sign for my car permit that I was told the fee was Q40. I paid them (the tramitadors) Q600!!!  So they overcharged and screwed me out of money. But my car also got fixed and the whole time I was away from my car in Malacatan no one stole from the vehicle. Except for the money issue they were very nice people. Ramon, who was with me a good deal of the day, asked for a little something but I said no and sped off. Two of them wanted my tennis shoes but I did not give them away. They took enough of my money. So everything worked out well in the end. The important thing is my car is now fixed. I will have to drive a lot more carefully to avoid future problems.

Official warning against paying expensive fees

This whole process took almost six hours and I ended up driving a good half hour in total darkness. That was a very dangerous thing to do. There are people walking along the highway and riding bicycles.

Guatemala is different from Mexico. It is poorer. Seems like everyone has a gold or chipped tooth. Trash along the highway. No military or police with machine guns yet.

I am at a hotel in Katarina. On the way out of Mexico a man at an intersection selling oranges shouted out “Hey New York!!  Where from!!” He said he had lived on Long Island for twenty years.

At the border there were a lot of people walking around in the street offering money changing and help with immigration and selling food or stuff and begging. Many had official looking badges for the tramitador service. The street was crowded with cars and people. The lot where my car was being worked on had a variety of half-wrecked car with license plates from Utah, Virginia, and California. Men would come and chain two or three cars together and haul them away into the depths of Guatemala. I can only wonder how those cars got there and where they were going.

There is a restaurant at this hotel and for dinner I had scrambled eggs with tomatoes, black beans, fried plantains or bananas, goat cheese?, a vanilla creme for the plantains, tortillas to wrap it all in, and coffee and water. The coffee was nescafe instant mix and when I asked for milk for the coffee I was brought a tiny bowl of powdered milk or cream. It was a good meal. This room, unlike the rooms in Mexico, has a door for the shower to make it separate from the rest of the bathroom.

I spoke in Spanish all day today with the mechanic and the tramitadors. My Spanish is still terrible.

In Malacatan every store was a store front. A building with an open front and a garage door to close it at night. The auto stores had parts hanging on the wall and a small area in the back for other larger parts. The hardware store had a gate to do business through. I saw two stores selling coffins and funerals. 

Courtney said to take risks and this is why I picked up the tramitador.  It was a big risk.