A Very Disturbing Story

I met a man who will remain anonymous out of respect for the innocent. This man is from north America, a modern west coast city. He told me the following story. His younger sister (in her late 20s) and a young male friend embarked on a journey to drive from the west cost of North America through Mexico and all the way south to Patagonia. In Guatemala City they checked into a hostel in a not-so-good part of town at the insistence of the young man. For some reason the young man left early in the morning the next day leaving the woman alone....15 minutes later two men broke into the room and raped and severely beat the young woman. This was one and half years ago. My companion was here to visit a family that helped his sister after the attack, bringing her to Antigua where her entire family flew to bring her home and aid her in the start of a long healing process. She is doing well under the circumstances....and on the plane she leaned into her brother and said. "I will be back to finish this trip." The truth is, Guatemala City is not a safe place...especially for westerners. I have heard from others that car jackings are a daily occurrence, kidnappings for ransom are common, and many middle class and affluent Guatemalans hire private armed guards for protection. Alejandra was headed towards Guate (the nick name for the capital city) to buy a dress for a wedding tomorrow. She was taking a chicken bus and said that going to only the central shopping area is safe and that she never goes into the surrounding zones as it is very dangerous. Again, all things are are relative....context is everything. I feel safe here in Antigua and have no plans to go to Guate except to fly home.