A local story

In San Pedro I met a guy called, funnily enough, Pedro. We spent some time chatting and it was so interesting to hear his story. I guess it is hard for someone who has grown up in a wealthy country to imagine life to be so difficult.

Pedro’s father died when he was young and so he was only able to go to school for three years, from the age of 10-13. Of course, the Mayan people speak only Mayan at home and need to be at school to learn to speak Spanish. But if there’s no breadwinner, there’s no money for school. So Pedro had to leave school and learn Spanish on the streets. To speak to him you would not know that he had only three years of schooling.

His mother did remarry and have more children and Pedro was required to work at the stepfather’s farm. There he was regularly beaten (by the stepfather) and while his mother encouraged him to fight back, he decided it wasn’t worth it because if the police got involved, he would end up with a police record for the rest of his life.

I guess this led to his rejection of a lot of the aspects of Mayan culture and he has now taught himself English and unlike most locals, aspires to travel. He has been to New Zealand already and is planning to go to Canada soon. Whilst still close to his mother, much of the Mayan community rejects him as a quasi-gringo.

Finding work here is difficult for anyone, many of the businesses employ locals in the busy season then lay them off in the quiet time – so there is no financial stability at all. Pedro had been working in a restaurant until things got quiet. Now when he can he paints, works on local farms, and DJs.

Another young guy I met who worked at a bar had been teaching in a local Spanish school but was laid off due to the quiet time.