Show M I 1 J VI vl 4 r brawl A 3 af pf t wit r rainy season bridge in guatemala city prepared by national geographic society washington D C r service HEN you enter guatemala W city you are in the most populous place in all central america with a population of including about foreigners guatemala cit city y Is is i a thriving metropolis of well paved streets department stores luxury shops cafes country clubs busy factories garages and modern hotels its motion picture theaters showing mostly american talkies tallies tal kies with spanish subtitles advertise with big electric signs overhanging the streets in broadway style at the capitals covered central market the largest in the country the array of foodstuffs textiles utensils furniture and other commodities modi ties is endless its long aisles and the streets adjoining the market building and cathedral are al brays jammed with a noisy restless throng of merchants and buyers and the odors strange spicy and heavy the fresh scents of vegetables and exotic flowers mingle with the greasy smell of cooking food the aroma of roasted coffee coff ee pd and the balmy fragrance of copal incense incense those with weak stomachs may not me like the appearance or odor of freshly slaughtered meat nor will they find appetizing the leached beached corn m mash ash for tortillas hortillas tor tillas or armadillos roasted in their shells or crude brown sugar pressed into dirty blocks and balls but visitors are delighted with bright tropical fruits piled in artistic disarray graceful baskets and glazed pottery and gay textiles woven on primitive hand looms guatemalans Guatemala ns are proud and justly so of the fine coff coffee ee grown in their highlands placards in english and spanish remind the visitor at every turn that guatemala grows the rest best coffee in the world on the days when tourist trains arrive in guatemala city the department part ment of agriculture holds open house small packages of freshly roasted coffee wrapped in glazed paper are presented to each visitor they are appropriate souvenirs of a nation which is the sixth most important coffee grower in the world being exceeded only by brazil colombia the netherlands indies venezuela and el salvador the second most important export is the banana grown in the coastal plains bordering the gulf of honduras and the pacific airport a busy spot one of the busiest spots today in this busiest of central american capitals is la aurora airport here the trunk line of the pan american airways from brownsville Browns ville texas to panama connects with a halt half dozen local air services to distant parts of the republic many who do not come to guatemala city by plane come by boat and dock at san jose a sleepy little tropical port between steamers this back door to guatemala drowses in the shade of tall breadfruit trees and coconut palms and carries on a desultory commerce with the indians of the coastal lagoons its dingy water front ragged porters and fishermen stifling heat and main street preempted pre empted by railroad tracks give no promise of the color and activity of guate malas gay modern capital high up in the cool central plateau the first part of the 73 mile journey to guatemala city follows a gently rising plain whose black volcanic soil is planted thickly in bananas sugar cane cotton cacao and fruit trees guatemala city is nearly a mile above sea level in i the cool and healthful tierra tem plada or temperate zone and the train must gain most of this altitude in the last fifty miles not far beyond palin the line creeps through a narrow valley between two towering peaks and comes out on the edge of mountain rimmed lake for several era miles the railroad winds along the shore passing groups of indian women washing clothes in hot springs at the waters edge it is a convenient laundry for clothes may be boiled in the springs and rinsed in the cold fresh water of the lake without taking a step the train approaches guatemala city through verdant suburbs which give way to warehouses and railroad yards indicating the commercial activity of this busy latin american capital winter means rainy season from the terminal taxis whisk visitors over smoothly paved streets to their hotel frequently a grandiose structure with a glass covered I 1 patio mahogany floors and furniture and very high ceilings if one remarks to the clerk that the air seems a trifle chilly yes the winter is just beginning he may reply winter in the tropics and in may he explains that winter in guatemala is the rainy season may to october a period of clouds dampness and dismal rains although he hastens to add part of every day is fair and sunny in summer november to april there is little or no rain the sun shines throughout the day and the people are healthier and happier one may be awakened in the morning by the clamor of church bells the rumble of heavy oxcarts ox carts and the musical chimes of carriages bearing worshipers to early mass guatemala city is compactly built stand on the roof of one of its modern buildings and you see a clean and pleasant community most of whose white blue pink and buff colored houses and shops are one or two stories high only a few concrete business buildings and stone church towers rise above the prevailing flat red tiled roofs founded in the year the e united states declared its indea independence en dence guatemala city is a comparative youngster among the communities of latin america several times it has been damaged by earthquakes and in 1917 almost the entire city was destroyed it has lost its old world air although it still has many moorish type homes with iron grilled billed windows and patios aglow with flowers fascinating as is guatemala city however it is but a prelude to that native guatemala which is older in race culture and traditions high in the sierra madre west and north of the capital pure blooded indians still dress as did their ancestors worship vor ship their old gods as well as the new and live their lives almost unaffected by modern civilization iza tion until a few years ago when the government launched an extensive road building program travel in the highlands of guatemala was slow and arduous now one may motor from the capital westward to the mexican border and east to el salvador motoring through the country speeding along the floor of the valley one passes a steady stream of indians and vehicles bound for the markets of guatemala city stolid earnest faced men trot by at a half run their heads held rigid by a across the forehead that supports the heavy loads on their backs F for 0 r miles they have been jogging along at this peculiar forward falling gait in ca castes or wooden frames they carry goods of all kinds earthen jars furniture bogs bags of grain or fresh vegetables their women hurry along beside or behind them arms swinging freely their burdens on their heads sometimes it is a basket of live chickens a fat roll of clothing woven fabrics or a bundle of firewood almost always a baby bobs up and down in a shawl slung across the mothers back each tribe and almost every village in the highlands c has a distinctive costume co designs have not changed in hundreds of years to those who know the different cos the indians of the highlands might be carrying signs around their necks reading 1 I am from solola or 1 I am from chichicaste tenango venango 1 et cetera it is regrettable however that many of these costumes are disappearing native garb has been replaced by blue denim and cheap imported cotton goods throughout most of el salvador and these materials are now penetrating guatemala under the harsh treatment of the indians daily toil such fabrics are quickly reduced to tatters unlike the half naked aborigines of the jungle lowlands or the itinerant tradesmen and servants of the cities the indians of the highlands of guatemala have maintained a proud semi independence as farmers weavers and pottery makers conquered but never assimilated they are aristocrats among the native peoples of central america and they are sufficiently well organized to make mass petitions to the central government when local conditions demand it they have had much less contact with other races than indians elsewhere have had and are not badly scourged urged with alcohol consequently they have retained their self respect and and are neither subservient nor cringing I 1 |