Chalet Atitlán?

For the past week, we’ve been living temporarily in a San Lucas hotel called Casa Blanca. Yesterday, however, we finally moved into permanent housing! We are staying in a house owned by a rather wealthy elderly parishioner, Doña Roli. Doña Roli is a charming, warm, kind-hearted woman who is 80-years-old but looks and acts like she’s hardly a day over 70. She lives alone with her husband, who is an adorably frail old gentleman of 91 years.

Doña Roli and her husband are criollo, (the Spanish word for “creole”). Criollo is a term that refers to the racial and cultural identity of those Guatemalans who can trace their ancestral lineage directly back to Spain. Criollos are racially Caucasian, and make up the country’s very small upper class of landowners and politicians. Indeed, Shom and I are staying in one of three houses they own in San Lucas Tolimán.

There are two other terms used in Guatemala to describe race. Indígena (indigenous) refers to people of Mayan descent. Depending on whose statistics you read, approximately 60 to 75% of Guatemala’s population is indígena, and from what I’ve seen so far, it seems to me that this race category is also synonymous with extreme poverty.

Ladino is the term used in Guatemala to describe people of mixed heritage, those who count among their ancestors both indigenous Mayans and Spanish conquistadors. Ladino can also be used to describe those indigenous Guatemalans who adopt the dominant culture developed through Spanish colonial and U.S. influence in the country. From what I’ve observed, Ladinos socioeconomic status ranges from very poor to middle class.

I came to Guatemala to live and work as a volunteer with the impoverished Mayan people of San Lucas. While I am very grateful for our new home and the generosity of our benefactor, I can´t help but feel a bit awkward living in this “chalet” as Doña Roli straight-facedly referred to it yesterday.