Or maybe the better question is “Why is there even a chicken on the road?”
So I have to say this blog post is waaaay overdue because I’ve been struggling with this question since I got to Guatemala (1 year, 7 months, and 7 days… to be exact). And when I say chicken, I actually mean every kind of animal you can think of: cow, horse, dog, pig, turkey, goat, sheep, I mean the list could go on…
So while I’m sitting in my camioneta (public bus) or the peace corps shuttle ... I like to look out the window and see all that this beautiful country has to offer ... the lovely green grass that grows all around and around (but only in rainy season), the awesome volcanoes, the beautiful strong working women with children on their backs. I mean, this country is amazing, in so many ways.
I definitely understand that this is an agriculturally based country and that most of the money made is based on raising animals and growing food. However, why o why do I have to see these animals on the sides of the streets…or in the middle of the road blocking traffic! Seriously? AND there have been several times where the animals are roaming without their owner. And I definitely understand animals on the roads in and between towns… but what about on the sides of highways? Really… I just don’t understand…. At all!
I know you may be thinking, why I even care about this. And that’s a really good question actually. But I just can’t stop thinking about why there are so many animals everywhere.
I have to say, as a city girl, I NEVER came in contact with so many animals. At first I was terrified of them, I mean, especially the horses and cows everywhere.. they are HUGE (which is super dangerous while walking from a small village and a cow is stampeding towards you-thankfully he saw me and turned his direction)… but now I feel a little comfortable with them. I don’t know if I’ll ever touch one. But sometimes when I encounter them while walking to work…I greet them: Good Morning Mister Cow… Nice to see you Mister Horse. Hahah They look at me like I’m crazy…which I may very well be.
So anyway… the moral to this post (there really isn’t one) is that animals have become my new friends… because they greet me with a smile (not really), they don’t harass me for English classes, the don’t randomly touch my hair, they don’t force me to eat meat (actually they love me because I won’t eat them)… hahah Hope this post put a smile on your face…
A few pictures of the animals i've crossed paths with here in Guate:
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| My 1st Chuchu (stray dog) sighting straight off the plane! |
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| Walking to an aldea (small villiage) ... |
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| Cute.... Black Pigs!! |
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| The dogs even attend my meetings... |
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| A horse, chilling on the side of the road... |
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| Passing a house and saw these chickens |
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| Another horse, on the side of the road.. |
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| A pink pig too |
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| The only picture of an animal, at its Home, where it should be! |
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| A cute little family of chickens |
Hilarious...I know first hand how you feel about the animals...this cracked me up..you have such a way of making me laugh hysterically!!! Good post...thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have the same encounters here living in rural Holland so I can also relate. The animals are a wonder to me. I especially love your reasons for appreciating them. They *are* uncomplicated eh? :)
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