Working and women

So as some of you have noticed, I’ve skipped a week in my blogging… mainly due to the fact that I’ve started working. After 3 job offers I decided that it was a sign that working here was something that I should take up. Now, I thought my hospitality days were long gone,, along with my uni days but I guess you can never say never…

I’m working in a bar/restaurant called Salon Tecun, the oldest bar in Guatemala which is located in the centre of town, in a beautiful old arcade. It’s a bar where Che Guevara drank when he came to Xela I’ve been told and it’s definitely very popular with locals. My Spanish is improving from having worked here, or at least my table and wine Spanish is. I think the main reason why they hired me was because foreigners apparently attract more tips, therefore meaning more tips for all the staff. I get approximately $1.50 an hour, and a total of $15 (90Q) for my 8 ½ hour shift and around $2-3 in tips a night. Not exactly raking it in! Now I’m not working to make money, it’s just for the benefit of practicing my Spanish that I’ve decided to work. What is amazing is when you consider that what I’m earning is above the minimum wage for Guatemalans (approximately $9 (52Q) for a days work) and a litre of beer for example costs $ 6.50 (35Q). Life is extremely expensive for Guatemalans earning an average salary, particularly now with the economic crisis, unemployment is extremely high, especially in rural areas. That’s why a lot of people can’t afford the necessities of life such as fruits and vegetables and sending their kids to school.

Before I came to Guatemala I had read that the society here was entrenched with patriarchy. This seems to be true from my experiences so far. I have met so many women who have been left by their husbands, with kids to look after or women who are regularly beaten up by their husbands. Women do all the housework as is to be expected in a machismo culture and many accept to be subservants to men. It seems to be a regular occurrence for men to cheat on their wives and almost accepted within society that this happens. I’ve been told that women who separate from their husbands find it much harder to find a new partner and are sometimes ostracized by society. Therefore many women don’t by choice separate from their husbands. Violence against women is amongst the highest in Latin America with over 4000 women killed since 2000. They say that approximately 4 women a week are being killed here and the majority being poor young women.

Looking different and being a woman here attracts a lot of unwanted attention. Sometimes you take it in your stride and brush it off and other times you can’t help but react with offense. Obviously working in a bar opens you up to this sort of behaviour and you just have to politely decline the offer and continue handing out the drinks.