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I’d like to write a post about another touchy subject: men.

Men were one of the things I got serious warnings about before arriving and during my training. I heard about the aggressive Guatemalan males and their ridiculousness. While I’ve never felt in danger, I’ve definitely felt uncomfortable. Most of the time people leave me alone in my pueblo, but when I go to the city I get constant catcalls. The worst part about it is the noise people use to get someone’s attention here. “Ch ch ch ch…” this means, “Hey! Over here!”
I know it is acceptable in this culture, but it drives me crazy. It just sounds so rude! “Ch ch ch ch” is usually followed by heavily accented calls of “Hey baby!” “How are you, my love?” or my favorite, “Miss Universe.” It doesn’t even seem to matter if I am accompanied by a guy or not. I have to wonder, has this ever worked? Has any woman ever responded to these advances by saying, “Well, hey, what are you doing later?” I think not.
Then there was the one time things got physical. I was walking down the street in Xela with one of my girlfriends when a man driving past on a motorcycle reached over and grabbed my ass! He was gone before I even really knew what was going on. But really! Not only is it rude, degrading, and completely counterproductive to any prospects he may have, but that takes a lot of coordination!
If there’s one good thing about this treatment of women, (and I thought long and hard about whether or not there are any advantages at all), it’s that men here tend not to be flakes. If they like you, they let you know, and they are persistent. There is little of the second-guessing, body language reading that goes on in dating stateside. Of course, this directness does not outweigh the drawbacks to the machismo behavior.
I think if I were giving advice to a new PCV arriving in Guatemala, it would be to be confident and cool. After all, if you’re in a public place, you have all the control in the situation. And don’t forget that even though you are trying to integrate into the community, there are some parts of the culture you don’t have to buy into, and this is one of them.