New Age Guatemala

sooner or later these people are going to be foreigners in their own land.

This must be ad - it keeps appearing near the front. Only two responses.

Witchcraft in 2009! I'd rather not sell my soul to a poor witch doctor or 'spirit guide' or whatever you want to call them.

Jesus is my healer. You don't have to go anywhere to find him.

this sounds like it might be a cool place to visit, although most of the new age stuff is silly.

damn hippies!

Get a life !

i never heard of this town, and would like to know more about it. namely, it's use in regards to astral travel and neo-shamanism.

Tourist are the answer for these people. I'm glad they are starting businesses for themselves.

i've been to San Marcos and have partaken in a local custom or two. i was hoping to see a longer pod as this barely got my beak wet. good looking shots, nice use of stats at the beginning of pod, great use of locals...but we could have seen more.

I love the girl saying her country would be full of foreigners...... she sounds just like a minute man on the Mexican border.... Maybe they'll build a fence to keep foreigners out.

Stop them or you will lose all your land, culture, hertiage, and everything because of the white people. Don't trust them. Find other forms of income or industry, not tourism.

They talk about their land as if already doesn't belonged to someone else and as now is bought by foreigners now they don't have chances over those lands to get them bought.

That's not the reality, and neither is the reality that if they can't buy a land then they can't neither construct something for tourism.

But there's local people that's creating their own business and that's the way to keep their land and get income, not saying that someone else is removing their lands from their hand...

South America is beautiful. I can understand why people want to live there especially with the way things are going here in the states.

~ Mind Control

San Marcos as well as all the little towns around lake Atitlan have a vast cultural history and dispite the continuous struggle that the local indigenous people have gone through the great smile that they always have to offer is going to be the first thing you see. Trully a great thing to see my country reach Current TV through the great people thet visit it.

Woh, I've totally been there when I visited Guatemala with my family three years ago. We took a small boat on Lake Atitlan to get there. It was the least satisfying part of the whole trip. There was construction going on, and much of the land was resort-ified with cookie cutter grass planted and all of that. It's a real shame that the locals are going to be pushed out for this.

Definitely a country that I would like to visit.

lol... too much money and too much time? or are they doing what most of us would do if we could? ;)

There isn't anything wrong with wanting to embrace another culture. In fact it's a good thing, but using your exceptional means to buy a piece of it will smother said culture. It's inevitable though that if enough people start showing up, timeshares and condos are going to start going up. Look at what happened in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Aspen, and Sedona. No matter how well intentioned these visitors are, some swine will eventually come along and see a goldmine. That's the sad truth.

This sort of situation is very complicated. In the moral gray area, I suppose, because the outsiders bring much needed money to the area but at the same time are basically taking the natives' homes right from under them. Their way of life is changing, for better and for worse. (Hopefully more better than worse...)

Having been to Lake Atitlan and San Marcos La Laguna, I am glad that indigenous-owned tourist businesses are beginning to crop up, as the area's culture is indeed in danger of being smothered by that of more affluent, caucasian groups. There are some remarkable things to see, including a carved wooden pulpit in one of the curches that has decorations combining the Mayan mythology with that of the Catholics; one of the only ones in Central America, and the incredible sunrises and sunsets over the lake itself. Immersion Spanish classes are available and are also a good way to put tourist dollars directy into the hands of locals, but the influx of westerners only exacerbates what is already a big problem n Guatemala when it comes to land ownership; the indigeanos or native people have already been economically displaced by the ladinos, or moneyed class with blood lines traceable to Spain. These lighter-skinned, less "native" looking people are, and have been since the 16th century colonization by Spain, in control, both monetarily and pooitically.

That's sad that old ways have to be compromised for news ones but it's the way it is. Progress comes with a price.

I'm going to Guatemala in March, on a mission trip. I'm so excited. I really want to make a difference.

I thought I was the only one that thought like that. I feel that "gentrification" is happening in my own neighborhood. Echo Park. Or has already happened. The latinos that live here will soon be pushed out.