Money Matters

It's true that when people are desperate for money, they will do anything they're able to, whether it's work as a maid, sell handmade cloths and shirts, beg, or in some cases, steal. However, on that topic, there is a lot less theft than I was subconsciously expecting here. I have been keeping a watchful eye on my phone and my bag whenever I'm walking in the streets but so far, pick pocketing doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as I had anticipated. There are a lot more street vendors than I expected, though. In the park there is always someone wandering around with a giant tray full of random snacks, gum, candy, and cigarettes. I have to wonder how much money they make in a day. I also observed that our drivers in La Labor and in Guatemala City were also more generous with buying gum from street vendors, giving money to children in the street begging, or giving money to the people washing their windows. In America, a lot of people see a homeless man begging on the street and roll up their windows to drive away. 
While stealing isn't as much of a problem, cheating is. This topic first came up with my host family in Xela when they complimented me on my Spanish accent. They then went on to tell me that when I'm shopping with my friends at the street vendors, to make sure that I do all the talking, because the vendors will charge more to the “gringas” since they assume that we don't know any better. My teachers at PLQ said the same thing. I had my eye on a pair of athletic pants in one of the secondhand stores near the school, and the store owner was asking 70Q for them. Not a bad price. I asked my teacher what a good price was for clothing here and she told me that it was a little bit high. She walked with me to the store and talked him down to 60Q. She told me that a lot of store owners won't post the prices on their merchandise so they can charge whatever price they think the gringos will fall for. My teacher told me a story about how the bus that she used to get to work would consistently charge 10Q to the gringos on the bus who looked like they didn't know what the price was, and charge 5Q to everyone else. It made her mad because she believes in justice for everyone, and what they were doing was unfair. 
However, I don't mind paying a little extra for things here, though. I figure it's going to a good cause. By charging me that 10Q extra, that store owner will have more money to take care of his family. And for me, it's the difference between paying $8.57 and $10.00. Not that big of a deal. I started out thinking that I was spending way too much because I was going through about 200Q per week, and then I remember that's like $30. 
It's also been enlightening for me to understand what people may be going through when they immigrate to the United States. A simple thing like buying a water bottle is complicated when I have to hear the total, translate it in my head, separate out the dollar and the cents amount that I just heard, find out which one of the foreign money bills and coins in my purse are the ones I need, hand it to the cashier, and hope I got it right! I'm thankful I'm getting better at dividing by 7 in my head and making purchases is getting more fluent for me. The more I practice, the better I'll get.