And Another One Bites the Dust

"Ya no tienen gracia ya!" My host mom exclaimed to me yesterday afternoon (they're not even funny anymore!).

We were talking about the girls in our village who have moved in with their boyfriends lately, and the boys who have brought their girlfriends home from neighboring villages. I think I've mentioned this before, the strange culture of young people just moving in together instead of getting married first. Hmm, put that way, it doesn't sound so strange. That happens in US all the time. But in Guatemala, and in my village in particular, the people are overwhelmingly Catholic and conservative. And the young couples don't move into their own house somewhere. They move into the boy's parents' house! It may be years and years before they move out on their own, and it's often just to a one room house built next to the parents' house. Sole could only think of THREE men in our village who had their own house built before they got married or brought their girlfriend home.

The girls seem to go in waves. I can imagine that it would take some gumption to just up and move out of your parents' house as a young girl, especially in this culture where independence is not encouraged, and respecting your parents' is so important. So it does kind of make sense that a girl might get up the nerve to move in with her boyfriend if her best friend did it the week before. But it's depressing. And it always seems to happen when I'm gone. For example, I was hardly here at all in June. And talking with my host mom yesterday I found out that my 18 year old neighbor brought a girlfriend home, his cousin (also 18) moved in with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is eighteen, and has 7 siblings, one of whom also has his girlfriend living at home. They live in a one room shack with a dirt floor. So that means 12 people living in one room. What could possess the girl?!?! She was a student in middle school, four months away from graduating. Two other girls in her class have recently dropped out of school and moved in with their boyfriends. And worst of all, according to the latest gossip, a 12 year old girl ran away with her boyfriend, was dragged home by her dad, and is now pregnant. And in Pino Dulce, an 18 year old girl who is my best friend and biggest supporter in the community, moved in with her boyfriend in a village an hour away. I always imagined that she would finish middle school, keep studying, and get a great job eventually. Guess I was wrong. It's very rare the girl whose boyfriend allows her to keep studying once they're living together.

I'm so happy that higher education is becoming more accessible in rural Guatemala. Three years ago, a kid had to travel to town every day to study past sixth grade. Now they can walk there, making it much more convenient and less expensive for their parents. But if people don't start taking it more seriously, Guatemala isn't going to get ahead. Dropping out of 7th, 8th or 9th grade to move in with your boyfriend and start having kids should not be acceptable. And although it's not exactly condoned, nothing is being done to stop this trend!

Here are some pictures of my middle schoolers a year ago. They look like kids, don't they? Well I was looking through these tonight and was shocked by just how many girls have dropped out of school.

Theresa, red jacket with pink stripes.
Magdalena, standing to the left of Theresa.

Pilar, far right. Paola, crouched on left.

Iliana, brown jacket in center.

Well I guess that's only five, but still, five girls out of twenty three is 22%! That is ridiculous!