Since the climate remains the same throughout the year, the houses need neither heat nor insulation. In some remote areas there is no electricity or running water. Even in Xela, the electricity failed almost daily. To install a new phone line takes up to two years. But despite these quirks, people seem to get by.
Food is cheap and readily available, and most people seem to have enough to eat.
Some families, such as my two guest families, are making some extra money by hosting language students. Tourism and exports are important staples of the Guatemalan economy, and for those who can afford it, the luxuries of modern life are also available. For instance, any number of internet cafes have opened in places like Guatemala City, Antigua, and Panajachel in the last couple of years, which is a stark contrast to the desolate and often dysfunctional telephone system. The usual mode of travel is by bus, or, Some live pigs are traveling on the roof of this bus in Xela. The busses, also known as chicken busses, are old school busses from the United States or Canada, equipped with railings to keep the baggage from falling off the roof.