Something Stinks-The Environmental Hazards of Antigua, Guatemala

Part of the reason I left my last homestay was the tiny window that opened to a view of nothing but the junk on the rooftops below in the courtyard. I could handle that, but what I couldn't was the exhaust fumes that entered the window from the passing chicken buses that made me feel like I was in a closed garage with my 1989 Honda Civic. The car lacked a fuctional emissions system itself and constantly belched black smoke. Before I owned the car, the combined previous owners had racked up upwards of 300,000 miles. I didn't drive it much so it last me two years. When I did drive, the car made me the subject of at least 300,000 dirty looks. A real nasty chicken bus is like my car times a million. Cars like my Honda are standard in Guatemala.

Before I continue with my discussion of the smell, I'd like to pause for a moment and talk about the noise. Since my arrival, Antigua passed a law prohibiting the use of car horns to reduce noise pollution. That's great, right? Funny that the laws regarding all things contaminación auditativa don't also extend to the Catholic church....la iglesia católica ha integrado a las costumbres religiosas la quema de cohetillos y bombas. In Antigua, there is always a religious procession or celebration in progress that requires the use of fireworks. Though they occasionally cease for hours at a time, like the smell of 30 cowskins hanging in the sun, they are a part of daily life that one tries to ignore.

(I haven't figured out what the sound of the soul jarring explosions have to do with church. I did, however, find some curious information in an online exerpt of 'Guatemala 1953-1954- While the world watched'

from William Blum's, Killing Hope:

"During one night-time raid, a tape recording of a bomb attack was played over loudspeakers set up on the roof of the US Embassy to heighten the anxiety of the capital's residents. When Arbenz went on the air to try and calm the public's fear, the CIA radio team jammed the broadcast."

Blum is discussing the tactics employed by the CIA in overthrow of the legally elected Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz in June of 1954. While this may be neither here nor there (but it might be...), the fact is that the noise and the stench can make it hard to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of Antigua, Guatemala. see http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Guatemala_KH.html)

In Antigua, one generally finds very little trash on the street unless you walk around the perimiter of the coffee plantation. I asked my Spanish teacher about why this is so. She says it's because the plantation owners don't give a shit so the people who don't pay for garbage service throw their trash there. The plantation spans Antigua to at least three pueblos beyond. Why people drink discusting Nestle instant coffee is beyond me and perhaps another story.

And another thing I tried to ignore with the hope that after some time, I'd fail to notice it:

No, it's not a river of raw sewage running past the house. As I look out at the volcano in an often misty distance my eyes wander south to the situation that in my country would be against most neighborhood convenants and residential zoning laws. Though previously I fancied myself as some kind of anarchist, I'm begininng to see a line beween good law and bad laws in the more mundane respects. I guess there is more to law and order besides not blatently robbing or killing your neighbor.

I didn't notice it right away because my head must have been so clogged from exhaust fumes. The permeating smell is something that resembles the worlds biggest hotdog roast as if it were suddenly interrupted by a torrential downpour and tens and thousands of hotdogs were abandoned in the rain and the sun came out and made them very ripe and then it rained again and so on and so forth for a week.

That said I look over the fence and see all of the cow hides strung out to dry.

There they are just hanging, apparently there not bothering anyone but me, who is currently burning aromatherapy wax and incense. I'm afraid I've reached my saturation point for this smell.

A couple of days ago I realized that I wasn't the only one who ever even noticed it. After very carefully addressing the subject and I learn that because they've laid off the heavy processing chemicals smell is not as bad as it used to be. Holy shit i can't even fathom that! Apparently there was a big battle between the neighbors and the family that operates la tenería. The leather money won. For now they're all all anxiously waiting for the old man in charge to die.....

My host mother said "que dios me perdone pero no puedo esperar hasta que llegue este día"

Bad smells can give you nightmares
Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2008 12:49 PM PT
Filed Under: Dr. Billy Goldberg, Mark Leyner
By Mark Leyner and Dr. Billy Goldberg

"Attention all campers! You no longer have to bother dipping your bunkmate's hand in warm water in an attempt to make him pee in the bed. If you want to know how to terrorize that kid who picked on you on the kickball field, all you have to do is get inside his dreams. Through his nose.

German researchers have found that sleepers exposed to an unpleasant smell will have negative dreams. The opposite is also true. When subjects were exposed to the smell of roses, their dreams were predominantly positive. These olfactory observers used rotten eggs in their study, but we are sure that a stinky gym sock, left perched on the pillow of your enemy, would work just as well. While we're fairly certain that the researchers didn't plan to have their findings used in this manner, there are always unintended (and sometimes dastardly) consequences of scientific breakthroughs."

(See http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/02/1480391.aspx)

Leather in the making sure doesn't smell like a Sunday BBQ or the interior of a new luxury car.. Now that I smell it all the time I'm becoming obsessed...beyond the nightmares caused by generic stank I needed to find out more about the possible associated health hazards of the tannery industry. My brief investigation lead me here;

Eco-efficiency in a Leather Tannery: the Case of Curtigran in Colombia

"The tanning industry is known to be very polluting. The emissions resulting from the tanning process are gaseous, liquid and solid, and not only degrade the environment but also have a negative effect on human health. The effluents are high in dissolved and suspended organic and inorganic solids, accompanied by propensities for high oxygen demand and containing potentially toxic metal salt residues. Disagreeable odor emanating from decomposition of protein solid and the presence of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and volatile organic compounds are normally associated with the tanning activities."

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_mg/mg_worktradunio_specday/casestud1.shtml

As this is the third smelly place I've been yet the most luxurious I'm not sure what to do next. I was tempted to start talking trash about the possible interrelation between the stink and why there's such blood curdling screaming in this household but who am I? An accidental voyeur? Geraldo Riviera? Should I call Dr.
Phil or someone who could do some kind of aromatherapy intervention?

For the moment I will just be thankful that the farmacias are loose with chemical
agents a little stronger than tylenol pm.