Things That Don't Exist in Guatemala

I really should have started this list at the beginning of my Peace Corps service as I'm sure it would have been pages long, but below are a couple things that are thought of as commonplace in the United States, but simply don't exist in Guatemala. Guatemala is a poor country so some of this won't be surprising. Disclaimer: I'm sure they do in some places such as the cosmopolitan capital, but not anywhere that I found out in the rural Western Highlands.

• Substitute teachers - If the teacher can't come in the kids don't either.
• Indoor heating/cooling.
• Parking lots for schools.
• Hot water coming out of faucets.
• Subways.
• Washers and dryers in every town (the closest laundromat to me was an hour bus ride away and I didn't know a single home in my town with one).
• Babysitters (that's what family is for).
• Refrigerators (I didn't know of a single family in my town with one - that's right I did't have one either).
• Wifi (I did buy a modem and was able to buy internet that way).
• School buses (to bring kids to school) - kids walk to school often with only their siblings. American school buses on the other hand are driven down through Mexico, given a killer pain job, and used as the public buses in Guatemala.
• Bus passes - Pay the man who comes walking through the bus cash (and it better be exact change or else you probably aren't getting that back).
• House pets. (At least in the rural villages). Animals serve a purpose and that is to protect the house. There were a ton of street dogs in my town and 0 dogs were ever walked or put on leashes.
• Supermarkets (at least in my town - we had an outdoor market twice a week).