My good friend Eddie has been selling me 2 pounds of strawberries every few days for the past 2 years from his little stand (literally) on the street.

But since Leslie and I have been invited to serve here in Guatemala with the Peace Corps later this year, I’ve been reflecting on the rapid changes that are happening in our city of Xela and the impact it’s having on the culture and fabric of this society, and especially to people like Eddie and his little business.

His street is filled with other vendors selling fruits and vegetables, all mixed in with cars, motorcycles, pedestrians and big (former US) school buses (“chicken buses”).

I buy pineapples, mangos and other fruit from along this street to mix (with yogurt) into smoothies.

Many of the women vendors still wear their traditional Mayan clothes of vibrant fabric while they carry their little ones wrapped on their backs.

But exactly one block over, a new mall is being built with 4 stories of underground parking plus a 12 story new hotel.

Our town, deep in the mountains of Central America, has all the latest “stuff” you can get in the US.

HDTVs, the newest iPhones or Samsung cellphones, computers – you name it, you can buy it here. Plus, the new theater that’s going in here will have all the first run movies you see in the States.

How will all these rapid changes affect Eddie and all the other vendors one street over? It’s not unusual to see an older Mayan women, sitting cross-legged at her spot on the street, chatting on her smart phone. The ancient culture of this city is rapidly being assulted with technology and “progress”.

And so I reflect about what our roles will be in adding to that mix.

You can stay here when you come to visit us!

Eddie, Leslie and Don