Chivalry is Alive!

I am now back in Costa Rica after traveling for two weeks in Guatemala visiting family and seeing what Guatemala has to offer in the tourism sector. It was a beautiful trip and I could not have been happier sharing it with my brother and friend Farhat. There are so many little anecdotes from that trip that will stay with me for a long time but there is one that I would like to share that after today I know that there are chivalrous men still out there!

On December 23, 2009, about a week into the trip, we (Daniel, Farhat, and I) woke up at 5:40am in Flores, Guatemala which is located in the northern half of the country. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 6:00 for Rio Dulce so we were running a little behind. We very quickly packed our bags and jumped in a taxi to make it to the bus. We made it on time and we were on our way. In order to avoid the nausea that long bus rides are known for we each took a pill to alleviate any urge to hurl which also made us easily fall asleep.

There were a few surprises along the way. The bus continued to stop every few kilometers picking people up. At one point the aisles were full of older women, their kids, and some women even breast feeding their babies. Meanwhile the men were still comfortably sitting in their seats enjoying the scenery. Towards the end of the trip the ride was so bad that there was a baby sitting on Farhat´s lap and a little girl sleeping on my lap while her brother was on the lap of a stranger and the mom had been shifted almost to the back of the bus. So not only were we out of it from the pills and a startled wake up but we were not part of a baby sitting service.

Now, I ask...What ever happened to men getting up to give a lady his seat? My machista brother was on the side of the men and simply stated that he paid for his seat and he was going to sit in it. I use lots of public transportation in Costa Rica and never have I witnessed such a scene. Farhat and I were both taken aback and after the venting session to my bother it was clear that he did not agree with us. Perhaps, it is the generation and devalue of chivalry in the new times.

Needless to say I am back in Costa Rica where machismo in this case works in in the favor of the woman. Meaning that a man is going to feel more like a man because he is strong enough to stand up for the bus ride that that a child bearing woman can rest her body during the bus ride. My brother was a witness to this and just maybe it will change just a little bit of his thinking and whichever woman is the woman for him will not have to stand on a bus.

I do believe in equal rights for all genders but it is also nice to be treated like a lady sometimes.