JUST SOUTH OF HIPSTER PARADISE

Last Sunday, I spent some time at the farmers market in Logan Square, Chicago’s premier hipster hangout. Apparently, when you are in a neighborhood that lives and dies by reduce, reuse, and recycle (or putting on the appearance of living by those pillars) no real farmers market would be complete without a second hand store… in a school bus.

This discovery brought me joy for so many reasons, one being that I love bargain hunting, and two being that it smacks remotely of Chicken Busses – the preferred method of public transportation – in Guatemala.

In a lot of ways, Guatemala is a hipster’s paradise. Almost everything is recycled – American cast off clothing, automobiles, and furniture. However, unlike in areas like Logan Square, Guatemalans are forced into hipster-ism by economic necessity.

Fun Fact: Guatemalans do not even drink the coffee they produce. Guatemalan coffee is saved to be sold, so that people can buy it for an exorbitant dollar amount in places like Starbucks where the farmer hardly sees a fraction of the purchase price.