This is the first time I've had the opportunity to drive in Guatemala. It is nothing like driving in the States. Sunday evening I made a mistake, but learned a valuable lesson about driving here and about integrity.

I had dinner with a nice Christian acquaintance, Jana, at an Antigua restaurant. I was driving her back to her house just a few blocks away. A combination of factors led to the mistake and the hard lesson learned. The lack of familiarity with the streets, unfamiliar (or lack of) street signs, darkness, and perhaps distraction from the blond sitting next to me (my fault, not hers!) caused me to make a turn a couple of streets too soon.

And, you guessed it, I was going the wrong way down a one way street. One block later, I was being waved over by a policeman. Being stopped by the police here is a little different from the States. It became clear after I showed the officer my drivers' license that he wanted money. I wasn't really sure how I should handle this, because I've been told different things. I was a little scared, too.

I wound up paying him a hefty "mordida" (bribe), mainly because I didn't have my passport with me (only a copy, which the officer scoffed at).

I'm afraid I'm not very quick in situations like this, and I didn't think to do what most gringos do in this situation: play dumb...no Spanish, no money, no comprendo....

In the end I actually consider that ploy deceitful, and that I shouldn't have paid the bribe and should have taken the ticket. I don't know exactly where that would have led, but it's clear that the way I handled it only reinforced the officer's behavior. And, it showed a lack of integrity on my part. As Christians we are are to comply with the laws. I didn't do that on a number of fronts: driving the right direction, having proper identification, and not subverting the law by paying bribes.

So, in the future, I'm paying very close attention to the direction of traffic.

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.