Lago de Atillan

It would be fair to say that Lago de Atillan is one of the most beauteful places I have ever been. We visited two towns on the lake. First we headed to San Marcos based on a reccomendation of a fellow travler (literaly a fellow traveller not a communist). San Marcos was not our cup of tea. Like many tourist destinations in Guatemala there is much that seperates oridinary Gutemans and Tourists. In San Marcos a road seperates tourists and Guatemans. There is a clear point where the town ends and the hippie ex-pat village begins. The ex-pats that live around the lake live in complete ignorance of the customs and culture of Guatemala. They are also quite unaware how their consumption of drugs has caused serious problems for the village. However the view is spactacular and against certain advice we enjoyed swiming off the rocks here.

Next we headed to San Pedro for a week of Spanish class. We enjoyed the slow pace of San Pedro. San Pedro also had a gringo section of town but we found it to be less dramatic and the people more welcoming. We stayed with a family, and learned much about the economic and development issues from Senor Domingo and Snra, Rosa. Here is a funny picture of them with their daughter and grandaughter. None of them smiled.

Everyday we knew it was time to eat by the sound of Rosa smacking the tortillas into shape. Depsite owning a gas stove she cooked exclusivly on a wood stove and the results were muy delicous.

Oh, and don't worry I found what is probably the only southern BBQ in Guatemala. Those giant beef ribs were actually kind of gross because smoking joe used way too much smoke and whatever wood is avalible is too bitter, but the chicken was quite awesome. Later in the week we saw smoking Joe at a bar and it seemed after several adult beverages Joe was not very good at playing poker, understanding the rules, or operating a bathroom door. He had some choice words for his companions.




On friday night we went to see the procession. The Church puts on a procession every week during lent.  It was very intersting. It was almost exclsuivlt women in attendanc, though men carried the float. The procession stopped at various stations where people had lit prayer candles. There a prayer was said in Tzu-Tzu Jil, the local Mayan language which sounds an awful lot like Hebrew and Arabic mixed togther.

Probably  a bunch of other stuff happened too. We went kayaking which was fun but hard because I was too big for the kayak, we hung out in coffee shops and I learned the present tense of Spanish.

Next time.... Xela