San Marcos de Laguna

Moving day was last Friday. The next morning at 7:30AM a group of us met in the center of town to catch a mini bus to the bus depot, Minerva. There we would find a fleet of school buses, hoping one of them was heading toward our destination. A 45 minute trip dropped us off at Los Encuentros. Here we would board another bus to Panajachel, the main town on Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan. Upon arrival in Panajachel we dodged persistent vendors and city tour guides to find lunch at a restaurant along the lake. Cheeseburgers, milkshakes, and guacamole went beautifully with our final form of transportation, a boat ride to our destination, San Marcos de Laguna.

We arrived in San Marcos around 1 and weaved through lush paths of coffee and avacado trees that led us to our hotel. A beautiful eco-chic hotel called La Paz. Splurging for a two, 4-person bungalows, we dropped our bags and relished in the fresh air and stark constrast to life in Xela.

We explored the “town” which consisted of narrow dirt paths leading to yoga houses, holistic meditation centers, and local vendors. Much of the lake has been takn over completely by foreigners and most of the restaurants and hotels are owned accordingly. There is a strong resistance from the local population to eliminate the dominating foreign presence but very little has been done to appease it. Foreigners=$$$

And $$$ is what we brought! Looking at our trip like a little vacation we ate lunch and dinner at some great restaurants, enjoyed a cerveza looking over the lake, and walked around aimlessly until it was time for our scheduled trip to the sauna. A rough 24 hours to say the least.

We spent the next morning trying to think of reasons to stay in San Marcos but the Super Bowl party in Xela was calling us back.

Our first step in returning to Xela was to take a boat to Panajachel. The boat was the popular form of public transportation to and from different destinations on the lake. This particular boat was packed with locals traveling from a church service back to their villages. Along with them were 4 or 5 street dogs that I later concluded, that at least 3 were claimed by another passenger. The smell of wet dog and BO lingered in the air but the views were beautiful and there is something about traveling amongst the locals that makes me feel like staying indefinitely.

After a 25 minute ride with the constant splashing of contaminated lake water in our faces we stepped off in Panajachel to catch a chicken bus back to Los Encuentros. The Guatemalan mass transit system is supplied almost entirely by Blue Bird (http://www.blue-bird.com/). These buses were built for the average 5-10 year old and has a maximum capacity of roughly 100. There may be a few young children on the buses now but for the most part we’ve doubled the maximum capacity and stocked it full of adult Guatemalans. Chairs made for 2-3 adolescent bodies are not crammed with large bums spilling into the aisles and any free space available. Our first chicken bus back to the Xela looked a lot like the above description but a little bit worse. Stopping for us at a nondesignated stop along the road, and assuming it was heading where we wanted to go, we jumped in. Looking down the size 0 aisle for a place to sit down, we shimmied into chairs occupied with 2 people and made ourselves comfortable. My two friends in front of me, being large adult males were basically sitting on each others lap for the hour and a half ride where I was able to balance nicely in the aisle, suspended in the air, entirely by the pressure pushing me on both sides by my seat mates.

After a few stops and the deboarding of 10% of the bus we were able to make some moves. I stayed in my seat but the departure of two other people made for a bit more room. It must have been a long weekend for most of the other bus patrons because it seemed to me that everyone was sleeping or trying, painfully, to get a quick nap. The swaying of the bus moved the sleeping bodies in an undulating mass through the hills along the Pan American highway.To resist this flow would be to make 5-7 other people more than uncomfortable.

I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a young boy who was the appropriate size for the seat. It wasnt long before he was sleeping on my shoulder and before I could finish daydreaming about adopting him and all of his friends his Dad slapped him awake and we had arrived in Xela. My heart is overflowing for the people here and I cant think of enough reasons not to stay.

Our trip to the lake was more than a success and it was a much deserved weekend get away. Our trusty, pseudo-travel writer, Britt figured out that we spent between $40-$50 US the whole weekend. Its hard to think of reasons why someone wouldnt want to make a life for themselves here. This thought was reitorated when we spent a very American evening watcing the Super Bowl in a restaurant called Dos Tejanos (Two Texans). Not knowing who was playing before I got to the bar I quickly became the Saints biggest fan and we sang “..When the Saints, go marching in…” at every opportunity.

This week I have a new teacher at school and we are getting along famously. I have moved on to the subjunctive which means as much to you as it does to me. Hopefully today I’ll get a better idea about why I need to memorize 45 irregular verbs and an entirely new tense. Ill make sure much less time passes before I upate again.

Te echo de menos!! (I miss you)