Lago Atitlan

Pictures:
Aeja, Rachel, Sarah and I swimming in the lake after we all jumped off the cliff... have you seen something more beautiful?!
All of the pounds of sand we moved to the second floor of the building.
The last two buckets we had to carry... thats why we are smiling!
I'll post more pictures later!

Every weekend trip we’ve had so far has been amazing, and this one was no exception! Friday afternoon we headed to Lago Atitlan, known as one of the most beautiful places in Guatemala (estoy de acuerdo… I agree).

Friday was a busy day. Señora Patti had surgery Friday morning (it wasn’t too serious and everything is fine!). Marissa and I wanted to buy her a gift, so we convinced our teachers to go to the market with us during class to buy her flowers and bread from her favorite tienda. When we got back to the school, Diana (a friend in Somos Hermanos) had all the makings for sushi and was teaching people how to make it. Who would have thought that my first time making sushi would be in Guatemala?! A lot of the teachers at the school had never eaten sushi, and it was fun watching them eat it for the first time, facial expressions and verbal expressions. All of the teachers wanted to pick apart the sushi and eat the pieces separately, so we had to explain that sushi rolls are much better when taken in one bite. I also told my teacher that my favorite type of sushi is Salmon Roe and she was horrified that I would eat raw fish eggs and actually enjoy them.

School ended at 12:30, and we had to be ready to leave at 1:30. Naturally, I hadn’t packed. So, I ran home to take care of all that and finished with just enough time to make it to the meeting spot. It was a little tricky… we had to pack everything in one backpack because we used chicken buses and it is far too difficult to deal with multiple bags. But then again, we were only gone for two nights and two-ish days.

The chicken bus ride to the Lake was surprisingly calm, for Guatemalan standards… everyone got a seat and we were charged less than we thought. We were also dropped off right in front of our hotel. The drive itself was interesting, however. As we descended into the area surrounding the lake, the road turned into sharp, steep hairpin turns. The bus was too long to handle the turns, so the driver would turn the bus as much as possible, then slam on the brakes, turn the wheel, reverse up the mountain, and then put the bus in neutral and turn the wheel and we’d roll down the road until we hit the next turn. Because we took up the entire road, each time we approached a turn, the driver blasted his horn loud and long. It was really pretty freaky, seeing as the edge of the road was pretty much the edge of the mountain (the way back to Xela was maneuvered in the same manner, and I’m not sure if its better to watch yourself head straight towards the edge of the mountain or know that its happening behind you).

As a side note, I had an interesting conversation with Kate about the whole bus system. Most of the drivers are not educated past 6th grade, which initially makes you feel a little scared that your life is in their hands. Yet, they know everything about bus mechanics, etc. They understand the schedule system (which is literally impossible) and they can confidently maneuver roads such as the one I just described. In addition, there are men, usually in their 20s or 30s, that hang out the edge of the chicken bus and are responsible for helping to load people and cargo on the bus, yell out to people to let them know where the bus is going, check to make sure the bus isn’t going off the side of the road, and then running along with it to jump back on, sometimes riding on top of the bus to secure items… they are so skilled!

And as a second side note… anything and everything can get loaded on the bus. This weekend, we saw a basket of live chickens get thrown on the roof, a bed frame with a mattress and a dresser, millions of boxes of “Cup of Noodles,” baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables. One guy even tried to bring a mule on top. Unfortunately, that one didn’t work out.

We got to the hotel in San Pedro around 5:30ish. The hotel was nice compared to the beach. We had warm water and there was a curtain between the bathroom and the bedroom! There also weren’t bugs (but I still slept in my cocoon just to be safe, and stay warm)!

Friday night, right after we arrived, it downpoured for a good 45 minutes, so we hung out around the hotel. Around 7, once the rain calmed down a little, we headed out to search for dinner. Nobody really knew where we were going, so we wandered around using a little map, basically walking in circles. Then, the power went out, which helped us even more (it was so dark it was pretty impossible to see your hand in front of your face). I think after a good hour of wandering and asking for directions, and getting power back, we finally found the restaurant.

The restaurant was right on the lake and relaxing/tropical looking, although a little touristy. As we walked in, we were greeted (in English) by the waiter… clearly someone from California. He said that because of the power outage we would have to wait for a while because they were behind. At this point, we were all tired and starving and sick of walking around, so we said it was no problem (little did we know it would turn into a 3 hour ordeal).

We sit down to order and Marissa says “Voy a practicar mi Español” and proceeds to order in Spanish. The LA waiter looks at her and says “Please talk in English, I really don’t have time for this.” (We are in the middle of Guatemala… who says that?) Then, Diana asked for a liquado, which is basically a mix of water and fresh fruit in a blender, a really popular drink here. He told her that he didn’t have time to make those either. Talk about rude!

We ended up waiting a good two hours for our food. When it finally came, it was cold. But, I was starving so my shrimp and rice tasted somewhat good (although wasn’t much). That night, we went to a bar full of foreigners, most from California, Australia or Europe. What I learned about San Pedro is that it is pretty much a hippie haven. We talked to a lot of people who just got bored with their lives. They sold their businesses and began traveling around Latin America. When they ran out of money, they learned how to make jewelry and settled down in San Pedro. Most have no intention of returning home any time soon. Definitely interesting!

Saturday morning we were up early to go to breakfast at 7am. We went to this cheap but really delicious little restaurant. Korrin and I shared a veggie/cheese omelet and a huge bowl of fruit (best pineapple EVER) with Greek yogurt and granola. After breakfast, we headed (actually ran because we were really late) to the dock to take a small boat to Santiago, another community about 20 minutes across the lake (there are a total of 9 communities that surround Lago Atitlan).

In Santiago, we walked a good hour and a half looking for the hospital in which we were scheduled to volunteer. After gradually climbing a large mountain, we realized we were a little lost, so we turned around. Apparently, not one of us saw the huge sign that said “Hospitalito Atitlan” because we found it about 20 minutes after turning around.

The hospital was really interesting. If you want more information, check out the website: http://www.hospitalitoatitlan.org. We learned a lot about the history and watched a movie. The hospital was started in the mid 1900s but closed in the 60s during the Guerilla was because it was too dangerous to keep it open. After the war, the hospital was rebuilt. In 2005, just 6 months after re-opening, hurricane Stan swept through the area, causing a mudslide and destroying all of the hard work and the hospital. At a time when the area needed medical help the most, no facility was available. Area doctors began using a hostel to take care of people, and the hospital “spirit” stayed alive.

The hospital that now exists is in an entirely different location from the first. It serves the entire city of Santiago and the surrounding communities of Lago Aititlan. The closest hospital (aside from this location) is about 3 hours away. The hospital only has 16 beds, but it is really nice! I was surprised at how modern it seemed. In addition to providing health and Emergency care, it also focuses on education and provides classes for community members to learn about baby care, nutrition, and other helpful and applicable health topics. It sees about 1,000 patients a month, with most illnesses due to diabetes, birth complications and respiratory illnesses (the population is poor and constantly breathes in open wood fire from cooking). A really interesting fact I learned was that diabetes rates increased with the construction of a highway in Santiago about 10 years ago. The highway allows trucks to drive into the area more efficiently, which increased the availability of sugary drinks and snacks, and thereby further increased diabetes rates in the area. Talk about Public Health and Community Development!

We were under the impression that we would be helping inside the hospital, but our volunteer project involved some serious manual labor. There was a huge pile of sand/gravel in the front yard that we had to shovel into buckets, carry to the back of the building, up the stairs to the second level, and dump in a special location. The gravel is going to serve as the first layer of the floor, I think (the purpose of our work wasn’t really explained all that well). We spent 2 hours shoveling, carrying, lifting and dumping sand buckets. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish the enormous pile, although we did make a significant dent. The work was tiring, but we sang songs and told stories to make it easier. We sort of had an assembly line going, allowing people to switch jobs if they got tired, etc. After our work was finished, we were served lunch. I got the vegetarian version (rice, beans, eggs, avocado and tortillas). It was really good after all that work!

In the afternoon, we hung out around the hotel for a while and walked around the town of San Pedro looking at the tiendas with clothing, jewelry, etc. Around 6:30 we headed to dinner at an Israeli restaurant. It was really cool! All the tables were really close to the ground and there were pillows and cushions to sit on. We sat around for a while just talking and enjoying the atmosphere (and realizing that Guatemalan time isn’t the same as American time, aka when you order your food, expect to wait at least 45 minutes). For dinner, I had a sandwich on wheat bread with eggplant, tomatoes, pesto and fresh mozzarella cheese. It was a delicious choice and had such great flavor!

After dinner, a few of us headed to this “pool garden.” Basically, it is a secluded jungle-like yard full of pools filled with steaming hot water. You can rent a pool, bring your own drinks and music, and just hang out. The water is so hot that it is painful when you first get in, and it is difficult to stay in it for too long. But, it was really relaxing in a way! After about two hours of hopping in and out of the water, talking and enjoying the fact that we were sitting in a pool in the middle of a “jungle” we changed and headed back to the same bar we were at the night before.

When we got there, a live band was playing and we had a lot of fun dancing and practicing our Salsa moves. At 11, the band stopped playing. Apparently, there is a law in San Pero that bars must close at 11 (I don’t know why). The bar didn’t close, but they did stop playing music, close the shades, and dim the lights. Just a little sketchy!

The bar actually closed around 1, and we meandered back to our hotel. As we were walking, we heard some music coming from the other side of the neighborhood, so we decided to go check it out. Some sort of open concert was going on, and a ton of natives were dancing and singing. We decided to join in for a bit. There was also a brightly lit room at the corner of the patio, which we thought was a bar. We walked over to check it out, but in reality, it was some sort of death shrine. There was a picture of this old woman and all sorts of candles and flowers, and people were in the room praying. Really, really strange!

Sunday morning, we were up again at 6:30 and at breakfast at 7 (which was a little tough considering we didn’t go to bed until 3ish). We ate breakfast at the same place, and I ate the same delicious meal. Then, we headed out to kayak on the lake and jump off a 25-30 foot cliff into the water.

The kayaking was fun… the lake is so beautiful and the morning was sunny and the perfect temperature. We weren’t exactly sure where the jumping cliff was, so we headed in the general direction and about 45 minutes later, found it. The jump was such a thrill! I only did it once, but it was definitely a drop. Thanks to my awesome hardcore camera, I got some great pictures. We were all goofing around and swimming in the water when someone looked at a watch and realized it was 10:05. We were supposed to be on a bus out of San Pedro at 11. Seeing as it took us 45 minutes just to get to the cliff, we realized we were pretty screwed. We scrambled to get going, and the paddle back was tough. We reduced it to 30 minutes (mostly because we actually knew where we were going), but it was definitely a good workout. Even so, by the time everyone was back at the dock, we had 10 minutes to get back, change, and be on a bus. It wasn’t going to happen.

We figured Kate would be really upset with us, and as we walked back we started brainstorming ways to make it up to her. But, she was actually really chill about the situation. Luckily, there was another bus leaving at 12, so we were okay. The only difference was that this bus would not be direct. We got squished in the back of the first bus, which made all the bumps in the road slightly more painful on the bottom and back. It also didn’t help the stomach too much. When we reached the place to switch buses, it was literally a scramble for life to get off (the buses don’t stop for long, and getting 15 people off a bus takes a few minutes). At one point, the bus started driving away as two people were climbing off. They got off safely, but it was definitely a scary moment!

We crossed the huge highway and waited for the next bus to Xela. It arrived fairly quickly, but when it arrived, it was already jam packed. I looked at it and thought to myself, no way. But, we did it (because in Guatemala, there is always enough space!). We were literally stuffed like sardines, standing and holding on for dear life as the bus whipped around corners and sped down roads. Forget about personal space!

We were all pretty happy to arrive back in Xela and get on solid ground. Most of us looked pretty worn as we climbed off the bus. Luckily, Kate had called ahead and ordered 5 pizzas for us to share at a popular restaurant in Xela. When we got there, they were on the table and ready for us to eat. The perfect ending to yet another unique and amazing adventure.

And that ends my lengthy story. Each time we go somewhere, there is some new challenge or adventure, and I think to myself how lucky I am to be having these experiences! I can only imagine what our trip to Mexico will bring (we leave this Saturday).