Hola amigos,
Welcome to San Pedro La Laguna, a moderately-sized pueblo on the edge of Lago de Atitlan!
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| San Pedro himself in the newly renovated Parque Central |
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Taken from my hotel roof.
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Well, first things first, the hike here was EPIC. I was thinking, sure I´m moderately fit. I can walk a long time. I do a bit of hiking in Texas. And then I was faced with reality. Mountains. I don´t believe there was one section of flat terrain for the entire trek. We were either going up or down, often quite steeply. With my pack of course.
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| Hard to photograph, but the cloud forests were my favorite. Sometimes you couldn´t see more than 8 feet in front. |
On the second day of mostly downhill, we played a game where you get points for each time you hit the ground, depending on the seriousness of the fall. A two-hand catch earns you two points, ass on ground scores you four, etc. Most points wins. And as the game was being fleshed out, I was thinking in my head, ¨That sounds fun, but I´m not that clumsy.¨ Well, I ended up taking the win. My prize: first shower of the night. Totally worth it.
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| lots and lots of corn - some twice my size! |
So, long story short, we hiked about 7-8 hours each day, through some incredibly beautiful landscapes. At the end of the second day, I could barely move. Srsly. My body was so sore, and mostly my right knee was strained, and popping like crazy. For a moment, I was honestly concerned I might be temporarily paralyzed come morning. So, I stretched a whole bunch that night, and made my bed at 7:00pm. We arose at 3:30 in the morning, hiked about an hour in the dark, and then reached the Mirador, an amazing private overlook onto the Lake, high in the mountains. We unfurled our sleeping bags, and patiently watched the sky illuminate. It was really cool arriving when it was dark, and having no idea what lay below us.
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| See the smoke emitting on the right? |
And as the sun rose & the clouds rolled in, I kept wanting each moment to last. But then would find the next one even more captivating.
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| The only thing is: you can´t really photograph the experience |
I´ve decided I´m a big fan of sunrises. One night in the desert this summer, I stayed awake all night, and then crawled on top of a semi-trailer to watch the sun rise. The sky is really beautiful when it´s only partially illuminated, and then as soon as the sun peaks out, it all happens so fast. Definitely a lesson in enjoying each moment.
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| Yeah. Dreamy. |
Anyway, we basked in the sun rise for about four hours, eating granola & drinking hot chocolate. So nice. Afterwards, we had our final descent. About two hours straight down to San Juan, neighbor of San Pedro. Every sight coming down was uniquely appealing, but the path was also quite narrow, so I had to be careful not to get too distracted.
My knee was really pissed at me by this point, but I couldn´t dare forfeit that late in the game. So, Kait wrapped it up in a brace, Santi prepared me a decent walking stick, and I was on my way. Really, it was a wonderfully gratifying experience overall.
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| Old lady |
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| That´s San Pedro behind us |
I honestly can´t believe I´ve been here one week exactly. It´s amazing how time can seem to pass at varying intervals, but ultimately the experiences are always fleeting. Not to be pessimistic.
It´s very interesting here. Basically, all the pueblos around the Lake are indigenous Mayan villages. Tz´utujil is the name for the people and the language. But more recently, there has been an influx of foreigners coming to visit and staying on indefinitely, especially in San Pedro. So, there are quite a variety of folks wandering around town. Still the women in traditional dress, effortlessly & impressively carrying very large baskets atop their heads. Men standing outside their places of business or homes, watching the world go by. And children. Lots & lots of children. I love it when the tiniest little chicas have their traditional dress on. So precious. And then, there are gringos. Which I´ve learned from some Guatemalan friends is basically anyone else without significant skin pigmentation. So, it´s a large, diverse group.
So, you wander the streets and encounter so many different people without any preconceived notions about them. It´s pretty cool. Also interesting is when I encounter locals on the street and greet them (as most people do - it´s my favorite!) in Spanish, both of us are speaking our second language. But regardless, the greetings are still genuine and common.
So, I´ve been here one week and have explored quite a lot despite the rain. Not sure you if you knew (I´ve barely been keeping up), but a hurricane hit Mexico last week, and there is a residual tropical storm that has engulfed Central America. Heavy rains, landslides, and flooded roads led to a number of deaths and displacement.
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| Literally building infrastructure as the water quickly floods the Lake |
Disappointments aside, I´ve honestly really enjoyed the rain! It´s quite contrary to Texas, and that´s exciting. It´s amazing the human capacity to adapt. Anyway, technically I was unable to leave this place up until Sunday due to weather conditions. This was fine with me because I was enjoying myself, and now I feel like I could stay much longer. My friend Jess and I got a hotel room for 20 quetzales each ($2.50/night). She´s moved on now, so I relocated into a single room today, set up all my belongings on shelves, opened my windows that look out onto the Lake, and felt wonderfully at home. It was a strange feeling. How could I feel so comfortable in such a dingy hotel room? I guess being still is really nice sometimes. Moving around is great fun, but taking root can be equally gratifying. It kind of reminded me of my level of complacency in Austin. I´ve literally been there forever, and the fact that I´m still provided with comfort and enjoyment speaks a lot to my human desires.
I had this conversation with my Maestra in Xela a number of times.
She thinks it´s crazy that members of my family reside all the way from California to Florida. And the fact that my ancestry is Mexican and French and Norwegian, et al. For Miriam, her family has resided in Xela for many generations, all Guatemaltecos. People don´t just leave their homes and start up anew somewhere else. What´s more, the family members see each other almost everyday. Either for a meal or a chat or to watch each other´s kids, etc. It´s a very strong support system. I feel very fortunate to have close relationships with my family, despite our geographical differences.
Well, I suppose that´s enough for now. I´ll probably be heading on from San Pedro this weekend, which will once again be bittersweet. But, there are so many amazing things to see in this country, and I only have about three weeks left!
Bueno. Que les vaya bien.
