Back in Action
I’m now rested again and ready to hit the road. I’ve been in hiding out in one of the most beautiful places on the planet – Lake Atitlan. This morning I kayaked on the lake in the shadow of volcanoes, then went for a dip in the chilly water. I’m a little chicken to stray too far from shore though because it is 1,000 feet deep. The lake is a caldera, a collapsed volcano.
Built into the side of the mountain in the village of Jiabalito is the tranquil retreat of La Casa del Mundo. Besides being incredibly peaceful and quiet, with amazing views, it has the best food in the country. I’ve been hiding out here for two nights, doing some writing and catching up on rest. Learning and speaking Spanish all the time is exhausting. On Saturday I was in Panajachel, the main town on the lake, and was thankful for a heavy thunderstorm that lasted most of the afternoon and evening. It gave me an excuse to sleep.
But nothing compares to La Casa del Mundo. Everyone who comes here wants to stay longer. You can only reach it by boat, so once you’re here, you’re really away. No TV. No Internet. They do have cell phones for the hotel if you really need to reach someone, but I didn’t.
Last night I watched a lightning show flash onto the surface of the water from my full lake-view window. I did have a late-night visitor though, that disrupted my tranquility for awhile. Just as I was about to turn out the light I spotted a scorpion scaling the wall. I’m willing to cohabitate with some insects. In fact, earlier in the day I flipped over a metallic green beetle about one-inch around who was stuck on his back, but scorpions are where I draw the line. I threw my shoe at him, then took him outside and dumped him over the balcony. Yuck. Needless to say, after that I was on high alert for others, which is not conducive to sleep. After a thorough search with my Mag Light I decided he was the only one and I managed to sleep well on an excellent bed (always notable in Guatemala).
Today is sunny and beautiful. I’m dragging out my stay here as long as possible. In about an hour I will take a boat back to Panajachel where I will post this blog and take care of some other business. Then I’ll catch a shuttle late this afternoon to Guatemala City. In the morning I will take a 6 a.m. bus east and hope to make it as far as Livingston on the mouth of the Caribbean.
I enjoyed my last days in Xela, but was wearing out by the end. By 9 p.m. on Friday night I could barely speak Spanish my brain was so worn out. But I must have made a good impression on everyone because I got gifts from both my family and my teacher. My family loved the gift I gave them – a globe. They’ve hosted 180 students from all over the world in the past 14 years and they do not have a map.
Purchasing this gift required a trip to the mall in Xela, which was pretty nice, complete with movie theaters and food court with lots of teenagers hanging out, just like at home. But for some reason there are an inordinate number of shoe stores, which is strange for a country that has a word for people who are shoeless, meaning there are people here who do not have shoes at all.
My last day of school involved a trip to the village of San Francisco el Alto, which supposedly has the largest market in Central America. I can believe this because the whole town is a market and, like the San Francisco in California, the town is nearly vertical. But in California, shopping is not a contact sport. Here it is. The aisles between stalls are barely wide enough for two people to pass, much less pass someone stopping to look or buy. People just shove their way through with baskets balanced on their heads or babies on their back. Somehow men carrying entire pieces of furniture or hundred pound bags of beans or corn on their back work their way through the throng. This is not a good situation for people who don’t like to touch other people, especially people you don’t know.
At the top of the village is a dirt plain, which is the animal market. It’s enough to make you seriously consider becoming a vegetarian. Actually, the large animals seemed to be treated okay – there were pigs and piglets, cows, sheep, goats – all on rope leashes. It was the skinny puppies that upset me most, the ones with their little ribs sticking out. Although I tried to walk carefully, I stepped in some goat crap. Bleh. When I got home that afternoon I told Veronica in the only way I knew how: “En el mercado, yo caminé en shit.” I walked in shit. I’d heard Spanish speakers around here say shit, so I figured they would know what it meant. I doubt she would have understood any English euphemism. She laughed at me and gave me an old toothbrush to scrub out the treads of my shoes.
It’s hard to believe I will be home in less than a week! Between now and then I will travel hundreds of miles – down and back a beautiful river bordered by lily pads and mangrove swamps, with a few volcanic steam vents that can take the skin off your feet. I’ll wander the jungle where spirits and buildings of a great ancient city now reside, in Tikal. Then I’ll head back to the capital for a day or so of seeing sites there before heading home. Good thing I got a chance to rest. I have a lot ahead of me, but I’m ready for it.