Guatemala

If I ever had any doubts about jumping a plane to another country with nothing more than the plane ticket I wouldn´t worry now. After traveling to Antigua and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala we found so many hostels, ATM´s, and helpful English speaking tourists (and helpful Spanish speaking locals) that you wouldn´t have to worry about a place to stay, food to eat, money to spend, or items to buy. I would say that Antigua and Lake Atitlan are good places to start for an adventuring pilgrim because they are very touristy. This way you can get acclimated to your surroundings, ask around for the places to visit, do a little research yourself, and then work your way into less touristy places - like Soyapongo! Ha!

In Guatemala there really isn´t one common language. A lot of the people know or speak some Spanish, but most of the locals (not really in Antigua, more at Lake Atitlan) speak a Mayan dialect of some kind. When I went to Mass on Sunday in San Pedro - one of the cities around Lake Atitlan - they read the Gospel in Spanish and then in the Maya dialect of that area. Felt much longer in the dialect, but then it was 6AM, everything felt longer at that hour.

Memories of the trip to Guatemala:

1. Kayaking from San Pedro to San Martin and then cliff jumping. We spent about 3 hours on the cliffs as more and more people showed up. A regular cliff jumping party! No, I did not jump from the high cliff (10 meters) only the little one (about 3 meters). It was enough for me!
2. I started the trip sick, then got better as Soli got sick, then got better as Sydney got sick, then got better, and I got sick again in the end. sigh.
3. Venders in Panajachel shoving their items for sale in front of us and then demanding that we buy something because, ¨You have money, buy something!¨ Um, you scare me, please leave me alone.
4. Meeting Seth at the beginning of our journey and then running into him at various points in both Antigua and Lake Atitlan.
5. Dancing!
6. The maze of streets in San Pedro where you can find restaurants and pubs and hangout places of all kinds.
7. Meeting people from all over the world! And from Michigan!
8. Riding a bus over cobblestone streets. The cobblestone looks cute, but that is so uncomfortable!
9. Being offered cocaine in San Pedro. San Pedro is known for it´s drugs. In fact, all of Guatemala is known for it´s drugs.
10. Dinner our last night in Guatemala. We found a little upstairs restaurant and because we were the only guests, we bonded with the waiter and his friend, so we ordered whatever we felt like eating and they made it for us. :) On the menu or not.
11. Talking with the venders. Some of them are really funny and fun to barter with. I bought the most from those ones. :)
12. Realized I know Spanish way better than 90% of the people traveling and that the locals REALLY appreciate it when you can talk with them in Spanish.
13. We didn´t really see a lot of the local Guatemalan people until we went to Mass Sunday morning. Sydney and I were the only foreigners and the church was packed. That felt really strange and cool at the same time. Definitely in the minority that day!
14. Hostels for $5 a night!
15. At least 10 degrees colder everyday than in El Salvador. How I miss using a blanket at night and not sweating every day! (which I think of now as I sweat while sitting at the computer)
16. Swimming in Lake Atitlan. How good did that feel? Forgot how refreshing a lake can be - the ocean just isn´t the same. And the ocean is really warm here!
17. Meeting other volunteers from around Guatemala.
18. Bike trip between Panajachel and Santa Catarina - the neighboring city. All uphill one way with bikes that didn´t like to change gears. But the way back was a blast!
19. Lots of pictures, no computer to download them to. I don´t have the cables to connect my camera to a computer because my computer had the video card slot that my camera uses. And I don´t think my computer is going to show up again. I´ll get Solidea´s photos and post those eventually.
20. I should be able to think of one more memory to make this a nice round 20. Oh! No mirrors in San Pedro! Our hostel didn´t have one, the bathrooms at the restaurants didn´t have them, the clubs didn´t have them - how do people survive in that city! I mean really. ;p