Lago Atitlan

Guatemala is always an adventure.  Saturday I went to Lake Atitlan with Samantha.  It was her first time riding a public bus here, and it was a terrible first experience.  It was also probably the worst ride I’ve had except those involving Comalapa, which I hope to never out-do.  The windows were closed and the bus was going fast around the turns.  She started getting ill, but there were some very kind people who helped her out.  One gave her a plastic bag to puke into, and the other gave up his seat so that she could rest.  Restored my faith in humanity after my wallet was stolen on Thursday.  I felt terrible and wanted to do something, but we couldn’t really get off because we were somewhere I didn’t know and there weren’t any marked bus stops.  I was honestly not feeling the best either, but I was able to hold out until we arrived at our destination.  We ended up being able to take buses the rest of the way without problem because they actually had an appropriate amount of people.  On the way back, Samantha decided that we would call the Wuqu’ driver to take us home.  That was very nice, I must say.

There isn’t much to do in Pana, which is the town we went to.  Basically, you can look at the lake and buy tourist things.  I took advantage of both.  Got a fedora for half the listed price, then sat by the water and looked at the volcanoes.  It’s incredible.  A must-see for anyone who comes to Guatemala.  Here are a few pictures:

The man you see here is wearing the typical clothing of Solola, a town very near the lake.  It is one of the few towns where men still often wear their traditional clothes not just for tourism.  I have seen many men dressed like this come to market day in Tecpan.

For lunch we met up with Daniel from the class.  He thought he had land in Pana, but apparently some con man actually managed to take it from him.  I was sad to hear that, but otherwise he seemed to be having a good time.  His Kaqchikel actually functions.  I hope to get there in the next month. 

Overall, it was a great trip.  It’s nice to be with people I share my host-culture with some of the time, especially because my daily life in Paquip is so different.