Arriving in Panajachel was one of the most impressive moments in our travels. We had no idea this place was so stunningly picturesque. Getting to this small city requires going down a steep curvy road descending 3000 ft in elevation. Our brakes overheated making us a bit nervous...all the way to the floor by the time we made it to our destination. Panajachel sits at the edge of Lake Atitlan which is surrounded by 3 volcanos. The lake’s waters are clear and various shades of blue. The temperature couldn't be better: warm and sunny. The wind kicks up in the evenings and cools down but still very comfortable.
Originally we thought we’d stay one or two nights but decided to stay for the week and take a class at the local Spanish school. It’s a great way to buckle down on the Spanish, interact with locals and learn all there is about the area. I took 5 hrs/day, Bruce took 2hrs (his brain is fried after one hour) …the rest of the time he’s watching the market.
Nicolas, Bruce's Spanish instructor gave up on him by the end of the week.
These trucks are only to carry 10 or less.On Tuesday we went to a fiesta Santa Catarina, a small village 15 minutes away. The locals dressed in their best garb and mulled around the small town. Their fiesta is like a miniature Puyallup Fair and a micro Texas State Fair. It was fun watching a manually (literally) propelled Ferris wheel with children on board, they were having a blast. I played a ball-in-cup game and won a toy which I passed on to a little girl whom was eyeballing it for quite a while…..afterwards she followed us around with few more kids. They left us alone once they realize we had no more toys....I wished I'd had more.
The main gig for this fair was blaring music and a central dance area. The dancers were three drunken men who could only sway to the music. All the people around the square sat quietly, expressionless and watched. After that the “fiesta committee” danced. Twenty of them dressed in full costumes with masks and did the Texas version of line dancing -used to be seen at country & western bars in the 80s- very slowly and out of in sync. I mentioned this to our maestro, Oliver, and he said it was because they were drunk too. Other than that, the rest of the town was sober.
Photo left: What is it about boys and video games?!We then walked near the lake and talked for a long time. Oliver informed us that it is dangerous to be out on the lake when it is windy - which is often. Apparently 4 people drowned last week after the wind and 5 meter waves overturned a boat. According to Oliver ~5 ppl per year die from lake drownings as not all boats have life-preservers. Oliver had many questions about Alaska, snow, and the United States, he was particularly interested in New York and the events of 9/11. He seemed surprised when we told him how many things that were legal in Guatemala were illegal in the US. One example was the overloaded pick-up we road in to the fiesta, he asked why that be illegal.
Photo right:
I rate this my photo of the year.
The rest of the week we walked a lot, ate, sat by the lake and studied Spanish. We considered staying in Panajachel since the weather was “perfect” by Bruce’s standards……definitely worth a re-visit someday.
The cure for bad posture....you never see Guatemalteca women stooped over.
No comments:
Post a Comment