San Pedro / Lake Atitlán

Fr, 6.3 - Sun, 15.3

On Friday, it was a long travel day for me: From Livingston at 5:30 am, I took a boat to Puerto Barrios, then a bus to Guatemala City, and 3 more buses to Panajachel at Lake Atitlán, where I arrived around 7 pm. The lake is a former crater, the depth is not known exactly (more than 350 m), and it is surrounded by 3 volcanoes and many mountains.

The next day, I went to the village of San Pedro, there are many Spanish language schools there and I chose one with a direct view of the lake. I spent the rest of the day walking around the village, the people here are very religious, there is a big Catholic church and many Protestant churches. In addition, the walls of the houses are decorated with Bible quotes. In the evening, I watched a football game of the village club in the 2nd league, the 'Ultra-Fans' in the crowd were singing continuously. San Pedro won 4-0, so the atmosphere in the stadium was very positive. I spent Sunday relaxing on a beach and in the afternoon I went to a viewpoint in the neighboring village of San Juan.

From Monday to Friday, I had individual Spanish lessons with my teacher Glenda from 8 am to 1 pm, and in the afternoons there were activities like a tour of the craft workshops in San Juan (honey, textiles, cocoa, and medicinal plants), making bracelets, a salsa class, and a cooking class.

My host family has a house in the center of San Pedro, Clara and Liliana live here, Liliana's 2 daughters named Gloria and Angela, and their grandmother Carmen, who is 91 years old (and more than 2 heads shorter than me). Apart from learning Spanish, I also learn a few phrases in the Maya language Tzutujil, which is spoken in most families in the village, including mine. Many women here wear a typical costume consisting of an embroidered blouse, a long skirt, and a sash to secure the skirt.

Thursday was a special day, not only I but also the daughter Alison of the language school owner Ofelia celebrated her birthday. In the morning, my host mom braided a typical Maya braid for me. During the morning break, there was cake, and the birthday children here have to take the first bite of the cake before it is cut. In the evening, we also had birthday cake in the host family and, of course, we sang as well.

The Catholic church organizes a procession 7 Fridays before Easter week, where a crowd of people walks through the city for 2 hours with rattles, a statue of Jesus, light, singing, and a power generator, stopping to pray at each corner. This is already an interesting custom and it shows the high importance of religion here. I was lucky, this was probably the last procession because of the coronavirus.

Saturday morning, my guide Diego picked me up at 2:30 am and we hiked up the San Pedro volcano. After more than 3 hours and 1,500 meters of altitude, we reached the summit of the volcano in time to enjoy the sunrise over Lake Atitlán. In the afternoon, I took a boat to the neighboring city of Santiago Atitlán, where I took a tour and discovered Maximón, a sacred Maya statue to which the locals give alcohol and a cigar so that their wishes will be granted in return. We also walked to a viewpoint, to a small park in the city center, and to the Catholic church.

As it looks now, Guatemala is also not spared from the coronavirus, the president has already taken preventive measures and is acting very proactively. I may stay in the village for a few more weeks, I feel well taken care of by my host family and I am optimistic that Guatemala can prevent a major disaster through early action. The airports and borders are closed for the next 15 days.