San Pedro la Laguna

Hello everyone. We have found a sweet little Spanish School, Casa Rosaria, here in San Pedro de la Laguna on Lago Atilan. We started yesterday and had a lot of fun. We study one on one in little palapas set among banana and papaya trees. It is quite the scene. I watched hummingbirds pollinating the bananas while learning Spanish. We are staying in a hotel that is a 3 minute walk away through the farmfields of corn, squash, beans and basil. We have a great view on the surrounding volcanoes, the lake and the farm fields from our room and deck. Things
are super affordable here with 20hours of classes going for 400 Quetzales and our room for 40 Q (7.5Q per U.S. $) The food is quite deliscious and equally cheap. We have a swimming hole nearby. The town is quite small and there are very few cars. Most of the streets are simply foot paths between farm fields and buildings. The real streets are all cobblestone and quite steep. There is quite the group of travelers here as the many schools and cheap prices attract many.

We are mostly happy.The days we move from place to place prove difficult. Any time a local sees you wearing a backpack they are instantly your guide and won´t take no for an answer. Looking for hotels with a guide is distracting and our first night here we stayed in a real dive that we would not have stayed at if we hadn´t been drug all the way across town to see it. We are developing techniques to avoid such encounters, but everywhere people are hungry for any little bit of money they might make for a tip or for a loaf of banana bread. Hopefully a better grasp of Spanish will help us transition from place to place more smoothly.

All around us we also hear the native Mayan language for which I don´t even know the name yet. It is an interesting language and the chosen language with which the locals address each other. When we ask for directions or help, they talk with each other in Mayan to figure our what we´ve said and what they should tell us, and then answer us in Spanish. Most the locals wear the traditional garb all the time which makes for beautiful scenery with the women in beautiful blouses and extravagantly woven skirts. And their cowboy husbands also wear nicely decorated work clothes. The people here get up early and work hard and alot. A cement pour we watched at 8am today consisted of 30 guys with gallon pails passing cement up ladders and across a rooftop in a fireline.

We had planned to go to Xela for school, but after visiting the lake and encountering the beautiful rural setting here we are holding off on visiting the city for school. Xela is supposed to hold more wonders so we will likely go there next, probably in acouple of weeks.

So, all is well and Guatemala keeps us fascinated and enthralled. Thanks for you emails and comments.
Adios-Ricardo