Lago de Atitlan

(m) Our Spanish is progressing, albeit slowly. With just two days (of 13) to go we are beginning to realize our ability to converse will still be limited without ongoing study. Besides class we took a trip to what were were told is the oldest church in Central America followed by a tour of a guy's dress making room. He sells them $30-$60. They include 16 different colored threads which cost him about $15 per dress. It takes him a day to make one dress. I also thought the door locking strategy here is interesting. Most doors have two or more locks, assuming that is so the other guy's store/office looks easier to break into.

Last weekend we went to Lago de Atitlan for a little R&R. It is a picturesque lake surrounded by four volcanoes and at lower elevation and therefore much warmer than Xela. There are several towns spread across the lake's shore all of which are reachable by water taxis. We spent two days in San Pedro and one in Santiago del Atitlan. In the past, the towns all relied heavily on the lake for food which was comprised of small bait fish and crabs until 1955 when it was decided to introduce large mouth bass to increase tourism. Unfortunately, the fishing here never took off and furthermore the bass destroyed the bait fish population forcing locals to look elsewhere for food. Most of the towns rely on tourism followed by coffee as their main revenue sources. All of the towns, particularly San Pedro, are known to have fantastically affordable lodging. A spotless room with lake views and private bath can be as little as $10 per night and a bed in a hostel for $2.



Besides the standard exploring and relaxing we spent one day hiking up a volcano called San Pedro(same name as town) with a peak around 9000 feet. I found the six hour hike (3 up, 3 down) to be quite grueling. The trails I've hiked in California usually have switchbacks to overcome steep grade. This trail had zero switchbacks, just straight up, and steep. Going up ended up being ok but the constant downward motion on the way down left my knees aching for two days. We also walked past what we are assuming is at least a part of the town's trash dump just off the main road.

Today Trin and I went with the rest of our classmates to a local high school to speak English with the local students. We each had three groups, 20 minutes each, of one-three students and discussed various topics depending on the student's skill. It was a nice change to not be in the hot seat! In conversation we learned that there is a morning group of students, 8am-1pm, and an afternoon group, 1pm-6pm, in order for the school to accommodate more students. School is "free" however no books or supplies of any kind are provided. The students can select tracks starting at age 15 ranging from architecture, electronics, and teaching. They graduate around 18 and can then take an entrance exam to the San Carlos University of which about half will be accepted.