Lake Atitlan: Relaxing and Regrouping

After the non-stop craziness of Good Thursday and Friday, we were glad to be getting out of Antigua to Lake Atitlan, for some much-needed R&R, especially since we had both picked up somewhat minor stomach bugs from the street food in Antigua and Peter´s throat was a little scratchy. Our first stop around the lake was Santiago, where the townspeople kicked out the army and the police during the years of the civil war by witholding food and bathroom facilities from them! Peter also thought Santiago would be an interesting town for me to see, because the men, in addition to the women, wore traditional Mayan dress. When we first got off the dock, we had some cheap hotels in mind and asked our tuc-tuc (a three wheel scooter with a covered area for passengers in the back--sort of like a modern rickshaw) driver to take us to one. Peter inspected it and deemed it to be too sketchy. The other one, it seems, had gone out of business!! Then, we were taken to a VERY high end hotel and then one slightly less fancy (but still with a helipad!), that we settled on. It seems that there was just nothing in the middle.

After getting settled in, we went out exploring and to find food. We had a great dinner of fresh black bass from the lake and then stumbled upon a night market near the church. In addition, the church was having a bonfire to celebrate Easter Eve. In the church, we found many effigies of Jesus and his disciples, nattily clad in homemade colorful shirts and myriad ties and scarves(one statute of Jesus bore at least 20 neckties!), given by the town as offerings. There were also statues of Mary in traditional Maya dress. Most amazing to me, though, were the offerings by the alter, where the townspeople had hung bananas, rice, and big sticks of sausage wrapped in colorful, metallic ribbons! It was very festive. After wandering around for a bit and talking to folks near the bonfire, we went back to our hotel. The next morning, we came back to find the church packed and overflowing with people out onto the steps. We stayed for a bit to listen to the service, which we soon figured out was being delivered mostly in the Mayan language of Tzútujil, rather than Spanish! We then moved onto the artisinal market, where we got some souvenirs, then retired to our hotel, where we called family for Easter and then had a traditional Mayan temazcal sauna.

The next day, we really needed to get away from our ridiculously fancy hotel! So, we set off (first stopping off to see Santiago´s version of evil San Simon) in a boat for the other side of the Lake. On the boat ride, we ran into a local gringa named Lizzie, who managed one of the hotels on the lake and recommended another hotel in our price range--she was even nice enough to call from her cell phone to make sure that there was space. Through this serendipitous arrangement, we found our hotel, the Isla Verde, where we have been ever since. We have a beautiful lake view and have been doing nothing except hiking, sleeping, swimming, and enjoying the delicious , mostly-vegetarian food at the hotel. Tomorrow, we will head to Mexico for Nick and Elizabeth´s wedding, which should be a huge adventure!