This last weekend was full of fun activities around the lake. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 3:30 am to go on the sunrise hike to Indian Nose (a mountain by the lake that looks like an indian’s face, with the highest point being the nose). My host dad is a tour guide, so he took a group of us up on the hike (apparently people aren’t capable of hiking up the mountain themselves...) We drove around and picked everyone up at their houses, so we ended up leaving San Pedro around 4 am. We had decided to hike up the back side (the shorter hike) since it was dark out and since we hike every day in the mountains (a 2 hour hike straight uphill at that altitude and that hour just didn’t sound particularly enticing). So, we drove up the mountain to Santa Clara, parked, got flashlights and headed out on the trail. A few places were a little scary since it was still fairly dark and the ground was wet and slippery, but overall, the hike wasn’t too bad...and most importantly we made it to the top in plenty of time to see the sunrise. It was really beautiful, watching the sun come up over the lake and sky turn from a deep blue to red to yellow-orange and then to daylight. It was definitely worth getting up that early to watch the sunrise. After the sun had been up for a little while we decided we were ready to hike back down the mountain. I think the hike down was actually scarier than the hike up because the spots that had been slippery on the way up were even worse on the way down because it was a lot easier to lose your footing. But anyways, we all made it down in one piece. We drove back down the mountain to San Pedro and dropped everyone off at their houses.
After I got home I learned how to cook Avena with my host mom, which is Guatemalan hot cereal. It’s made with water, oatmeal, milk, cinnamon and sugar and it is my favorite breakfast. It actually wasn’t that hard to make, although I haven’t made it on my own yet. It’s just really warm and yummy and you put bread and bananas in it after it’s cooked to make it even more delicious. After breakfast I got ready to go to Santiago with the other girls. The main attraction of Santiago is that it’s a market town, and although I didn’t plan to buy much (I had already bough too much the year before), it’s still fun to go and look around and see all the bright colors. The price for the boat over to Santiago, has gone up A LOT from what I remember it last year. I think it was only 15-20 quetzales last year, and this year they tried to charge us 40. I argued, or bargained, with the guy who was running it though and finally exasperated him enough that he agreed to give us the round trip for 35 each. I was still a little mad that we had to pay that much, but oh well, there’s not really any other way over to Santiago. So, we loaded up on the boat and went over to Santiago. The first thing I noticed when we got there was that the whole courtyard was underwater. Where there had been lakefront tiendas and a fountain and plaza last wear, there was only the tips of everything sticking out this year--apparently the lake had risen more than I realized. We got off and starting heading up the hill. Of course, now the market stretches all the way down to the dock, so it didn’t take us too long to hit the market. But also, things tend to be more expensive down near the dock. We spent a few hours wandering around and looking at everything--the time always goes by really fast. I ended up getting a few things--mostly presents for other people. I got little purses for the little girls who’s family I’m staying with for the first few days in Chile, I got a beaded belt (the traditional kind that they wear) for my host sister, and I got a leather belt with colorful stitching for me. However, when it came time for me to take the boat back (because I told my family I would be home for lunch at 2), we ran into a bit of a problem. They had only given us one ticket for the 4 of us, and they didn’t want to let 2 of us go on the boat now and 2 go on the next boat--stupid really since we had all payed for our tickets and thus SHOULD have had individual tickets, but didn’t think it would cause such an issue. I, once again, argued with the boat captain until he agreed to let 2 of us and 2 of us stay. (They tried to get us to pay again, but of course THAT wasn’t going to happen). The rest of the afternoon we just hung out in San Pedro--it’s always nice to have some down time after constantly going during the week.
Sunday we decided that we wanted to go kayaking on the lake (spelled “cayak” or “kayack” on the signs in San Pedro). We slept in til 8--oh how the sense of time changes in Guatemala--and then grabbed some breakfast at one of the cafes in town (we don’t eat with our families on Sundays). Of course, it took like an hour to get our food--service moves a very casual pace--so we didn’t end up getting out to the kayaks until about 10. We had decided that we wanted to kayak out to the beach that’s halfway in between San Pedro and Santiago--the kayak people told us it would be about 35 minutes each way. It ended up taking about 45 minutes of straight kayaking to get there because we were going agains the current and the wind picked up (of coursing blowing against us) for the last 10 minutes or so. But, we made it--and it was actually a lot of fun to kayak on the lake, although a little bit tiring. The beach was really nice, the water was luke warm and clear--we swam around for a while, enjoying the water (because you can’t really go swimming in San Pedro because the water at the shore is gross). Then, we decided to head back. It only took about 25 minutes to get back, I think because we were going with the current this time. We all went home, showered and met up again for lunch. I had some Pad Thai...which I had been craving and which tasted amazing until I found a bug in...gotta love how sanitary the kitchens are :) After that, I kinda decided I was done with it.
I had promised my family I would go to church with them that night, so I had to head home around 5:45 to get ready. I had been wearing a knee-length skirt...one that would have been appropriate for church in the states...but I decided I should double check with my host mom because I thought it might be a bit short for Guatemala. I asked her if the skirt was okay or if I should change pants, she said she thought it would be better if I changed to pants. I said okay, I’m going to go change, and then jokingly, too bad I don’t have skirts like you guys. She looked at me and was like, oh! you can borrow one of mine if you like. Of course I took her up on this offer--who knows when I’ll get the opportunity to dress in traditional attire again, and I’ve always wondered if it’s comfortable or not. She ran and grabbed the shirt, skirt and belt for me and then her and Juanita came into my room to help me get dressed (because of course I have no idea how to put them on, the do some fancy wrap thing with the skirt and belt to make it all stay on). They got me all suited up, however, and we headed for church. I have to say, it’s not the most comfortable thing--it’s not super uncomfortable but because you have to put the belt on pretty tight so that nothing falls down, it kind of squeezes your stomach a lot. I got lots of compliments on the outfit at church though, and also a lot of people staring (more than usual...because there are always people staring).
It was a great weekend spent around the lake...and nobody could believe it was our last weekend there!
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