Lake Atitlan

In San Marcos La Laguna on Lake Atitlan.

Saturday night in Panajachel.

Locals doing luandry in the lake.

¨Lanchas¨, the water taxis that take you to the different towns on the lake. When the boat is full, you depart...and no sooner. The name of the boat we rode on this day was the ¨Titanic¨. Luckily the climate down here doesn´t allow for icebergs.

The view from the rooftop terrace of the home we stayed in while studying Español in San Pedro.

All in a days work.




Hola,

We finished a week of Spanish in San Pedro and are now in Panajachel, another town on Lake Atitlan. We planned to just stay the weekend, but we got hung up for a few extra days. We ate some tainted nachos and dia de los cariños (Valentines) turned into noche de un baño. I was only sick for a few hours but Lindsey was layed up all day Sunday and Monday. While she was recovering on Monday, I visited the home town of the infamous Mayan god, Maximon. He is the god of drinking, smoking, gambling, and women problems...my female Spanish teacher

cringed when I mentioned his name. I thought it was spoof and just another tourist attraction until I saw him with my own eyes. He is a wooden statue about four feet tall and wears a cowboy hat. It is customary to bring some kind of tabacco product or a bottle of rum when you visit him, and he is DEFINATLY no spoof. He is in a private household and surrounded by priests. While I was there a man was praying to him about his wife who he claimed had gone crazy. I brought him a pack of cigarettes and one of the preists put one in his mouth and lit it. The preists kept the rest just in case Maximon ran out. One picture of him costs $1.50. I paid the fee and took one picture. I cannot post it because it would be disrespectful for just anybody to have access to such a sacred Mayan god. On the way back from Maximon´s residence three men stopped my 11 yr old guide and asked directions on how to get there. They had come from several hours away and were also bearing gifts. We are headed back to San Marcos de Atitlan tomorrow to take a few more days of Español.