Well friends, its been awhile. For quite sime time i didnt really feel like i had much to say, but this past weekend i finially left san pedro for a bit to see other parts of the lake. I started out by taking a lancha to Panajachel, the city i came through to get here in the first place. I was there about 10 minutes before I decided to leave. Its a long established spot for tourists, so it was crawling with gringos, and overall felt dirty and uninviting. I knew there was a nature preserve nearby so I walked about 1km out of town and down a very plesent road lined with extremely nice hotels. I had planned to go for a hike in the reserve, but instead I hiked and went ziplining in a canyon. By far the most expensive thing Ive done in Guatemala for a measly 23 bucks. It was very cool to be above the trees and look down through them. There were also monkeys, but god knows ive seen enough of those to really care. The reserve also had a butterfly sanctuary, which im pretty sure contained 2 mariposas. The flowers were much for interesting. From Pana I rode in the back of a pick up, under a tarp, in the rain to another village called San Antonio Popolo. Its more or less the opposite side of the lake from San P, and is pretty much the definition of tranquil. I was only there for about an hour, but it was well worth the trip to see the differently patterened and colored traje tipica in a community with different Maya heritage, and a different language than San P.
The next morning I set out to climb La Nariz, a peak more or less behind the pueblo of San Juan that I visited in the last blog (and again 2 weekends ago when the lovely Katie Bray came to visit from her orphanage in Parramos. I finially broke down and bought something touristy, a woven make up bag of sorts, made from natural dyes.). It took two hours to walk from San P to the top of the peak, which was intermnitanly shroweded in fluffy white clouds, but otherwise provided a stunning vista of the lake. I could bore you with yet more pictures of the lake, but to you it would only be scenery, same ol, same ol. Because it rained while I was above the clouds the decent also took 2 hours, and thus I was a useless human being for the rest of the weekend, emerging only to feed my soul by making spagetti. FRESH VEGABLES. A miracle really.
I will now interupt this post to reflect on the oddity that is my diet here. Yes Ive mentioned it before. Im taking my carbohydrate consumption to new hights now. Yesterday Id had pancakes, a tamale (corn), rice, and freshly fried jojos by lunch time. Today breakfast was a piece of white cake offered to me with a tup of chocolate frosting, if id like, to go with my half a deep friend plantain. The school always offers us a snack, and today if planned to pass, but it was just so bizarre I couldnt help myself- more or less a hamburger bun topped with an egg, guacamole, purred black beans, cooked carrots, and CHOW MEIN. wtf? Jose joked that it was a sandwitch multicultural. (say it with an accent, the words are the same). And ya know what? It was damn good. However, by far my favorite thing my host mom makes is rediculously simple. Its pretty much instant chicked broth with tomatos, onions, noodles, and mint. Normally I hate mint in food, but this soup is sooo good.
Speaking of my host family. Im extremely greatful for the expreience of living with them. Really, this whole trip, but especially the homestay part has been exactly what I wanted to experience. It is a truly unique window into the life of my mother, a traditional mayan woman who may or may not have finished high school, and devotes her entire existence to the life of her family. I see the clash of modernity between my sister, a hannah montana and basketball loving girls and her father, a fairly strict traditional man (especially in the gender role sense, at times I find myself rolling my eyes uncontroably for his expectations of his wife). I find myself wondering if she has any chance to become the teacher she deams of becoming.
All in all, their home has been a wonder experience, but Im beginning to withdraw and seek more time to myself. Im sad to be leaving San Pedro for good this trip, but I need a break from my family, and especially from studying. Im thrilled with all ive learned, but its becoming more and more frustrating that my speaking skills dont progress as quickly. Yes, I could try harder, but Im just kind of tired. Im realizing now that ive pretty much done a j-term language class, something I always thought sounded like a dumb idea. I wish I could take 2 weeks off and come back to it, and I plan to locate another calss as soon as I get home.
Instead of coming back Ill be moving on for a week before I fly home. I have a rough idea of where- first to Santa Cruz del Quiche to meet a friend with whom Ill go to the massive market Chichicastenango and visit the some Mayan ruins. From there Im going alone north to Nebaj, in the Ixil Triangle, the three principle village of a small Ixil speaking people from some highland hiking. From there Ill try to get north of Coban, to get in some caving at Candelaria before I go back south to meet my friend again in the former spanish capital of Antigua.
From there its time to go home! I think Ill be ready after this last week of exploring. Right now Im just trying to soak up a few more spanish concepts and enjoy the company of my teachers, but I cant help but look forward to being home just a little bit. What can I say, I love to travel, but Im a homebody at heart, and while Ive loved building a home hear (I certianly plan to return) I have lots of goodness waiting for me in Tacoma.
Checkfacebook soon for more photos, and take care!