Saturday, June 23, 2007
Day Four- Lunch and the moving mall
We worked up a appetite for lunch and headed over to a local restaurant. We were a table of nine so we attracted the attention of the local vendors. The second some one at the table purchased something we had a continual stream of vendors for the next hour or so. Apparently their theory that if you buy something they will leave was not all that accurate.
Day Four- "Kayak is just Kayak"
Waking up in the morning the rain had stopped and cleaned the streets. All the muck and waste had flowed into the lake. Guess where we are headed, the lake. Good thing we got all those vaccinations. We got up early and headed down to the lake to rent Kayaks. We wanted to go early because the lake is the calmest then plus today is wedding day and we need to be ready by three. Josh and I decided to go on a double, however we quickly realized that navigation on a flat bottomed kayak is not so easy. Josh told me at one point he never knew it was possible to paddle on both sides and still go in a circle. By the end we had figured it out and were able to actually make a wake behind us. We are so pro. 
We paddled out to a near by cliff where Josh assured me it was deep enough to jump off of. I reminded him of all the rain the night before and what is possibly in the lake. I´m such a wife. Bottom line he stayed in the boat. Jason informed me that I had taken away Josh´s dreams, or something to that effect using much less elegant language.
We paddled out to a near by cliff where Josh assured me it was deep enough to jump off of. I reminded him of all the rain the night before and what is possibly in the lake. I´m such a wife. Bottom line he stayed in the boat. Jason informed me that I had taken away Josh´s dreams, or something to that effect using much less elegant language.Day Three- Then the rain came
After our morning of zipping down the mountain we met up with Whitney and Jason who had just arrived in town. We walked down to the water with Brandy, Matt, Misty and Cezar for a late lunch. As soon as we were ready to go the rain started so we ordered another bucket of beer and hoped it would stop. The rain did stop but not for long. About and hour after we went back to the hotel the rain started up again but this time it didn´t stop. It rained and rained. We watched the street in front of our hotel turn into a river. Most of our group was at the Church for the rehearsal or getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. We decided that we were going to stay close to the hotel with Whitney and Jason. We played cards and caught up. We decided we made the correct decision when we found out at ten that the dinner hadn´t started yet and the street was basically a true river at that point.
June 22, 2007- That is a long way down!
We woke up early and had our first typical Guatemalan breakfast which consisted of fried plantains, eggs, cheese and coffee. It was wonderful. Were only had a few vendors come try to sell us goods during breakfast. One of which was a man selling nuts whom we had seen the night before. We tried to explain that Josh would die if we gave him any so we offered him our juice as a consolation prize. He was happy to accept then headed on his way thanking us for the juice.
At ten we met up with a smaller faction of our group and walked over to the nature preserve and the butterfly jail. We walked over a number of hanging bridges. They looked pretty safe but we strictly adhered to the 6 persons only sign. We also decided to take advantage of the zip line canopy tour they offered. It was roughly $25 for both of us to go and the man assured us that everything was CMI certified in both the US and Canada and was completely safe. It was the first time I had seen "made in the USA" on the trip. Josh was undecided at first but was so happy he went in the end. We went down a series of 6 zip lines. The longest zip line was 350 meters and took about 45 seconds.
That gives you plenty of time to consider the fact that you are pretty height up but then still have time to look around and enjoy the views. They say the first one is the scariest and you get you use to it during the end. I wasn´t so sure but in the end they were correct. The last few were the fastest and were very fun.
At ten we met up with a smaller faction of our group and walked over to the nature preserve and the butterfly jail. We walked over a number of hanging bridges. They looked pretty safe but we strictly adhered to the 6 persons only sign. We also decided to take advantage of the zip line canopy tour they offered. It was roughly $25 for both of us to go and the man assured us that everything was CMI certified in both the US and Canada and was completely safe. It was the first time I had seen "made in the USA" on the trip. Josh was undecided at first but was so happy he went in the end. We went down a series of 6 zip lines. The longest zip line was 350 meters and took about 45 seconds.
That gives you plenty of time to consider the fact that you are pretty height up but then still have time to look around and enjoy the views. They say the first one is the scariest and you get you use to it during the end. I wasn´t so sure but in the end they were correct. The last few were the fastest and were very fun.
Day two- Back to Pana
After our morning tour of Santiago we headed back to Pana. Josh and I headed back to our first hotel room and settled in again for the "first" time. We went out on a walk around the town and had a very authentic meal of pizza. Ok, well not so authentic, but we weren´t sure what we could eat and we were pretty sure pizza was a safe bet. The pizza was wonderful. It don´t think it is possible to get such great crust in California.
After dinner we went out and experienced a different side of Pana through the view of the bars. Basically we met other Americans but we had a nice time. We watched the end of the Semi finals Gold Cup with USA vs. Canada. We started to watch Mexico play Guadalupe and I was quite confused because I assumed Guadalupe was in Mexico. I was informed that Guadalupe was an island in the Caribbean and was in fact a country.
After dinner we went out and experienced a different side of Pana through the view of the bars. Basically we met other Americans but we had a nice time. We watched the end of the Semi finals Gold Cup with USA vs. Canada. We started to watch Mexico play Guadalupe and I was quite confused because I assumed Guadalupe was in Mexico. I was informed that Guadalupe was an island in the Caribbean and was in fact a country.
Day Two- Santiago Atitlan
What a great night sleep! We woke up and headed to town to find a quick bite before our tour of Santiago. Suzanne´s had been in touch with one of her friends from Guatemala and arranged for us to have a tour of Atitlan led by the Mayan elders. Not exactly something you find in the local guide book. We met at 10AM sharp at the church...well when you are traveling twenty deep time is a relative term, so most of the group meandered in around 1030 and we were off by 11. But hey, were are on vacation who needs to be on time. Suzanne translated as our tour guide Tony Gonzolas gave us some basic background on Santiago. He said that there is a strong desire by the people of the town to say true to the old Mayan ways. It seems there is a delicate balance between accepting assistance which is greatly needed while still maintaining their culture.
We were introduced to Don Pasqual Chavez who is a Mayan elder and member of the local municipal government. Don Pasqual spoke the local Mayan language so his story was translated from Mayan to Spanish to English. My interpretation of events is based loose translation so I was able to get the general story, but the details and specific sequence of events were difficult to understand. Don Pasqual led us to a Peace Park in Panajab a mile or so down the lake from Santiago. The Peace Park is located where a massacre had taken place December 2, 1990. The massacre occurred between the local villagers and the occupying military. The massacre in December let to the organization of the local villagers who were determined to get the military out of Santiago. Don Pasqual was one of the members of a group of people who assembled in the local church and decided that they would travel to Guatemala City and call and appointment with the President and ask for him to order the military out of Santiago. The President agreed to the withdrawal in addition to the Gorillas. The villagers of Santiago were allowed to continue to resolve their disputes trough discussions and not violence which was the way of their grandfather's grandfathers. 
Unfortunately tragedy has not left the village of Panajab alone. In 2005 Hurricane Stan caused a mudslide that covered the entire village. Three hundred people lost their lives when the entire village was covered in mud. It was only in the last few months that they have cleared the last of the dirt away and was able to bury the rest of their friends and family that died. The former site of their village is now an open field and you would have never known it had been a village of thousands. You can still see the mud stains on the side of the hospital which is currently under reconstruction to try and make it usable again.
We were also fortunately enough to have Nicolas Tzina a local Mayan Shaman perform a blessing for us. We enjoyed our tour and felt lucky to be able to have such an amazing experience.
We were introduced to Don Pasqual Chavez who is a Mayan elder and member of the local municipal government. Don Pasqual spoke the local Mayan language so his story was translated from Mayan to Spanish to English. My interpretation of events is based loose translation so I was able to get the general story, but the details and specific sequence of events were difficult to understand. Don Pasqual led us to a Peace Park in Panajab a mile or so down the lake from Santiago. The Peace Park is located where a massacre had taken place December 2, 1990. The massacre occurred between the local villagers and the occupying military. The massacre in December let to the organization of the local villagers who were determined to get the military out of Santiago. Don Pasqual was one of the members of a group of people who assembled in the local church and decided that they would travel to Guatemala City and call and appointment with the President and ask for him to order the military out of Santiago. The President agreed to the withdrawal in addition to the Gorillas. The villagers of Santiago were allowed to continue to resolve their disputes trough discussions and not violence which was the way of their grandfather's grandfathers. Unfortunately tragedy has not left the village of Panajab alone. In 2005 Hurricane Stan caused a mudslide that covered the entire village. Three hundred people lost their lives when the entire village was covered in mud. It was only in the last few months that they have cleared the last of the dirt away and was able to bury the rest of their friends and family that died. The former site of their village is now an open field and you would have never known it had been a village of thousands. You can still see the mud stains on the side of the hospital which is currently under reconstruction to try and make it usable again.
We were also fortunately enough to have Nicolas Tzina a local Mayan Shaman perform a blessing for us. We enjoyed our tour and felt lucky to be able to have such an amazing experience.
Day One- Lets Go!
Day one was quite long due to the fact Tuesday shortly turned into Wednesday. We arrived at LAX for our connecting flight to Guatemala when we heard our names over the intercom. Josh went up to check it out and came back with a smile. We had been upgraded to first Class, nice. The never ending glass of wine made the flight much easier. We didn´t get much sleep but I was able to watch the sunrise out the plane window which was pretty amazing. We stepped of the plane followed the crowed to the luggage and promptly found our driver with all our names written on it. We were on the same flight as two of our friends Lisa and Carlos so we all headed out to the car. We stopped at Suzanne´s friends house who was nice enough to provide us breakfast of eggs, beans, bread, and some of the best salsa we had ever had.
After breakfast we started on our long trek to Panajachel. Three to four hours and many pot holes later we arrived in Pana. It didn´t take long to find the group since they were assembled in the lobby ready to head out to Santiago Atitlan a nearby town. The plan was to take a ferry there then stay the night. We figured we were on an adventure so we dropped our main luggage in our room, packed to small bags for the night then headed out for the ferry.
It was bright sunny and warm when we left on the ferry and pouring rain by the time we were on the other side of the lake. Fortunately the rain lasted all of fifteen minutes and it was sunny again in no time. Our second hotel for the night Hotel Bamboo was beautiful. It had a very tropical landscape and overlooked the lake. We couldn´t ask for anything better. We had a late lunch, swam in the pool, and took slightly warm showers to get ready for dinner.
We took a fifteen minute walk to the main town of Santiago Atitilan. Santiago is a smaller more traditional town near Lake Atitlan. We met up with Chonita our hostess for the evening. Chonita had started an organization for widows of the civil war. She helped raise money to help provide food for the many women who lost their husbands and sons in the violence of the civil war. Chonita was a friend of one of our travelers and provided twenty two of us dinner on only four hours notice. After dinner Kirsten translated as Chonita shared with us the story of how she lost her husband in the civil war in the 80´s and how she recently lost her son to a car accident. It is incredible the strength she has shown after how much tragedy she has been through. She is currently helping feed many of the displaced villagers who lost their homes during hurricane Stan in 2005.
We really had an amazing day, very long but incredible.
After breakfast we started on our long trek to Panajachel. Three to four hours and many pot holes later we arrived in Pana. It didn´t take long to find the group since they were assembled in the lobby ready to head out to Santiago Atitlan a nearby town. The plan was to take a ferry there then stay the night. We figured we were on an adventure so we dropped our main luggage in our room, packed to small bags for the night then headed out for the ferry.
It was bright sunny and warm when we left on the ferry and pouring rain by the time we were on the other side of the lake. Fortunately the rain lasted all of fifteen minutes and it was sunny again in no time. Our second hotel for the night Hotel Bamboo was beautiful. It had a very tropical landscape and overlooked the lake. We couldn´t ask for anything better. We had a late lunch, swam in the pool, and took slightly warm showers to get ready for dinner.
We took a fifteen minute walk to the main town of Santiago Atitilan. Santiago is a smaller more traditional town near Lake Atitlan. We met up with Chonita our hostess for the evening. Chonita had started an organization for widows of the civil war. She helped raise money to help provide food for the many women who lost their husbands and sons in the violence of the civil war. Chonita was a friend of one of our travelers and provided twenty two of us dinner on only four hours notice. After dinner Kirsten translated as Chonita shared with us the story of how she lost her husband in the civil war in the 80´s and how she recently lost her son to a car accident. It is incredible the strength she has shown after how much tragedy she has been through. She is currently helping feed many of the displaced villagers who lost their homes during hurricane Stan in 2005.
We really had an amazing day, very long but incredible.
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