INSIGHT...into Guatemala's nature and history

We came around the mountain, and there it was. The huge body of water resting between multiple volcanos. Lake Atitlan. Probably the most gorgeous sight my eyes have ever seen. By far one of God’s most awesome creations.

We had a great weekend relaxing and adventuring around the shores of this beautiful lake. Although we were never really certain that we’d actually get to leave Xela this weekend (due to rains and landslides on highways), on Thursday plans were finalized, and we prepared ourselves for our weekend trip to the Lake Atitlan area. We never had to wait for road construction and could pass through all the roads, but there were a few evidences of recent landslides, including a couple of times when the asphalt was gone and we drove across a one-lane dirt road and one instance of driving about a foot away from a few-hundred feet drop-off down the mountain. We were blessed with an AMAZING driver. One of our coordinators hooked us up with him, and since he had a vanbus (aka a 15-passenger van) we didn’t have to worry about hooking up with buses or finding public transportation to get to the Lake. He also knew of a great hotel just 100 meters away from the lake with reasonable prices and got us hooked up with a boat-driver to take us to a couple of places across the lake. So Friday afternoon we departed for Panajachel, a city right on the lake. After about three and a half hours of uphill, downhill, twists and turns, and an almost-flat-tire, we made it to the lake. Saturday was probably a highlight of my life. The morning began with breakfast at a shore-side restaurant. Not the highest quality of food, and we got heckled by vendors while we were eating (typical in Panajachel), but the morning and the view were BEAUTIFUL. After breakfast we organized a boat ride, and nine of us (plus our vanbus driver) headed out for Santiago, a small pueblo across the lake. After a few hours of shopping, walking around, and lunch, we boarded the boat once again with a destination of San Pedro, another pueblo across the lake. However, on our way to San Pedro, we stopped to do the exact thing that all of our host families and teachers had been telling us not to do. Our boat driver knew of a “safe dock” next to which we could go for a swim. So we did. :) That was an ooober fun experience of changing into a swimsuit on a boat and jumping off a dock into I-don’t-know how deep rich blue-green water. (Hopefully none of us become ill from the supposed bacteria that lives in the water…) After about a half hour of enjoying the cool water, we made our way to San Pedro. San Pedro is known as being a “hippy” town, and it was just that. Surprisingly though, there was a pretty predominant presence of Christian churches and school there too. A few people in our group decided to take a thermal bath, while a few of us decided to take a short horseback riding trip around the pueblo. Our horses went next to AND through the city. That was a fun experience—riding horse next to city buses and taxis and on three-foot wide narrow paths between buildings, trotting through the streets and sharing our “buenos días” with the locals as though we were in some sort of parade. As if we didn’t stand out enough already with our light skin and American dress, might as well pop us six feet in the air on horses. :P Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend much time in San Pedro and had to head back to Pana right after the ride. On our way back, we had to stop twice because of trash in our motor. :/ There was a bit of basura floating around and littering the beautiful blue-green of the water.

I’m going to stop talking about Lake Atitlan or else I won’t get to anything else. I’ll try to get some pictures up of the beautiful lake and volcanos, but of course, they can never capture seeing such beautiful creation in person. I’m still in awe.

Last week I gave my first presentation for my literature class! Also, 330 pages later, I finally finished my novel! I was worried I wasn’t going to get through it time to write my paper and make my presentation which were both due Friday. But I did! And I think they both went pretty well. :) Also on Friday, my professor and I had a really great conversation. Guatemalans seem to very blunt and honest, including with questions. The conversation began simply, with her asking me, “So, how’s your family?” but shortly after our conversation topics became death, God, and Martin Luther. Haha :) My favorite question of the conversation: “What do you think about God?” I was able to share with my prof my personal beliefs about death, God, scripture, servanthood, among many other things. She also shared with me her thoughts and beliefs, and ironically although she claims to have no religious affiliation, we had some very similar beliefs. And we both admire Martin Luther. :) And our fathers have the same name…well, almost. Jorge/George. :) I’m glad that I’m getting to a point in my Spanish that I feel more comfortable having a bit more in-depth conversations, and it was fun getting to learn more about the life of a middle-aged Guatemalan woman.

“It’s hard not to hold a position” seemed to be a popular phrase last week. We heard from a speaker who during the years of violence in Guatemala, was not “directly involved” in the military nor any guerrilla group. I add quotes because although he wasn’t officially a part of any movement or military group, his life was still definitely affected by the conflict. His experiences included losing a classmate to a mysterious case of abduction at the age of 15, witnessing an explosion, and almost being forced to join the army three times. His testimony helped us realize that there was not a whole lot many people could do to escape the violence and fear of Guatemala’s recent history. We also learned that many people tried to remain ignorantto the situation, to avoid having to be involved at all. Within our conversation on Friday, my professor also shared some things about her life during the war, and she had a similar experience. Although she never was “directly involved” in combat groups, her life was still definitely affected. When they say “it’s hard not to hold a position,” to remain neutral in regards to who was “in the right” during the violence, it’s next to impossible because they are living with their own experiences that affect how they view what happened and what continues to happen.

Now that I’ve written a book, I’m going to get some sleep. (Despite what this blog post says, I wrote this at 10pm Sunday night.) Although this weekend was stress-free and relaxing, it was still pretty packed full of fun stuff (including a visit to Central America’s largest market this morning! We finally made it to Chichicastenango—where we were supposed to go to last weekend but couldn’t because of the mudslides), and I’m beat.

Please continue to pray for those affected by the rain and mudslides. This weekend we got to see just a small bit of the damage, and I cannot imagine how many things like this Guatemalans go through every year, every season. Natural disasters seem to be an expected thing here, but something you can never fully prepare or be ready for. Also pray for our group of students as some of us are not looking forward to this next week of classes (including many final presentations and papers), and for me as I continue to study within this subject that I don’t get all that excited about (no offense to those of you who love reading and literature…)

Thanks for reading this book known as my blog post! (At least it’s not in Spanish!) Ojala que todo esté bien en Iowa y Dakota del Sur. :)