Respite in Panajachel

We spent Saturday afternoon and the better part of Sunday in a hotel in the wonderful town of Panajachel, off of Lake Atitlan- a volcanic lake that, as the deepest in central America, covers several archeological sites from the preclassical and classical period. Along with the obvious nerd appeal, the lake and it surrounding cities and nature preserves were simply stunning in their beauty and history.

Upon arriving in Panajachel, we took a boat clear across the lake to the city of Santiago. Julio, our guide, took us down some winding back –alley paths that at first seemed to go nowhere but ended up at the fascinating shrine to a local deity, Maximon- a stunning example of syncretic religion in a house, with an idol surrounded by candles and monetary offerings. The figure’s legend, a sort of combination of that of a Mayan god, a local hero, and Christianity, involved him granting prayers for evil wishes. We were soon taken to a local Catholic church, which contained many statues of saints and a startling history of its involvement in the Guatemalan civil war. What was incredible was the reflections of Christianity in the shrine to Maximon- and the fact that locals would visit both the shrine and church and believe in Maximon and Catholicism firmly. Despite my need to stay and learn more history we soon had to take the boat back across to Panajachel and our beautiful hotel, which even had hot showers.

The next morning we decided to visit a local nature preserve, where we hiked through a stunningly diverse rainforest, crossed several terrifying bridges over waterfalls and rivers, and saw some monkeys! The preserve also contained a beautiful butterfly garden, but the rain the previous night had chased all but a few butterflies into hiding.

When we eventually left the stunning preserve and finally ate our lunch in town, it was already 2:30- half an hour later than we’d wanted to leave for Antigua. Of course, since we were already late, the battery on the bus died. It took a while, but we eventually made it safe and sound back in Antigua- where, even though the water was out for the night and the next morning, we found something to celebrate. Sarah, our wonderful new friend from Maryland, will spend our last week with us and a month in intensive language school here before heading out for two years teaching in the Dominican Republic. We all became fast friends and she even put up with Dallas’s antics.

Today, after an interesting morning painting the main building of Corzon des los Niños and an afternoon learning how to make tortillas (the only skill you really need to be a good wife) and talking to a traveler from Atlanta with a fascinating car, we ended up here at Café Sky (our internet is out. Again.)