What a day in Guatemala this has been! I was sad to leave San Pedro this morning, but looked forward to being on the move again. I decided to take the long way to Antigua and was rewarded with stunning views of the Guatemalan countryside. I managed to take 5 connections (4 chicken buses and a boat) on my 3 hour journey to Antigua...surely some sort of record!

Antigua is completely different than San Pedro. I really hate to be negative, but I haven´t found many redeeming qualities here yet. Let me preface that by saying I´m tired, hungry and terribly homesick today. (A friend told me I would get to this place...she was right.) So I walked from the bus station into the city looking for a hotel. The few I found that had availability (apparently every American in Guatemala has traveled here for Christmas) were going to cost a fortune. So, I needed another plan.

Several months ago, I began corresponding with a professor in Antigua at a Spanish school. So, I decided to find Juan Carlos and see what he suggested. What ended up happening was very unexpected. I enrolled in 3 days of language class and am now staying with a Guatemalan family. I suppose this is the silver lining and will probably make my Antiguan experience much more wonderful. I have only met the family briefly and am looking forward to dinner tonight.

Alicia is my Spanish teacher. She is 22 years old and speaks about as much English as I do Spanish. She made the mistake of asking me if I missed my family and the waterworks began. But, my tears brought out her sense of humor and we both laughed more than we cried. Then we spent 3 hours practicing the difference in the verbs for "to be¨ and "to have." They are all very confusing and there´s no way 3 days are enough to master them.

¿Todo Bien?

Loosely translated, the phrase means is everything okay?.¨ It became the theme of my day. My morning began at 5 am when I awoke to hike Volcan San Pedro. (I spent yesterday doing absolutely nothing but visiting on the back deck of my hotel! It felt great, but I needed to be active today.) My guide, Domingo, met me in town before it was light and we began the most difficult trek ever! The hike to the top of the volcano is 5 miles...all up hill. The Guatemalans don´t believe in switchbacks, preferring to cut 15 trillion stairs (only a slight exaggeration) into the mountain where tree roots don´t provide natural stairs, forcing hikers to go straight up. This 3 mile hike would have been 20 in the US.

Domingo and I walked the first 2 miles to the national park. He passed me off to my guide Sabien, who speaks no English. Needless to say, I got quite a lesson from full immersion today and my vocabulary has greatly expanded. The next 3 miles were even harder than the first two. As we got closer to the summit, it got steeper. The last 10 steps were excruciating, but I was determined. (I met a group of 10 yesterday who didn´t make it.) The views from the top, at 3000 meters (9000 feet), were amazing. San Pedro is not an active volcano, so there was no sacrifice to the fire gods, but I could see 7 or so villages and the lake below. Talk about peaceful!

The park is full of wildlife and beautiful foliage. Sabien patiently named many of them for me in Spanish and K'iche (one of 22 Mayan languages spoken here). All of that vocabulary has already escaped me, but I was a diligent student in the process.

If the way up was difficult, the way back down was twice as painful! Talk about a slip-and-slide adventure. Your legs are screaming and the ground is moving beneath your feet. I managed to make it back down with only 1 spectacular fall and 3 or so magnificent sliding accidents. That doesn´t count the amount of times Sabien took a fall! That´s where I learned most of my new words. ¨Be careful.¨ ¨Are you okay?¨ Several other exclamations that weren´t quite expletives, but could have been! But, it was well worth it and Sabien assures me that Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano I plan to hike while in Antigua, is muy facile compared to San Pedro.

So, todo bien? Si. I had a long massage this afternoon, which helped with the soreness of the hike and folks are starting to crowd the streets for fiesta. The collective good mood is infectious. There are many solo travelers in San Pedro, so we will all celebrate Navidad together tomorrow.

I do miss you all and hope that the holidays are wonderful for you. I will probably leave San Pedro after Navidad. More adventures on la camionetas del pollo to come!!

¡Feliz Navidad! Hasta luego.

If I don´t come home, I´m in San Pedro

I hadn´t planned to write today, but the internet cafe was calling my name. They are so easy to access and cheap, so worth the 30 minutes and $.15! I left Chichicastenango early this morning to travel to Lake Atitlan. I had decided before leaving to travel to San Pedro La Lagunas and make that home base for the next 5 or so days. While waiting on the chicken bus, I met a couple from Alaska who had the same plan, so we traveled together.

(A note about traveling alone. It´s incredible and I highly recommend it!!! I have not actually been alone one moment that I didn´t want to be. There´s always someone inviting me to share a meal with them, or a seat on a bus.)

Everything that Chichi was - dirty, chaotic and loud - San Pedro is not. It is by the water...quiet and serene with Volcan San Pedro looming high above. We took the chicken bus to Panajachel and then boarded a lancha (boat) to cross the lake. When you enter San Pedro, you are in ¨Gringolandia,¨ called that because that is where many expatriates live. Lots of folks stay for long periods of time to study Spanish as well since the schools here are the cheapest in the world. Women walk the streets selling homemade banana bread and other treats. They are also allowed to sell in the restaurants, but unlike Chichi, they leave you alone after one ¨no gracias.¨ I must admit though, it is difficult to say ¨no gracias¨ to homemade banana bread, especially when drinking the best coffee I´ve ever had.

Speaking of coffee, they grow it here and dry it next to my hotel. It doesn´t smell like coffee when it´s first harvested, but rather, tobasco. The other major cash crop is marijuana. There is a large rasta scene here and many gringos have tattoos or dreads. There is a full moon party tonight. For Q25, you get on a boat to who knows where for music and dancing. Several from my hotel are going, so I think I´ll see what it´s about.

There are yoga studios, massage and holistic healing centers - I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow! Everything is very casual here and I am learning a lesson in being spontaneous. ¨Tomorrow¨ seems to be the best time to make a decision, any decision, and dinner plans were made for "after sunset.¨ It´s easy to see how people come here and never leave.

I´m staying in Hotel Casa Elena, which is very close to the dock and definitely in Gringolandia. I had not planned to stay there, thinking I would prefer going into town instead, but a water front view with a hammock and hot water for $4-night was too much to pass up! I took a 3 hour nap in a hammock today...

Earlier today I was wandering around San Pedro looking for lake access to write a bit. Roads are not paved and foot paths are unmarked. I wandered down a path that looked heavily traveled, but was apparently private land. I didn´t know that until 4 guard dogs chased me away!!!