Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Lago Atitlan

19 febrero parte 1

Hi everyone!

I have a bit of catch-up blogging to do today...

Over the weekend, Jenna, Mariah, and I went to Lago de Atitlán, a large lake about 2 hours southeast of Xela that is known for its beauty and the individual characters of the towns on its shores.  We met up with another friend from UNC, Kim, and a student from ECU, Nichelle, who she had been working with the prior week in another city.  We had breakfast in Panajachel, which is the largest town on the lake and from there (after significant drama involving a dog...more on that later) took a boat to Santa Cruz.

Our hotel was in Santa Cruz, which is a very small village of essentially two hotels, a boat dock, and a small village higher up on the hill.  It's less touristy than Panajachel or San Pedro but the other hotel, La Iguana Perdida (The Lost Iguana) is quite well known for its weekly Saturday night party and its avocado and pineapple licuados.  We had heard about both from our UVA housemate and immediately decided to go.  Each weekend, they have a huge communal BBQ for about 80 people and the party is "fancy dress," which is British code for cross-dressing.  They have a costume closet and between that and my "makeup forever" eyeliner, we had quite the field day.  We befriended some "ladies" from Michigan, Sweden, and London, played cards, ate a delicious (and veg-friendly dinner), and danced the night away in our manly attire.  I, of course, also suggested and then promptly won a limbo contest.  It was a close win against the hotel owner who, of course, happened to have some sort of connective tissue disorder that made him freakishly flexible.


After a leisurely breakfast and second round of avocado and pineapple licuados, we went on a hike from Santa Cruz to San Marcos, the next town over on the lake.  We took a boat back to Santa Cruz afterwards to gather our things and return to Panajachel, where we caught a decidedly un-chicken shuttle back to Xela with, of course, several other 4th year medical students (one from UCSF and one from U of Illinois).

Here are some pictures from the weekend!  Read on to my next entry for a stark change of subject...


Breakfast in Panajachel.  Mucho café was needed.

Mariah and Jenna

 Kim and Nichelle:

Yo.

Boat ride to Santa Cruz

el lago


We have arrived!

We were glad the hotel included peace.

plantain chips and beans in a bag is a winning combination.

but not as good as avocado and pineapple.


 Looking at Santa Cruz from above

"Sharky," "Ron," and "Herb"

The jocks.

The ladies and us.

The ladies loved to can-can

The vistas from our bungalow:

Hiking to San Marco with our new friend Eric

The actual ladies


xoxo,
Rachel

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