This weekend was potentially one of the best I have ever experienced. From the incredible views to the once in a lifetime experiences to the people I got to spend it with, everything about this weekend was amazing. We left Friday afternoon for Panajachel which is the number four hippie destination in the world and lies on the edge of the beautiful Lake Atitilan. Lake Atitilan is tucked in the middle of a mountain/volcano range. It rests about 5,000 feet higher than Antigua, which is already at a high elevation.
In Panajachel we had dinner at a ministry outreach called Solomon’s Porch that is doing wonderful open-armed ministry to residents and tourists of this city. We also got to shop the street vendors and spend time down by the water. The next day all 22 of us packed into a little boat and took the 45 minute ride across the lake to San Juan.
At San Juan we stayed at an eco-hotel that provided a stunning view of the lake. We ventured to a coffee cooperative that grows organic and ecologically friendly coffee. Since I have worked at Tim Hortons making coffee for several years now it was really interesting for me to see the process of growing and preparing coffee beans.
We then visited a little women’s weaving cooperative. Here each of us was given a private teacher who helped us weave a scarf that we then got to keep. It seems like everywhere we go we are bombarded with people wanting to sell us their weavings. However, after this experience I will never look at those weavings the same again. It was so incredibly difficult. My teacher had made a large portion of the scarf beforehand and had to finish it for me. She said that normally making a scarf like that would take her about 2 hours. However, at my pace I think it would have taken me 2 days. It is such an odd concept to me that people still weave things like this when there are machines that can do it so much more efficiently. I cannot imagine having to make my living off of selling these weavings that take so much work and bring in so little in return.
San Juan is my new favorite place in Guatemala. So far it seems that most of the places we have visited are saturated with tourists and chicken buses, but San Juan was one of the few places in Guatemala where I could see myself being able to live. It was a calm Mayan village with an incredible view of Lake Atitilan, very view tourists and refreshingly breathable air. When we got back to the hotel we had an incredible evening of taking long-exposure pictures with flashlights and attempting to attract bats for a photo op. I am not sure if I have laughed that hard since I have been in Guatemala. For several hours we tried waiving limbs over the balcony, making high-pitched “bat calls” and throwing stones hoping the bats would think they were large insects. It wasn’t until the next morning that Paul informed us with the fact that bats have no sense of hearing. Of course, we all screamed like little girls when the bats actually flew near us and out of the dozens of pictures we took we didn’t get a single one with a bat in it. That night (probably due to the adrenaline rush of bat calling) I couldn’t really sleep so I sat out on the balcony overlooking the lake and just took in where I was. Because we were so high up the stars looked vibrant and spectacular, the lake was calm and serene, the air was cool and clean, and the water fowl and insects sang enchanting songs in the cool dark night. It was one of those moments where you realize how small you are, how big the world is and how incredible God is for creating all of it.
The next morning I woke up early and sat down on the dock looking at the reflection of the mountains in the clear still water. After breakfast Aleia and I took kayaks out on the lake and Kyle and Cassie followed in the canoe. My kayak was one made for white water kayaking so it had holes in it to keep it from sinking…unfortunately this also meant that I got really wet. It was a little bit scary being in a holey kayak in the middle of a half-mile deep lake but at the same time one of the most incredible experiences.
That day we again all piled into our little boat and went to Santiago Atitilan which was at the heart of the some of the most brutal aspects of the civil war. While we were there, there was a political rally that had something to do with the upcoming elections. Here we just looked around the markets and then went back to Panajachel for dinner at a café that overlooked the lake. Somewhere along the way I must have eaten something that my stomach was not quite prepared for because I got sick for the first time since I have been here. It was kind of a downer because I thought after a month and a half with no sickness that I was in the clear, but apparently this was not the case. However, it was just the last night we were gone and didn’t interfere with this amazing weekend. Even with a holey kayak and a little sickness this is an experience that I would not trade for the world. It gave me a new sense of what an incredible place I am in and how lucky I am to be here right now.
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