Atitlan & Chichi

Over the weekend, we went on a far-too-short trip to Lake Atitlan and Chichicastenengo. ¨Chichi¨ is well known for its market, and now I know why. It´s incredible! There were tons of people and tons of cool things to buy (or just look at). Some of it, like the batteries that didn´t work, was trash. But much of it was really cool crafts, dresses, housewares (Guatemalan style) and various clothes. We spent 3 or so hours just strolling through the endless isles of goods... bartering and making ¨deals¨ for stuff. I used to be the king of market trading (in Korea), but I seem to have lost some of my magic touch. It think part of it comes with language skills though. Also, I must admit, I do better when I´m not being shadowed by other english speakers (especially those who speak the native tongue better than me... I seem to get self conscious about my speaking). Towards the end of the market time, I went off on my own and had a lot of fun practicing my spanish while leaving several vendors dejected at their lost sale (I´ll admit it, I was using their desire to sell stuff to my advantage - to practice Spanish).

Anhow, in addition to going on a road trip to shop in a market, we also spent a day in Lake Atitlan. (For those who care... some people think this could be ¨The Waters of Mormon.¨ But like everything else related to Book of Mormon geography, that´s just a possiblilty - not a certainty.) It´s beautiful and certainly a place I would willingly hide myself from a murderous king, but it´s a bit water than I would have expected.

Anyhow, point is - we came here and its a great place to be. We didn´t get to stay nearly long enough, but at least I got to see it. We spent the afternoon visiting various pueblos that surround the lake. And oh are they poor. Like many other places in Guatemala, they have things to sell and they really want to sell them. More than that though, they just want money. It was amazing to see
how and what they make, but sad to see how anxious they were to sell it or rather 'beg people' to buy it. It gave me more opportunities to practice my Spanish, but it was still kinda sad to see how they spend their days accosting tourists.

And lastly, one night in Panajachal (at the Lake) we went dancing. Here´s a photo of Ana and Julio. Ana was giddy to be out dancing and we ended up having a fun time. I know I stayed out too late, but it was great to see everyone having such a fun time. Salsa, Regaeton, Marimba, etc...

My favorite memory from the evening (though, sadly, not a photo) is of a boy (12'ish)¨leading¨ both his mother and his sister in a dance. HE´s THE man! Now just think how cool it´ll be in a few years when he can dance with both his girlfriends at the same time (oh wait, do girlfriends mind it when guys aren´t exclsive - expecially on the dance floor?)!