We started the day with a boat taxi ride to breakfast at Café Mundo. Lake Atitlan is even more incredible as you ride a boat around it. Surrounded by sheer cliffs and volcanoes, you get the feeling that you truly are in another world. On the cliffs, there are patches of farmland where crops are actually growing on cliffs that must be at least 60 degrees steep. I have no idea how the crops are able to grow much less how the farmers were able to plant them there.
The breakfast restaurant was a resort built right on the side of the cliffs. I took some pictures of the restaurant from the boat and some of Haley lying in a hammock overlooking the lake and volcanoes.
After breakfast, we visited the small towns of San Pedro and then Santiago. In San Pedro we took some pictures of some of the local women bathing and washing their laundry in the lake. It was such a foreign scene that we all stood there watching them (don't worry, they were clothed) for a couple minutes before we were off to explore more of the island.
Santiago was a little more interesting and alive than San Pedro. When we got off the boat, we were attacked by some of the local boys who urged us to visit the house of Moshimon, the local patron saint. Gemma told us that it was local thing to do: Visit the Saint, and pay make an offering to him in the form of cigarettes and alcohol. So we decided to pay the boys a couple of quetzales and follow them to Moshimon's house. It ended up being a bunch of drunk (and/or high) dudes in this small house sitting behind this small midget statue of the town's patron saint. It was definitely a strange, if not stupid, scene. Apparently, it used to be a very important belief in the town, but since the influx of tourists it has become more of an excuse for the town drunks to get free booze money.
After Moshimon, we headed into town to take some more pictures (I was done with shopping). After walking for a while, I stopped in the middle of the market to take an overall picture of the hustle and bustle. As I did so, an older lady who was sitting on the side of the street selling some fruit started to hit my leg with her can telling me that I had to pay. I asked her who she thought I should pay the money to. She answered that I should pay the people I was taking pictures of. I tried to explain how that would be quite impossible seeing as I had just taken a picture of a couple hundred people, but after seeing the anger in her eyes, I decided to just walk away. After all, that whack of her cane didn't feel all that good.
Having learned my lesson, I ended up paying a couple of the older ladies a quetzal each for a picture. I guess they need to make some money somehow, why not as models? My favorite is of an older lady, not bigger than a normal 5 year old in the US, selling bananas.
After returning from the boat ride, Amy and I decided to hit a taco stand that the two of us had fallen in love with on the trip (Haley went back for a quick nap at the hotel before heading back to Antigua). While there, a small girl was quite relentless in asking for money, our lunch, or anything else we had to offer. Down here, the local vendors and beggars (often the same person) will come up to you in a restaurant and pester you to no end. I can't believe that the workers don't chase them off, but I guess that's just the way they do it. Anyway, this little girl spent most of our lunch with her hand touching my arm asking me to give her some money. This may sound like a touching story, but it was quite the opposite as the girl was quite demanding and got angry when we told her no.
On the ride home, we got a private van and got to listen to CCR. It was good fun.
I should mention that Erin and Nikki got really sick yesterday and had to head back to Antigua to seek medical attention. It ended up that Erin spent the night in the hospital taking IV antibiotics and 5 liters of fluid to replace her dehydration and combat the parasites that had infected her. We are still not sure what happened to Nikki, but she remain somewhat ill (though not as bad as Erin was). Tonight I have also come down with round two of the BU. We'll see how this one goes down.
At night, we celebrated Hanna's birthday by eating pizza at our hotel, listening to some tunes on my computer (once again reminded of how I don't have any good party music), and playing a wicked game of "What If?" My favorite question/answer combo of the evening was "What if a hurricane came along and wiped us all out to sea?" My answer was "then those of us with genetically modified fins would have the upper hand." I am still laughing at my response (though I am the only one doing so).
This ended up being a long entry for what was a long day.
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