San Pedro, Guatemala
We arrived in San Pedro La Laguna, a pueblo of 10,000 on the shores of Lake Atitlan, last Saturday. The lake and small towns sitting on its shores and tucked high on its verdant volcanos and hills are indescribably beautiful. Puffs of clouds and sheets of mist float over the lake, which stretches about 4x12 miles, and collect in the hills.
More than any other country in Central America, Guatemala's indigineous population and culture have persisted. Depending who you talk to, 50 to 75% of the country's population is of Mayan descent. We were happy to leave the tourist heavy city of Antigua for this small town in the Western Highlands where the traditional language, culture, dress, and way of life continue. While there is less U.S. influence at Lago de Atitlan, it is also interesting to see how cell phones, the internet, and Frosted Flakes have been incorporated into a way of life which otherwise is similar to that of perhaps 50 to 100 years ago.
In San Pedro, we have been staying with a family, Rosa and Domingo Garcia Roja and 4 of their 5 kids. From their hammock we have a spectacular view of the lake and Volcano San Pedro as well as the flowers, avocado trees, and chickens in their yard. Our room is simple and illuminated by a fluorescent light but we spend little time there. Probably the best thing about staying with the Garcia Rojas is Dona Rosa's delicious cooking. Every day we are treated to 3 fabulous meals which always include fresh homemade tortillas. The poor woman spends hours every day making them. We tried our hand at it but were not much help...it's a lot harder than it looks. Jen's Spanish teacher teased her saying that she must be a man because only men can't make tortillas. (Girls start learning at the age of 7 or 8.) More on the sexism and strict gender roles another day perhaps...
Rosa in the family´s yard
This week we attended Spanish classes at a school called Corazon Maya (which arranged our homestay). We both had 4 hours of one on one instruction every morning. Our Spanglish is much improved! In the afternoons, we did our homework, attempted to do our laundry (by hand of course) to the liking of our hostess, showered once or twice (better to take a cold shower in the heat of the day than the cool of the evening...& of course the water could be gone by evening!), played with the kids on "our" "street", visited another town on the lake, and spent several hours volunteering at a center for special needs kids.
Our "classrooms"
More than any other country in Central America, Guatemala's indigineous population and culture have persisted. Depending who you talk to, 50 to 75% of the country's population is of Mayan descent. We were happy to leave the tourist heavy city of Antigua for this small town in the Western Highlands where the traditional language, culture, dress, and way of life continue. While there is less U.S. influence at Lago de Atitlan, it is also interesting to see how cell phones, the internet, and Frosted Flakes have been incorporated into a way of life which otherwise is similar to that of perhaps 50 to 100 years ago.
In San Pedro, we have been staying with a family, Rosa and Domingo Garcia Roja and 4 of their 5 kids. From their hammock we have a spectacular view of the lake and Volcano San Pedro as well as the flowers, avocado trees, and chickens in their yard. Our room is simple and illuminated by a fluorescent light but we spend little time there. Probably the best thing about staying with the Garcia Rojas is Dona Rosa's delicious cooking. Every day we are treated to 3 fabulous meals which always include fresh homemade tortillas. The poor woman spends hours every day making them. We tried our hand at it but were not much help...it's a lot harder than it looks. Jen's Spanish teacher teased her saying that she must be a man because only men can't make tortillas. (Girls start learning at the age of 7 or 8.) More on the sexism and strict gender roles another day perhaps...
Rosa in the family´s yard
This week we attended Spanish classes at a school called Corazon Maya (which arranged our homestay). We both had 4 hours of one on one instruction every morning. Our Spanglish is much improved! In the afternoons, we did our homework, attempted to do our laundry (by hand of course) to the liking of our hostess, showered once or twice (better to take a cold shower in the heat of the day than the cool of the evening...& of course the water could be gone by evening!), played with the kids on "our" "street", visited another town on the lake, and spent several hours volunteering at a center for special needs kids.
Our "classrooms"
posted by Jen and Cat at 5:22 PM
1 Comments:
Jen's not a man; she's wearing a skirt!!
You guys are bloggers-extraordinaire! Congrats. Love the photos, and it's great to hear about all your experiences so far.
XO,
-CRH
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