Since I'm not working weekdays, I get pretty bored sometimes in Xela. My friend, Matt, was taking a week off of Spanish classes to visit the lake, relax, and try to digest all the Spanish he's learned so far. He told me I was welcome to join if I wanted to. At first I said no, I should probably stay in Xela. But by Tuesday I was itching to get out of town. So I left Xela Wednesday afternoon, got to San Pedro by 4PM and left San Pedro this morning (Friday) at 11AM. Not a lot of time there, but it was worth it. Here are some things that I learned on this trip:
1. "Lake Atitlan" is not a place people go.
It's true, the name of the lake is Atitlan. And I've heard tons of people say, "you have to go to the lake!" or "I went to the lake and __________ happened." But here's the thing they don't tell you: there are tons of cities encircling the lake. The biggest and most popular is Panajachel, but I think all the others are named after the apostles. For instance, I went to San Pedro (Peter), there's also San Marcos (Mark), Santiago (James), San Juan (John), etc. Each one has a little somthing different to offer, so I guess I'll have to go back to see the other cities one day.
2. My back sunburns easily
It wasn't even really sunny the full day I was there. Disappointing. But (pero!) if you were to look at my back right now, you would know exactly what the back of my swim suit looks like (not color, but shape). I even put on sunscreen!! But it's only SPF 15, it might be expired (the expiration date it too faded for me to read it...), and I only applied it once in the morning but spent time kayaking and swimming (and by swimming I mean playing pool volleyball). I put on my backpack this morning and my shoulders were displeased.
3. Not all Guatemalan cities are good for practicing Spanish
The majority of things in San Pedro were in English. The signs, menus, a lot of the people who worked in restaurants, bars, etc., and most of the people you encountered on the street. There are so many foreigners there that you need only a very basic knowledge of Spanish to get by (numbers and really commonly used verbs). The guy who was working at my hostel when I checked in not only didn't speak Spanish, but also didn't know much about Guatemala....he thought Xela was another town around the lake, when in actuality it's a 3 hour bus ride away and the second largest city in Guatemala (in other words, not a no-name city...I think anyone living and working in Guatemala should know of the big cities). Overall, I had 3 conversations in Spanish while I was there and they weren't all that long or in-depth, pretty much just talking to the lady while she made my sandwich or the guy at the smoothie stand while I drank my smoothie.
4. Weed is really easy to come by...in many forms
I had heard from a lot of people that the towns around the lake are full of hippies who smoke a lot of weed. Those people didn't lie. There were people coming into the hostel hangout area selling food pretty often (one lady who is famous around town for being everywhere all the time always asking people "Quiere pan?" [do you want bread?] and she sells banana bread, chocolate banana bread, and cinnamon bread)...so half the time it was banana bread or doughnuts being sold, the other half of the time it was weed brownies or weed chocolate peanut butter balls. One girl didn't want to buy because she was in the mood for mushroom chocolate peanut butter balls...apparently it's the wrong time of year for those. But besides the special desserts, there are also kids (maybe mid/late teens) hanging out on the street asking you if you want to buy weed. It's def for sure not taboo here!
5. Don't let yourself get ripped off by the guy who takes your money on the bus
I know that in Guatemala (and probably every other country that's not predominantly populated by white people) gringos get charged more for things that locals. I'd read in a few places that it should cost Q25 for the bus from Xela to San Pedro, but that it's common for gringos to be overcharged and it's ok to fight with the guy on it as long as you're not being a jerk to him. So when I went they charged me Q30 and I didn't worry too much about it. It's completely possible that the price may have gone up Q5 since the writing of the stuff I read, or maybe he's just charging me Q5 extra, but whatevs. On the way back, however, the guy tried to charge my friend, Matt, and I Q35 each. I asked the guy (in Spanish, but it was a little rusty after spending two days speaking almost all English), "Why is it Q35? To come to San Pedro from Xela it was only Q30!" After looking at me a little frustratedly, he let us only pay Q30 each.
6. Not everyone knows what they're doing in Guatemala
As I've said before, there were a ton of extranjeros (foreigners) in San Pedro. A lot of them only stay a couple days or a week or two. Pretty much just passing through during their travels. One guy that we met, who introduced himself as Sheep F***er (like, that's what he said his name was...), told us that he was in his second month of a two-week trip. And the two-week trip was just to come down and party. I think there's a similar story for a bunch of the travelers who are staying there long-term-ish. They don't really have plans for traveling and don't really have plans for life back home (wherever that may be).
7. I'm not a traveler
I spent 2 nights in a hostel. There were quite a few people there who had been traveling for a while, living out of their backpacks, and going from place to place wherever they felt like visiting. I am not one of those people. I'm all for seeing new places, but I don't like living out of a bag. I don't like the idea of not really having a plan. I don't like the idea of just spending money on traveling for a long period of time without doing anything to offset that spending. I don't like the idea of not having a place to call home for more than a couple days. I don't like carrying my stuff around. And I'm not outgoing enough to make friends with fellow hostel stayers. I don't want to always be on the move. I love Guatemala (Xela especially), but I would never want to spend months on end just hopping from place to place. I want to travel a lot more in my future, but I don't want to be a traveler.
8. Every place of habitation should have a hammock...or 6
The hostel I stayed at had 6 hammocks in the common area and I think most of the other hotels and hostels there were equipped with hammocks as well. Hammocks are the best hangout spot ever! It's like a bed/chair. On a sunny day, you can just lounge in a hammock. On a chilly evening, you can wrap up in a blanket and be cocooned in a hammock. If you just want to sit but you don't want a hard chair, you can sit on a hammock. They are such genius inventions!! I saw a treehouse with a hammock in it...I want one!
9. If you order a tuna sandwich to go and they just wrap it in foil, don't just throw it in your bag
I went to a little cafe to get a sandwich to go for the bus ride home (by which I mean back to Xela). Today's special was tuna on ciabatta bread, so of course I went for that. I haven't had tuna in....since....I can't remember, but I know I was in Washington last time I had tuna, so it's been quite some time. The lady was super nice and we chatted while she made my sandwich (one of the 3 conversations I had in Spanish while in San Pedro) and then she wrapped it in a piece of foil. I threw it in my purse and was off to the catholic church to meet Matt for our bus home. We were there an hour earlier than we'd heard the bus was meant to leave because we're in Guatemala and nothing is ever on time and since it was the last bus from San Pedro to Xela for the day we didn't want to take any chances. So we walked around for a bit, looked at what their market had to offer (same fruits and veggies they have in Xela) then we settled on the church stairs to play a game of Spanish Bananagrams. We got on the bus and I wanted to check on my sandwich (honestly, I'd forgotten about it and been less than careful with my bag). I noticed that my book was wet and that my bag smelled like tuna. Awesome. There was a little hole in the foil (probably caused by the corner of my book) and the juice had leaked onto my book, sunglasses, and probably within the bag itself. Thankfully the hole was small and it hadn't leaked too much. But you know how tuna is with its smell...a little goes a long way. So now my bag and book smell like tuna. I'm thinking that every time I want to read To Kill A Mockingbird in the future I'll be reminded of my folly. So if you every find yourself getting a tuna sandwich wrapped only in foil, ask for a plastic bag to go with it.
10. Renting things is really easy in Guatemala!
I really really really wanted to go kayaking while at the lake. All the guidebooks/websites I'd read about the lake said that kayaking was one of the main things to do while there and really cheap too! Matt and I had both heard that it was about Q25/hour to rent a kayak (that's a little over $3), which seemed a little pricey, but if we were just going to do an hour I wasn't too worried about it (I was on vacation, and thus could justify spending more than I normally would). I asked one of the guys who worked at my hostel where the best place to rent a kayak was (he was the only Guatemalan around, so I figured he'd know best...not like that guy who thought Xela was another city around the lake). He told me the best and cheapest place was at the Santiago dock (there are two main docks in San Pedro: the Panajachel dock and the Santiago dock, named for where the boats head to from those points). I was surprised when he told me that because it seemed to me that the most happening part of town was near the Pana dock...but in hindsight I guess it makes sense that it'd be cheaper where less tourists go. Anyways, it was only Q10 an hour!! We walked down there and there were these two guys sitting in some chairs and they asked if we wanted kayaks. We said yes, that we wanted two individuals, and we asked if there was a place we could leave our backpacks. They told us we could leave them in the little tienda (store) right next door. Sketchy, I know. They took down the kayaks for us and we went into the store to ask where we could leave our bags. The lady just pointed to the floor right by the door. So we dropped our bags and she asked how many hours we wanted. We said we weren't sure, but probably just one and we could come back later if we wanted longer. Then she asked if we wanted to pay before or after and we said after, just in case we ended up staying out more than an hour. Then we started paddling out into the lake. They didn't ask for our names, a deposit, NOTHING! I mean, in all fairness we left our bags there so of course we were coming back, but still! It was so easy!!!
Same with my hostel. I got there and asked if they had space. They did. He asked for ID. I told him I left it all in Xela. No problem. He took down my first name only, wrote "USA" in the space for passport # on the sign-in sheet, and took my Q50 deposit for use of the key (so I guess it was a little more complicated, since they wanted ID and a deposit...but I didn't have to sign anything and I didn't actually have to have ID). I never want to fill out rental/prerequisite paperwork ever again now that I know it's possible to not!
Overall I'd say I had a great time in San Pedro. All of the Guatemalans that I met there were incredibly nice people willing to help with anything that I needed. The town is beautiful with plenty to do. I think that my only complaint is how English everything is. I would say Americanized, but it's not really...it's just that so much of everything is in English and even the things that they have in restaurants or the stuff they show on television in the bars is so non-Guatemalan. I didn't really feel like I was in Guatemala anymore because there were so many gringos and so many places to get food not typical in Guatemala. But I'd definitely go again and visit some of the other towns. I'd like to spend more time there since I was only there one full day and two nights.
