San Pedro

Alright, well my plans to write nearly everyday seem to be quashed from the very start, but to be honest it´s been fantastic staying away from computers and internet, considering how I´m chained to them throughout my school year...I much more enjoy doing things than writing about them, haha

So on Sunday I caught a 3-hour shuttle from Antigua to San Pedro La Laguna with 2 guys from London who were also staying at the Black Cat Hostel. It was a beautiful drive coming down from the mountains and into Lake Atitlan, I tried to grab some photos but it was pretty difficult when we were moving. We are staying at Hotel Pinoccios, and throughout the past couple of days most of the people we partied with at Black Cat showed up as well, so it´s been a fun week so far.

I started Spanish class on Monday. I´m attending a school called La Cooperativa (Mom and Baba S - this is the school from the video I showed you)
, and I´m really enjoying it, and though 4 hours of class is kind of hard to get into, I´m definitely improving already. My teachers name is Wilson, and all the students study 1-on-1 in a beautiful garden under palapas. I am supposed to be doing a homestay, but since I have friends here for the week, I decided that i´ll just do a homestay during my second week and enjoy the company and get any partying out of my system before I try to integrate myself into the culture and spend time with a family.

Some of the conversations that Wilson and I got into yesterday were pretty heavy...he told me stories about mass killings during the civil war, and how many people were drowned and dumped in the middle of the Lake. We talked a bit about the corruption here in Guatemala, and his own life experiences and his family. He actually has studied to be an accountant for a bank, but here, he said a bank will say they´ll gladly hire you, but ask you to pay them a one time fee to hire them. Essentially this seems to keep only a certain amount and certian kind of people working in these positions - those from richer and more influential families, keeping the poor out.

So, even though I´m having a lot of fun right now with friends, going out a bit and enjoying the touristy part of San Pedro, I know its going to soon be time to face up to the reality of the part of the world where I´m staying.

Much love to you all,

Kalyeena