San Pedro y San Marco

I am becoming more acclamated to the Guatemalan culture each day. I love the food that we are served each day in the cafeteria and I am feeling more comfortable talking with the locals throughout the day. It seems as though some of the girls are having a bit of trouble with the food and the daily living here. I really can not understand, but I am trying to be empathetic towards their feelings. I try to be as open as possible and try anything. Why else would you go out of the country?

Class today was very interesting. I never thought about culture as much and I realized that I have many views and there are so many facets of culture other than the physical ideas such as clothing, music, and food. I really liked the thought that every individual has their own individualized culture. So many things influence a person and that makes up a culture. I also enjoyed our discussion on U.S. Americans. I feel that everyone has a different view point on our own culture and how others view U.S. Americans. I say U.S. Americans since we learned today that many countries in what we know as North/South America claim there are only 5 continents, America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Thus, all the countries in what they consider America call themselves Americans. It seems a little arrogant to think that we are the only Americans, when others clearly call themselves Americans as well.

After class, we took the bus down to Panajachel and took the water taxi to San Pedro on the other side of Lake Atitlan. I can not explain how beautiful the lake is with about four volcanoes surrounding the water. San Pedro is a beautiful little hippie town next to Volcan San Pedro. There were people laying out on the rocks and kayaking around the lake. We stopped at a little restaurant next to the lake for lunch and it was so nice to take in the scenery and watch the locals. I did notice that the town seemed more touristy and less traditional than the other towns were have visited. The women had similar clothing, but different head dresses on. After lunch, we walked around and did some shopping. Everything is less expensive here so it is nice to shop for jewelry or handicrafts.

We also took a water taxi over to San Marco which was beautiful but even more hippyish with yoga and holistic centers offering massages to reiki for a minimal fee. I also saw some retreats where you can learn shiatsu and other techniques. Again, this town seemed less traditional, but the locals seemed more friendly and outgoing. The children came up to us and asked us our names where the other towns the children were very quiet. A couple of us stopped in a restaurant to get a drink and a little girl, probably about 10 years old was running the place. She took our order, made our drinks, and when I went over to pay the bill, she was cooking the food. She added up our bill and she just seemed like a grown up little girl. My hope is that she is just helping out and this is not her daily duties. The children seemed to be so looked after and loved here, but there also seems to be a darker side. Dr. Clemente explained that in the past, selling children on the black market was a big crime, therefore many people look after their children and are very protective of them. It is nice to see the community fighting back against such crime. I have been to many places that tend to stand back and let these things take place.

In other exciting news, the President of Guatemala will be on campus tomorrow for some reason. Today was the first day of class, so there have been students here all day. We were informed that the President was coming and they would try to get him to talk with us and at first we thought they meant the President of the University, but she said, no, the president of the country. When we arrived back to campus to eat dinner, a ton of men were standing around and eating dinner in the cafeteria with us. We later found out that they are the equivelant to the secret service and are creating a secure parameter for the presidents arrival tomorrow. We were also told we can not wander around tonight so we are supposed to go back to the dorms after the computer lab. It is exciting and I am hopeful for the opportunity to meet or at least witness his visit.

And, the spell check is in spanish, so I appologize for any misspellings! :)