Here we are in Panajachel, Lake Atitilan. We've been here since Monday, staying at a Hotel Utz Jay, which has hot showers, a garden, and three of the biggest, friendliest German Shepherds I have ever seen.

Our last week in Antigua was packing, wrapping up everything there, and 30 seconds of our Saturday- an earthquake, AKA terramoto in Spanish. Not very big where we were- enough to rattle the windows and slosh the water in the fountain. We think it was from a 6.2 earthquake of Mexico, about 200 miles away.

On Monday we took a very crowded shuttle from Antigua to Lake Atitilan. practically the entire town of Panajachel is lined with market stalls, thus my dad has some new persistant market friends.

On Tuesday we hiked in a natural reserve for monkeys, just outside Panajachel. Sadly, we didn't actually see any of the monkeys or the coatis who all live there. We did, however, get to hike to a waterall across over half a dozen long, swinging, suspension bridges, the kind of bridges that always come crashing down in movies, but they actually give the most amazing views. We had fun riding a tuktuk back into town, where we looked at and admired another Catholic church of Spanish architecture.

Walking back to the hotel Utz Jay, we were once again amazed by the stall after stall of gorgeous textiles, stuffed down alleys and in between retaurants, tiendas, and boutiques. Roaming the streets are dozens of the most adorable dogs, all sizes and colors, but all so friendly-looking.

On Wednesday, yesterday, we took a lake tour. It took us to three towns along the lake, San Juan, San Pedro, and Santiago. Our first stop was San Juan, which in my mind was classified instantly as less of a tourist town than Panajachel or Antigua, and pretty much a relief, until seconds later when we were swarmed with tuktuk drivers crowing different prices and jabbering in a medley of Spanish and English. We refused and walked up a steepish hill, and at the top, we were met by the same tuktuk drivers, now with better prices. One offered us a tour, and we finally accepted (persistance pays off) and he took us to an organic coffee place, a weaving cooperative that used natural dyes, and an art gallery. San Juan, being geared less towards tourists, had no market, and aims for the use of more natural resources.

Next was San Pedro, bigger, busier, as touristy as Panajachel or Antigua if not more so, but because of spending so much time in San Juan, we had only fifteen minutes to get a feel for the town- we didn't really go much further than the boat dock.

From San Pedro we went to Santiago, where we explored another market, and ate lunch. Santiago was more for tourists that San Juan, but less than San Pedro. It is interesting, in each market, how different towns use different weavings and colors. In Antigua, almost every weaving had the national bird, a quetzal, woven in, in bright colors. Here in the highlands of Lake Atitilan we have more embroidery, the primary design being birds. The woven colors are also more subtle.

And today we are taking another boat and moving to San Pedro, to attend more school and explore the town we've named as touristy. I will talk more about that later, but now for the traditional by blog... pictures.

-Anda

Mi madre.

The view from the dining room in Antigua

A cat. Sleeping in the weavings.

Remember hair wraps? Here's a Guatemalan woman putting one in my hair.

Panajachel main street

Lake Atitlan, Volcan de San Pedro. (Sadly, this one doesn't puff smoke.)

My dad on a suspension bridge...

...and me, on a swinging bridge.

Directional signs are very helpful. Especially when you're in Guatemala and they point you to Nessie and Yeti.

Panajachel Catholic church

One of our German Shepherd friends

Another cross on a hill, in San Juan

This is known for it's appearance of the profile of a Maya woman.

All natural dyed cotton