We have been in the town of San Pedro for a week, and are planning to stay another week and a half, leaving us with only two weeks until we fly home.

Since Monday we've attended another Spanish school, Corazon Maya. In Antigua we saw very few Mayan families, but here there are hardly any families who aren't.

San Pedro, while not in a frantic hurry like Antigua (as in, the tuktuks slow down for you)  isn't exactly quiet. It's full of tourists like us. Set just outside the town, our school is a surprisingly quiet place. Run by just one of the Mayan families, there is a path down to the lake, women weaving (my mom and I are learning such a skill... which makes me respect people who do it for a living) a dog, a cat, and private little buildings for classrooms, set under a canopy of green trees.

Lodging. Hotel Mikaso was supposed to be on the lakeshore, with big rooms and good food.

True, the rooms are nice.
True, the food is good...

....but no one told us the hotel was IN the lake.

Scientists think that Lake Atitilan is on a fifty year cycle, of water rising and lowering. Unfortunate for the lake, a lot of not-so-brilliant people (i.e. foreigners) kept building closer and closer to the lake. Thus, many buildings are uninhabited- flooded.

'Lakeside view' is very true. You simply have to look out to three sides, and there it is. If you're feeling so inclined, you can even take the stairs that literally disappear right into Lake Atitlan. It sure adds to the charm.

San Pedro is very pedestrian friendly- sort of. Pedestrian friendly as in lots of paved paths, that I would consider footpaths. Too small for cars.

But not too small for tuktuks.

It's true that tuktuks, unlike Antigua, (like I said) don't make a sport of almost running you over, but the paths are barely wide enough for a tuktuk, NOT for both the vehicle and people. As soon as one comes tearing-slower-than-Antigua-but-still-unnecessarily-fast around blind corners, it's a mad leap for the nearest cafe- the footpaths are lined with cafes.

The people are also 'muy amable' or very friendly. Everyone we pass greets us cheerfully. I thought Port Townsend was friendly, but compared to San Pedro the people in PT are practically cold.

San Pedro is steep. Today we took a hike to a sacred Mayan site. Or we were suppoed to, our group got sort of.... lost. However, the trek up was well worth the view, and our guide was able to take us to a smaller site in a shallow cave, where he talked to our group about Mayan customs. He told us he hadn't been able to find the site because someone in the group had negative energy, so he took us to cure the group of said energy to a different place. It was a fascinating lesson in Mayan culture....

Pictures!

-Anda

It's been a little windy...

After I made a bad shot in pool...

The lake is still rising.

ANOTHER pretty church.

Sunset from our room

View from the hike