This past weekend we got the chance to visit “Lago Atitlan,” one of the most beautiful lakes in Guatemala. It was a very appropriate trip for Valentine’s Day weekend. The lake is huge with several villages around it. We arrived Friday afternoon at the lake, and we had enough time to shop, eat fajitas and burritos by the water (picture of dinner included), and visit a club or two that night. The village there is pretty touristy, but that means the view and the shopping were great! And to your benefit, I was able to get some great gifts there!
Saturday in the afternoon, we took a boat ride to San Pedro (another village on the lake). The ride was gorgeous, although we did not anticipate getting splashed so much, so we were pretty cold and soaked for the last half of the trip. But after an hour, we made it onto dry land, moved into a beautiful hotel and started our little “Día de Cariño” (Valentine’s Day) gift exchange. I have to brag about my group, because between the rap songs, homemade coupons and cookies (gluten free for Ricky!), poems (sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in Spanglish), there were some awesomely creative and thoughtful gifts. Who needs a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day when you’ve got “Somos Hermanos!” (That’s our group name, and it means, “our brothers.”)
We soon discovered that San Pedro was “Little Israel” in Guatemala. You could hear students speaking Hebrew everywhere. Saturday night we went to a restaurant called “Zoola” where my Jewish/Israeli friends in the group confirmed that the food was authentically Israeli. Sunday afternoon, after a crowded 3 hour bus ride back through the mountains and a ride from one of our Guatemalan friends back the school, we made it home safely. Let’s just say transportation in Guatemala is an integral (and sometimes adventurous) part of the culture (see picture).
This Monday and Tuesday, we had a full time workshop on general health (all in Spanish of course) with an organization here called “Alas (Wings).” The workshop has been a great experience because I’ve learned a ton of useful vocabulary (that I’m sure will come in handy during the women's health classes I’ll be helping to manage very soon) as well as getting great ideas for making health classes dynamic. Who doesn’t like pretending to get married with a paper ring and having five children in the span of six years (it was our introduction to the topic of family planning)?
I hope everyone had a great weekend and a good, relaxing President’s Day. ¡Feliz dia de cariño!
Pictures posted below - at dinner Friday night on the water (first picture is of me with my loaded purse..it's a running joke at this point), Sharon and I on the boat to San Pedro (the second village on the lake), our gift exchange outside the hotel along with pictures of people reciting their raps/poems, and a few pics of the crowded bus ride home
No comments:
Post a Comment