On Saturday March
31st, 2012 me and a group of close friends from Casa
went on Spring break to Guatemala .
Tom, Alexa, Lacey and I went to Antigua for the weekend
and then Left on Monday To San Pedro de Laguna, located on Lake
Atitlan Antigua (that perhaps
shouldn’t be mentioned here haha) and a slightly more laid back relaxing time
at the Lago. Allow me now to share a bit about my experience in Guatemala .
As I embarked on my Guatemalan adventure I was sincerely
hoping for time to relax and take a breather from the constant moving of Casa
life. When we arrived in Antigua —we got in late due to
Tica Bus problems—we automatically started exploring and looking for a place to
eat. Because it was the start of Semana Santa the streets were busy and it
seemed like too much was happening. The hoards of people crowding the streets
and the prospect of having to travel another four and a half hours to San Pedro
de la Laguna on Monday weren’t the ideal conditions to unwind.
On Monday we got in a shuttle bus outside of our hostel and
began the almost five hour drive to Lago. I sighed a breath of relief thinking
the Lago could and would provide moments of clarity and a space to just be with
my self and my own thoughts.
I mean just look at this view…
Unfortunately the late night party scene, and the exploring
the group wanted to be a part of, didn’t allow for much quiet time and
reflection. It was surely a good time just more social than personal. We went
to a few bars in and around the lake and met a lot of foreigner.
Tyrone was from Canada
but lives in Hawaii with his dad some
of the year to make money and travels with the rest of his time. Rory and Rob were
two Aussie’s with an affinity for dancing and telling life stories of love and
loss. Rory damn near cried to me about Bianca, the love of his life—they’re no
longer together. He showed me his tattoo on his chest with her name
circumscribed. And Philip and Joshua were two Germans who loved trance music
and talking about illegal narcotics… let’s just say I felt like I was watching a
horrible recreation of Beerfest and Pineapple Express. They were a fun crowd to
watch. Tom and I did social commentary the whole week and got back to the hotel
every night with a new impression of one of these characters.
The morning of April 5th we went Kayaking. It was
my first time kayaking so we went in pairs. Lacey and Tom knew what they were
doing so Lex and I rode with them. We took a 2 hour ride past the far dock and
found a little shoreline to dock our kayaks and do a little swimming and
relaxing. I didn’t realize what a workout Kayaking could be and when we got
back to the docks my arms were fairly beat.
Near the end of the week I was exhausted. I was more
exhausted than when I left and really needed to just breathe a moment. Then,
out of seemingly nowhere, an opportunity to catch my breath presented itself.
Lacey had seen a sign that offered us a chance to paint a
coffee mug by the lake. The money would go toward a scholarship for a child in
one of the local language schools. It just seemed so perfect. Tom and Alexa
didn’t want to go and stayed back at the hotel. Lace and I embarked on our mini-mission
to paint mugs.
We found the café through taking small back roads and narrow
alleys and when we arrived we were both so excited. It had started pouring rain
and was kind of cold near the lake so we sat down and the barista came over and
we chose our mugs. We ordered a cup of coffee and spent the next two hours or
so slowly painting this coffee mug and sipping our coffee. No words were spoken
between us and while I was painting I truly gave myself time to breathe.
There was something about painting and the sound of heavy
rain on lamina that calmed my soul that day. We finished the mugs and I finally
felt that I had gotten my time to step back a second.
I spent the remainder of my time at Lago simply enjoying the
scenery and eating good food. Rejuvenated, I felt ready to get back to the
Casas. So for the four hour bus ride from the Lago to Guatemala
City and the subsequent bus ride from Guatemala
City to San Salvador
I did some reading, watched a horrible 50 cent flick, and dreamt of the
tranquil lake, the pouring rain and a hot cup of coffee.
The simple pleasures.
Paz,
No comments:
Post a Comment