Casa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/10/10
Last night was extremely wild. Since it was Saturday night, the expats here on Lake Atitlan wanted to celebrate the weekend, but I have to admit their way of celebrating was way over my head. After dining once again at the Iguana, men started coming in the restaurant dressed as girls. Apparently they were having a cross-dressing party. Guys who would dress as girls would get free alcoholic drinks, so before you knew it, almost everyone in the bar was drunk. To be honest, this didn’t make me very comfortable, so I decided to leave early.
As I left the bar, I was shocked to see hundreds of Mayans packed outside in the little bay of Santa Cruz. It was pitch dark, so I kept bumping into them. I was so curious to find out what they were waiting for. I later found out that they were having a meeting with another community on the other side of the lake. I am still curious to find out why they would meet at such a late hour.
What was beautiful about the night was how densely populated the sky was with stars. I hadn’t seen the constellations in such beauty since my days on the North Coast of Egypt. I admired the view above for some time before slipping into my room to go to bed.
This morning was thrilling! There had been some stuff on my mind that was bugging me and I missed working out, so I said what better way is there to clear one’s mind but to go for a jog. I woke up around 7am, and by 8am I was on the road. I was in a bind as to which route I should take: the one up the mountain or the one by the lake’s shore, so I decided to do both.
The mountain is extremely steep, so I had to take a break every minute of jogging. My aim is to run up the mountain without any breaks by the time we leave the lake. Upon reaching the top of the mountain, I reached the basketball court, where the townhouse and church were located. I penetrated further up into the village and was met with the smiles of many of the local Mayan villagers.
I was amazed by how they managed to survive in such a remote spot on top of the hill! What was even more amazing was to see them bring down firewood, which they wrap around their back, and carry down very steep paths. It seems like the Mayans are very much in touch with nature. At 8am, the town was alive and vibrant, with roosters crowing, dogs strolling around, children playing, etc… Despite the filth and poverty in which they lived, I wouldn’t mind living such a simple life in which one is in touch with nature.
After running down the mountain, I went for a jog by the coast of the lake, and once I reached a hotel a mile away from our hotel, I stopped, stretched for a bit, and admired the beautiful scenery at this early hour. The sun’s reflection off the lake gave the water a silver shade, a divine view to feast one’s eyes on.
The jog back to Casa Rosa, our hotel was tiring, but I felt much better than before I’d gone on the jog. Upon arriving to my room, I heard Hiba and Liz, the two girls on our team, call out “Moose!” That’s what my group has decided to call me. I went to check up on them. Liz and I decided to grab breakfast after I took a quick shower.
For breakfast, I had the Chapin, which is a Guatemalan breakfast made up of fried eggs, plantains, and black beans. I topped that off with yogurt, granola, and fruits. It was a scrumptious meal!
Up until noon, I tanned on a hammock while reading a book about Guatemala. What struck me about what I had read was that Mayans have kept their ancient civilization’s customs and traditions intact. Its as if the Egyptians of today would still be practicing the rituals of their Pharoahnic ancestors. This idea made me ponder. Shouldn’t Ancient Egypt be an important part of our national idenity? Couldn’t we seek to incorporate the virtues of our ancestors’ traditions into our modern-day heritage?
As I returned to the hotel lobby around noon, I was surprised to find Professor Elzey and Dr. Burt, our two mentors from UVa. They had arrived from the U.S. today. Two members accompanied them from the non-profit Building Goodness Foundation, an NGO based out of Charlottesville that does development work abroad. We had lunch with them at the Iguana and discussed the logistics of our project. Our meeting lasted three whole hours. Although the meeting’s content was very interesting, my attention span could not endure these long hours. Our meeting covered everything from the business model of implementing such filtration projects on a large scale to how we would market and sell these filters to the local community members around Lake Atitlan. Our mission is to promote a business that helps the welfare of its consumers.
After the meeting, Hiba, Liz, and I sat by the dock of the lake and chatted for a bit. Just staring at the lake made it too tempting, so I decided that I’d take a dip in the water. I was worried if it would be safe to swim in the water considering that it’s the “Most Endangered Lake of 2009” according to the World Water Forum. After asking some of the locals, they assured me that its safe. Besides, I’m from Egypt, which means that I’d probably be immune to the water (at least I believe so!). After changing into some swimming gear, I came back to the lake for a dip. Initially the water temperature was cool (I think it must have been 22 degrees), but then as the sun set it became freezing. That’s when I decided to climb back out of the lake. Dipping into the lake was truly like connecting with the lake. I’m glad I broke the ice with the lake, which means that there will be many more times for me to go swimming.
The Spot Where I dove into the lake
Here I sit writing at the usual time of the day to reflect on my day. To distract myself from hunger before dinner, I write. Anyways, I’ve got to get ready for another interesting night at the Iguana. Adios for now!
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