Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan, 1/12/2010
For the first time since we’ve gotten here, crossed the width of the lake to the side with the two volcanoes that I’ve taken dozens of photos of. Our destination was Santiago, a larger community where the Building Goodness Foundation was scouting possible partnership projects with the local community. My team didn’t have any particular mission to carry out in Santiago, but we thought it would be a good opportunity to familarize ourselves with the communities around the lake.
We took a “launch” to the other side of the lake around 8am. At this time of the day, the water give an aura of silvery lush, it was gorgeous. I snapped a couple of shots with my camera as we neared the volcanoes. For the first time since arriving to Lake Atitlan, I witnessed the various fishermen in their traditional Mayan canoes, which have a very distinctive shape.
Some of the photos I took in on our ride to Santiago:
Santiago appeared from the middle of nowhere as our boat reached the gulf between the two titanic volcanoes. It almost seemed as if it were a lost city. Just like many of the other towns surrounding the lake, Santiago is a run down place with slums crawling all over the hills surrounding the lake. Its was fascinating walking in a town with a clear view of the volcanoes. According to historians, the lake is a “water-filled collapsed volcanic cone.”
Shots of Santiago:
Our first visit of the day was to the Hospitalito d’Atitlan, a small sized hospital housed what was previously a tourist hostel for college student. Our group of ten boarded the back of a pick-up truck to get to the hospital. Being transported in this fashion made one feel as if he was part of a group of livestock. We toured the various sections of the hospitals, such as the Emergency Room, the Operation Room, the X-ray room, the administrative offices, etc…. There were many Mayan patients in the waiting room and it was obvious that the hospital was under-funded and under-staffed. It was surprising to see how many foreigners (mostly Americans) volunteered as doctors at the hospital.
We the visited a construction site where the Hopsitalito was due to move to upon the building’s completion. The construction methods used to build this structure were very primitive, consisting of a basic pulley system to lift the rocks from underneath the ground. Again, lack of resources was the culprit for this inadequacy. As we toured the new hospital structure, Molly, the American architect explained to us her design plan. I’m such the information she imparted to us made much more sense to my Civil Engineering counterparts.
During the hospital visit, I had a long discussion with Jessica (or Guatemalan tour guide) about Mayan traditions, religion, and their calendar system, which claims that an end of an important era is due to take place in 2012.
We later took three “took tooks” or rickshaws to the town center, which is another marketplace that sold Mayan handicrafts and embroideries. There we found a neat restaurant by the lake side where we had a traditional Guatemalan meal: nachos dipped in guacamole, tortillas, chicken, vegetables, and yellow rice.
Guatemala's "Took Tooks"
At this point in the trip, we would part from our mentors as they had other business to conduct around the lake, while we would go back to Santa Cruz where we had the rest of the day off. On the launch ride back, we sped to the extent that the “launch” was hovering over the water with only the back motor in the water.
Upon returning, I went for a nap that lasted 3 hours. I woke up around dinnertime. Over dinner, we met an interesting traveler called Mike Tallon whom I could relate to when it came to traveling. Mike is currently the owner an English magazine based out of Antigua. He had traveled extensively in India and Nepal, so I could relate many of my experiences in that part of the world with him. Its interesting how one finds a lot in common with fellow travelers.
The night ended with me sitting in the “Chill-out room” of the Iguana reading a bit in a book a picked up titled “The Marx-Engel Reader”. That got boring after a while, so I read the introduction of Homer’s Odyssey. Well, I’m back here in Casa Rosa. I better go to bed because I want to try to go for a jog tomorrow morning and then I’ll be going to Hiba and Liz to Pana for a tour.
That’s all for now.
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