Lago Atitlán

This past weekend, a few friends and I took a short shuttle ride to Lake Atitlán, a peaceful, beautiful lake. Once you arrive, you´re overtaken with serenity and its a fabulous feeling. We headed to Santiago Atitlán, and stayed at this gorgeous hotel with lake views. Five of us shared a ¨cottage¨and it was beautifully crafted with wood, stone and even had a fireplace!

Besides visiting the lake, we had made the trip to go see a benefit music festival for the local hospital. There were various bands including a bluegrass band, a Costa Rican singer, and an all female Guatemalan band. From what I could tell, there were only foreigners there, and a ton of ex-pats I believe. The ticket price, while a donation to the hospital, was expensive for the locals, and many were peering over the fence, watching us crazy foreigners. I thought it was unfortunate that locals weren´t allowed to come in either for free or at a reduced cost, especially because I´m sure that the cacophonous music was keeping them awake until midnight.

The concert had great music and great people watching. As I mentioned earlier, a ton of ex-pats, so many were, let´s just say, hippish and were in full effect during the day. There was one guy that had multiple wardrobe changes, including clothing out of a 80´s female closet (tight colorful spandex pieces). Besides watching (white) people dress up in, what I assume are, indigenous costumes, it was great to see the mixing of cultures. There were indigenous children in their traditional clothing (part of a performace group earlier in the day), dancing around with other children, to bluegrass music.

While there are some towns overrun with tourists, there are still many places around the lake that are less visited and there are still many indigenous people living at the lake. The women still wash their laundry in the lake, which is causing problems in the lake. An expat at the festival was telling me that the soaps are increasing the nitrate concentration and reeking havoc on the ecosystem. So he was learning more about natural soaps and trying to encourage locals to use the more eco-friendly soaps. Its always a sticky wicket when outsiders come to another culture and try to dictate what´s best for them and their surroundings. Thus, I´m not sure what´s the best way of going about trying to work with the community, but making sure that we´re not forcing our ideals and beliefs on them.

One belief that is interesting among the people at the lake is in St. Maximón, ¨an idol formed by the fusion of traditional Mayan deities, Catholic saints and conquistador legends.¨People pray to the smoking, beer guzzling saint for good fortune or to get revenge on others.

Anyhoo, the lake was grand fun and I came home to some great news, I was informed that I matched somewhere, and I´ll find out where I will go for residency tomorrow!