The key to surviving Xela is fulfilling volunteer projects and good weekend trips. (I’ve been continuing with the stove building project in the rural Mayan village and volunteering at a day care enter for low-income kids, I’ll write more about those soon!)

Last weekend I headed with a few other students to Lake Atitlan - it suppose to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the entire world and it really is quite spectacular Its at 5,000 feet, which is low compared to Xela at 8,000. The main town of Panajachel is a little touristy but has tons of local crafts, a chocolate shop (yum!) and even a bakery with warm bread (super yum!). Its also known for their outdoor activities. This is a picture of San Pedro Volcano, like SF it was very foggy...This is what its suppose to look like and what it looks like on the cover of my guidebook...

My friend Sarah and I started off the morning paddle-boating (like the ones we did in the Baltimore harbor when I was little) once we figured out the steering it was great! We saw a baptism happening on the beach. Winds pick up quickly on the lake and we were happy to have gone the paddle boat route (despite the laughs we incurred) because some of the kayakers incurred a personal baptism in the lake.

















Next on to a Natural reserve where I saw real monkeys!!!














It was absolutely gorgeous, super lush, waterfalls, and tons of flowers in every color you could imagine! The plants were really spectacular, we hiked up to waterfalls over suspension bridges and eventually zipped lined down, which was a lot of fun! Besides the views we also got to go through the trees which was a really neat perspective - I felt like the monkey now! There was even a little obstacle course over the waterfalls, walking over suspension bridges with no railings or having to get yourself over the waterfalls over a set of rope swings - don’t worry Mom and Dad I was harnessed into another rope! Although it still was pretty scary and I got a little stuck when I realize my short legs and sort arms physically could not reach the next swing. So eventually I had to swing myself over to the next one. But it was not graceful as evidenced by the crowd of people gathered below me to laugh. I had a good laugh at myself too though!


To get around these towns most people ride in Tuk Tuks, little red three wheeled vehicles with a bench in the back...we piled 4 people in although the driver said he had piled in 7 before. I was sitting in the front, but then we saw a policeman and the driver told me to quickly jump in the back, so while the tuk tuk was moving I pulled a Tom Cruise move (at 2mph) and hoped in the back while it was moving, quite the invigorating experience!

Saturday evening we took a boat to another town on the lake (its 8km by 18km the lake), which was another seemingly death-defying experience, as there was no room left on the boat, so they crowded Sarah and myself into the helm and took off at what felt like 100 mph (it usually takes 1 hour to cross the lake - it took us 20!)




View from our hotel Santiago













Santiago is situated in an inlet between 2 volcanoes - its gorgeous and completely un-touristy! The men still wear traditional dress there, bright white woven shorts, embroidered with flowers, animals and other designs. Sarah and I ended up stumbling upon a mini luxurious vacation. We rented a little cabin in a gorgeous garden full of sweet smelling, colorful flowers and a hammock. In addition we were able to use the hot tub (that sat on cliffs overlooking the lake) and the swimming pool and sauna, which was built into the mountain accessible by a hobbit door. And the best part at night out came the fireflies, which I haven’t seen since I was a kid visiting my grandparents in Jersey in the summers!















It was really spectacular to see the tress and volcanoes sparkling with the sweet smell of flowers (if only Brian was here to enjoy this with me too!). And it turned out to be just what I needed and I returned to Xela, refreshed and ready to take on another week.