Atitlán, Adventure, Acrophobia, Awesomeness, Assonance!

Well we're back.

There is pretty much no way to give an adequate account of this weekend, mostly because I'm lazy, but here's a briefish recap.

We left Casa Bernabé at 5:20AM and drove to the city to pick up Morgan and Beth and drink some delicious Atol (this time flavored by oatmeal and cinnamon). Cressia decided to be the martyr and took the worst seat in the van for the next three hours (she was only half on the seat)...but it's ok because she was so tired I imagine it will take until next Saturday for the pain to reach her brain. We drove for somewhere between 3 and 7,000,000 hours until we finally reached our destination: Lake Atitlán. Think of the most beautiful place you've ever been to. Got it? Now wallow in pity because wherever it is is filthy mud compared to Atitlán!!!

Our first stop was in the Eco-Nature Reserve to go ziplining. After a rather steep hike upwards (with monkeys!) we all took turns going down the eight different "zips" which crisscrossed over the lush valley floor with views of the lake. Sara wins the award for doing something she didn't want to do and made it all the way down (*while still attached*)! Yayyyy Sara. Then we did a ropes course built solely for the purpose of humiliating you in an easily photographable environment. Mission accomplished.

We took tuk-tuks (imagine the offspring of a moped and a smart car) to get to the dock where our boat was waiting to take us to our hotel. It was wonderful. The fresh air, the beautiful water, the good friends, the raging monsoon...so great. We arrive at the port of Jaibalito, a town which will never win the award for "world's driest dock." Mostly because it was flooded. So we took off our shoes and stepped out into the rain! It was so great! To make things better, one of the planks in the dock was missing so you needed to channel your inner Mario if you wanted to make it across. Cressia has apparently never played Mario. Still, if anyone can make wiping out on a flooded dock in front of many spectators look good, it's Cressia. And besides, we all got entirely soaked anyway within the next seven minutes so she was really just a trend setter. We finished the hike to our hotel and after changing our clothes were treated to an incredible four-course meal. Then we slept. It was pretty much the best day ever, right up there with my birth and when I got my braces off after ten years.

The next morning we took it a little slowly and left around 10:30 to take a boat tour of the lake. We stopped at three different towns along the way and got a feel for the area. The last town we went to had an incredible restaurant/hotel at which we ate and enjoyed the stunning volcanic views. We made it back to the hotel around 4:30 and rested until dinner, which was yet another delightful feast. Poor Cressia had to sit with Emily and I and suffer as we talked about anthropology for an hour and half. Such a trooper! We went back to the room and learned that Guatemala has scorpions of the entering-your-hotel-room-unexpectedly variety! Exciting! We then played a rousing game of bilingual Pictionary Telephone. My two roommates sat next to each other, sandwiched by Emily and myself to translate. Surprisingly effective. And now Emily knows the word for sea-cucumber. Then we slept.

At 7 the next morning four of us (Alison, Lauren Haefliger, Morgan and I) hiked to a town about two miles away. Quite the ordeal. It was an invigorating adventure all the way, and we got to have breakfast at a great little european hotel. Then we took a boat back because, let's face it, nobody actually likes hiking the same route. We departed Atitlán and went to a town called Chichicastenango, famous for its market days (of which Sunday was one). It was so intense! Holy cow. If you move at all you get yelled at by the booth vendors and if you stand still you get swarmed by the mobile vendors. In approximately 17 seconds I was reduced to a trembling pale blob barely capable of muttering "No gracias, no gracias, no gracias" as I stumbled along. It eventually became lots of fun, however, and we all ended up buying some nifty stuff before sitting down to watch the World Cup final! Everyone in the restaurant was for Spain except this poor kid dressed in orange. He got hit a lot by his friends. After Emily did her little happy dance we left to go home. Six hours later we pulled into Casa Bernabé after an ENTIRELY UNEVENTFUL TRIP THAT MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING GROSS HAPPEN ALONG THE WAY THAT MIGHT STAIN MY PERFECT REPUTATION! Then we slept.

What a good weekend.

-Mateo