The most beautiful church in Antigua

Saturday, Brenda, Adrian and I went ziplining just outside of Panajachel. They had never been before and it was a great time. The weather was perfect and we did 8 fabulous ziplines across the jungle. We fed bananas to the monkeys and a small racoon-looking creature that is apparently endangered in Central America. It was an amazing day!

Sunday, I spent much of the afternoon with Senor Pablo and his family in San Pablo. I took along a French-Canadian couple who wanted to help out the family and community but wanted to meet them first. It was an “eye-opening” experience to see the reality of life on the lake for the Mayan people.

That afternoon we learned that the next morning at 6:00 the teachers were protesting low wages and insufficient educational materials for the students. Therefore, it was decided that we would leave at 4:00 a.m. to avoid any blockages on the Pan American highway. Although it was not fun getting up at 3:30 in the morning, we decided that it was worth the trouble because getting stuck on the highway for hours or even days was worse.

Consequently, we arrived in Antigua at 6:30 in the morning and thankfully the beautiful bed and breakfast we had rented was gracious enough to feed us an unexpected breakfast and take care of us. We spent the day yesterday touring on foot Antigua. All of us have fallen in love with this amazing city. Now deemed an UNESCO heritage city because of the incredible monuments from the 15th and 16th century, Antigua is being restored.

We had wonderful food, pecan pie for $1.00, cappucino coffees for $1.00 and lunch at the most exquisite hotel set in an old convent. The bed and breakfast we are at was an old convent from the 16th century and is absolutely exquisite. It has been the most fabulous 24 hours already here and we are looking forward to another wonderful day and a half before we fly to Tikal to see the ruins.

Each of us had privately been wondering if the people in the “big city” would be as gracious and lovely as we had experienced at the lake. We had nothing to worry about as they have been just as beautiful to deal with. We´ll see how it is as we head to the hot climate on the coast and experience a whole new perspective of Guatemala.

There´s nothing like a big beautiful pool filled with sulphur-rich mineral waters that are just the right temperature. Yesterday we left by 8:00 and drove about two hours to Las Fuentes de Georgina. The last 30 minutes of the drive was through beautiful agricultural fields that were absolutely stunning. We all marveled at the size of the carrots, radishes and beets. It was a cornucopia of vegetables – a vegetarian´s delight!

The hot springs were more than we hoped for as the pools were virtually empty and in a stunning setting. After a couple of hours in the pools and a very satisfying lunch, our driver Chema took us to Zunil where we saw the market where produce is sent all over Guatemala and even to Mexico. It was like a “super-size me” vegetable market and a very busy one at that.

Chema next drove us through Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela), the second largest city in Guatemala. We didn’t stop long as we knew that we still had a two hour drive home. It was a great group that went and as we drove we compared notes of our travels around the world.

One thing I have noted is that people who generally come to Guatemala have done some traveling – Guatemala is not the first place people usually choose to travel to – so it was a fabulous time all the way around.

Unfortunately, internet has been down two days this week – the joys of a developing country – which has made life a bit more challenging. I have tons of pictures to upload which I will try to get done this weekend before we hit the road on Monday for Antigua.

Today I am off to get my hair cut and colored in Panajachel while Brenda and Adrian play at this beautiful beachside restaurant and pool we found on our walk this week. I can´t believe it´s my last weekend at the lake.

Fabulous day, memorable two months.

It´s been quite the busy week. We went to Panajachel on Thursday and Brenda and Adrian were in awe at how different it was from the other two towns they had seen. Yesterday I worked with a couple of clients and in the afternoon we both had massage appointments. Today we headed across the lake to Santiago.

No sooner had we stepped off the boat when a young boy approached us asking if we wanted to go to see Maximon. Maximon is the rum-drinking, cigar smoking idol that is worshipped in Santiago. I said yes and before we knew it, he had us escorted to his friend´s tuk-tuk negotiating a deal of 15 Quetzales for all 3 of us. ($1.80) He clambered into the back so all 3 of us would fit in the back seat and off we went.

However, the upsell was fast coming for little Joel. Just 9 years old, he had the sales pitch down better than I´ve seen many entrepreneurs 3 times his age. He told us that there were actually 5 sites we needed to see in Santiago. The Mayan laundry, the Peace Park, the site of the avalanche that killed 400 people, Maximon and the Catholic Church. For just 125 Quetzales, ($15) we could have the complete tour.

We were all laughing so hard, it was difficult to catch our breath long enough to say, “it´s a deal”. David, our 18-year-old driver was also absolutely delightful. He gave us a thorough explanation of everything we saw and I translated into English for Brenda and Adrian. They both taught us about the history of Santiago and how the civil war affected the town. It was fascinating and we all learned lots.

After the tour, we had them take us to El Bambu, the restaurant I had loved on my first visit to Santiago several weeks ago. They agreed to come and pick us up and when I phoned to let them know we were ready, Joel was waiting quietly around the corner for us and David was in the parking lot already. What service for a few dollars!

David dropped us in the center so we could do some shopping and Joel escorted us, noting what we were looking for. At one point he noted that Brenda didn´t like the colors of the water bottle holders that were available so he took us to another store where there were more colors. He paid attention, carried my bag when I bought something and made sure we didn´t pay too much. He waited patiently while we shopped and was consciencious that we got to the boat on time.

He knew his prices, that our restaurant had a fabulous lake view and the schedules for the boats. He had started working at 9:00 that morning and would work until 9:00 that evening. He will repeat the schedule tomorrow before he goes back to school on Monday. We haven´t stopped chuckling about him all day – he really was one enterprising young boy!

We had a fabulous day, later meeting my little girls that sell nuts just before leaving San Pedro. (You have to get to Santiago via San Pedro so it was a long day.) As we were getting on the last boat leaving San Pedro for home, Juana and Jennifer arrived selling nuts. I got hugs and kisses and Brenda bought chocolate covered peanuts. Just 7 and 10 years old, I am always thrilled to see the girls as they were in training with their Dad when I arrived in December. Now they are all over the villages selling on their own, weighing the nuts and calculating the change. They are absolutely adorable.

We arrived home tired and ready for a quiet evening in. We have a full week planned as it is my last week on the lake. I changed my plans and am not returning here after my tour through Guatemala but am returning to Canada mid-March as originally planned. So it´s a busy week and a bit of a sad one for me. It has been such a wonderful time and it has been fabulous showing Brenda and Adrian around the lake as they too fall in love with the people, the culture, the beautiful handi-crafts and the country. It´s easy to do!

Senor Pablo buying notebooks

Today I met my dear Senor Pablo in Panajachel to buy 262 notebooks for the students of San Pablo, a poor village on Lake Atitlan. I phoned last night and made arrangements to meet him this morning in the closest and largest town on the lake. He sounded pretty bad with a headache, cough and sore throat. However, he flat turned down my idea that he might not want to do this big trip today.

Although he was late because the boat was later than he expected, he arrived with a delightful smile on his face. I met him at one end of town and the place he wanted to buy the notebooks was at the other end of the town. I would have walked it easily but he was obviously sick. However, again he never suggested that it would be difficult for him. I quickly hailed a tuk-tuk and for about $1.20 for the 2 of us we got to the other end of the town. A small price to buy but half of a day´s wage for Senor Pablo.

I stayed out of the way in this small and very busy store. I just took some pictures and paid the bill. I expected it to be over 1300 Quetzals but the bill came in at just over 300. We even asked them twice if they had charged us the right amount but they insisted that it was right.

We walked out with 2 boxes of notebooks for a great price! Senor Pablo then asked if I would be willing to pay for two of his youngest children to complete their education. He has a 17-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter who can´t go to school this year because the bill for the registration and supplies is $50 each. I decided that we had got such an amazing deal on the notebooks that I would give him the $100 for the two teens to go to school this year. When you are supporting a family on $2.50 per day and have a very ill wife, $50 is a huge amount of money.

I also gave him 50 Quetzales ($6) for his boat trips to Panajachel and back, the tuk-tuk back to the dock with the 2 heavy boxes and his day´s lost wage of 20 Quetzales. He was incredibly grateful.

I found it fascinating that since Sunday when we arranged to get together to make this purchase, he never once talked about losing a day´s wage or the cost of traveling to Panajachel. Amazingly, he has only ever asked for money for others and never once asked for himself.

I know that if I was about to lose 1/6 of my wage for the week and I had no savings, nothing to fall back on, had a sick wife at home and kids still in school with expenses looming, I would have a worry or two. I might have even whined a bit or at least brought up the loss of my wages and expenses involved in doing this charitable act. But not him. Not a peep. I was pretty impressed because I don´t know that I would have been so obliging or gracious.

This little man has certainly been a gift in my life. My dear friend Brenda arrives on Monday and so on Wednesday we are scheduled to go to San Pablo to help hand out the school supplies.

What an amazing week it has been. I am having a potluck here at the place tomorrow night for the folks staying in the building. There should be 8 or 9 of us. It will be fun to get to know these adventurous foreigners.

Have a fabulous weekend and I´ll be back next week with some other things I am anxious to share with you about the lake and life here in Guatemala.

The lake is used as a laundry mat and bathtub

Called “the closest thing to Eden on Earth”, by The Lonely Planet Guide, Lake Atitlan is now being threatened. Since Hurricane Stan ravaged the area is 2005, Lake Atitlan has never been the same. During the hurricane, an entire village was destroyed killing 1,400 people and leaving 5,000 homeless but also the sewage treatment plant in Panajachel, one of the largest towns on the lake, was severely damaged and has never been repaired.

It´s been interesting putting the pieces together as I have spoken to locals, foreigners and done lots of research on the internet. I feel like I have just scratched the surface but I certainly know more than I did a month ago.

Just before I arrived, I was completely unaware that the lake has suffered a terrible algae bloom. You can see pictures and learn more at www.lakeatitlanhealth.com Apparently this beautiful lake I look at every day with awe and wonderment was more like pea soup. The photos are pretty alarming! It scared some people for awhile and some action was taken but once it cleared, life has unfortunately for the most part returned to normal.

It´s a long story of what has happened since the hurricane and I don´t have all the pieces…yet. There is lots that still remains to be learned about this toxic form of algae but Lake Atitlan is by no means out of the woods. I have learned that there are currently six villages that have raw sewage coming directly into the lake. This is just one of the more serious problems on top of the pesticides from the coffee production and farming that flow into the lake.

Lake Atitlan is unusual because it was formed by a collapsed volcano cone thousands of years ago. Consequently, there is no fresh water source. It is so beautiful because it is surrounded by 3 traditional cone shaped volcanoes. It is also considered the deepest lake in Central America (320 metres – 1050 feet approximately) but that has given people a false sense of security. They honestly believe that because of the depth, Lake Atitlan can handle whatever they give it. Unfortunately, that is not true as is obvious by the toxic algae bloom this past fall.

There are several contributing factors to the growing problem in the lake. One is the picture above. The lake is used as a laundrymat by many of the indigenous people and unfortunately, the soap they are using is full of phosphates. Now I will be the first to tell you, I know very little about phosphates but I do know that the typical laundry soap most people buy is bad for us and the environment. And now that the lake is sick, it´s like a person who has had a serious ailment. It can´t handle the extra stress and pressure of all the toxins from laundry soap, pesticides and other sources of contamination.

In the past the Mayan women made their own homemade soap; now they buy the packaged soap instead. And honestly, with the heavy loads these women already carry, babies on their backs, huge loads of produce and firewood literally on their heads, combined with extreme poverty, little medical care and primitive living conditions, it´s hard to begrudge them the luxury of buying a package of soap like I do to wash the clothes. However, this change in custom is just one more deadly change in habit that is threatening the lake.

Aldous Huxley apparently described the lake as “the most beautiful lake in the world and really too much of a good thing”. And seriously, there hasn´t been a morning that I have awoken here that hasn´t taken my breath away and made me smile.

I will continue to share what I am learning and also some ways that changes are being made. I know there are alot of foreigners in the area that are deeply concerned and are doing some great things. I´ll look forward to sharing those with you too!

In front of the restaurant overlooking the bay in Santiago

It turned out to be a busy weekend as I continued to explore the lake area. On Saturday morning I headed down to the dock to catch a water taxi to San Pedro where I would catch a second boat over to Santiago. My landlord Pierre, had his boat loaded with cartons of baskets he had designed, had made here in Guatemala and were being sent to a Japanese customer.

Pierre is a designer from Paris and has quite the repertoire of talent. He offered to give me a lift to Panajachel first where he would be dropping off the cartons and then continuing on to Santiago. As it would probably not make any difference in my travel time, I decided to have the adventure of crossing the lake in his small speedboat.

It´s an interesting experience to have the wind in your hair, the spray in your face and be bouncing along the waves with not a life jacket in sight. However, we made it safely to Panajachel where the cartons were picked up by a broker for their journey to Japan. He then warned me that the crossing to Santiago could be scary. Although it doesn´t look dangerous, apparently the entry to the bay is notorious for the high waves and precarious conditions.

Needless to say, I was hanging on but Pierre has been doing this trip for years and handled the big waves well in his small boat. However, I very much appreciated his warning to be sure and take a big boat back to San Pedro. I wouldn´t have known that last year 4 people died coming out of the bay when the captain panicked and tried to turn back in the high waves. It´s certainly not written in the guidebooks or talked about at the docks.

In Santiago I visited Maximon, the rum drinking, cigar smoking idol that has quite the reputation. It was definitely a different experience. I will have some photos posted to my Facebook fan page later this week so watch for those. Then after some wandering through town I headed out by tuktuk to a wonderful restaurant called El Bambu. Right on the bay, I had a front row seat to a beautiful view, great food and even had my first glass of wine for the year. Maybe it was a bit of the nervousness about the boat trip back that prompted the desire. It turned out to be wonderfully relaxing. Then I was off to find the “big” boat to get me safely to San Pedro. Am I ever glad for Pierre´s admonition as we did rock most of the way to San Pedro.

Sunday morning I headed back to San Pedro for market day. I had such a blast as I tried green (unripe)mango and bought another new vegetable I have yet to cook. People love educating me and it helps that I can speak the language fluently enough to get a real conversation going. I talked to old people who had to have my Spanish translated into their native tongue, I carried on conversations with young children and I was taught by the very wise women at the market. It was a wonderful morning.

For those of you familiar with Sacred Gifts, you are probably smiling as you know which of the Sacred Gifts is showing up when I write that. Many of my Sacred Gifts are present when I travel but this one is what makes traveling for me so very special. It´s also why doing a formalized tour is so unappealing. I need to be getting into the lives of the local people, not driving by in a sterilized bus full of other foreigners.

From there I took a tuktuk because my bag of vegetables and fruit must have weighed about 20 pounds. I headed to Zoolas where I had more amazing food and sat and relaxed, reading my book for a couple of hours as I drank wonderful hot chocolate, ate fabulous Israeli food and topped it off with a chocolate and ice cream dessert to live for. I figured that I would be burning off a few calories hauling my groceries up the hundreds of steps to my apartment.

Monday morning I experienced a most incredible body work session in San Marcos where Paul, an English fellow, did things to my body that I have never had done. Wow! He has worked on celebrities, Olympic athletes and high level military personnel just to name a few. Whatever he did, I feel like a new woman. It was almost ridiculous paying him $30 for close to 2 hours of amazing work. Then off for a wonderful lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in San Marcos called Fe.

Today our internet is back to where it should be as we were on and off the fair usage system since last Wednesday. Someone in the building was inadvertently downloading the news off of a little itouch and creating the havoc. At least that´s what it looks like, so hopefully we have resolved the problem and we are back to full speed (at least full speed Guatemala style!). Consequently, I have alot of work to catch up on but there´s blue sky, sun and a fridge full of amazing food to be enjoyed today while I work.

Watch for my newsletter coming out later this week. I think you´ll be surprised at a decision I´ve made. In the meantime, go create your amazing life. It starts with getting clear what it looks like. I was clear that this is what I wanted this year and it´s happening just as I envisioned. Actually even better than I envisioned. You can do the same! So go do it!

Yesterday I took the boat to Panajachel, the largest village on the lake. It was Sunday market, the biggest market of the week. The boat trip was about 40 minutes and took me in a different direction than the trip to San Pedro. The beautiful homes along the lake were stupendous to see. When I got to Panajachel, I took my first TukTuk, a little 3-wheel vehicle that manouevers through the narrow streets so perfectly.

The driver took me to the market where I bought avocadoes, a huge pineapple, tiny bananas and mandarins, eggplant, radishes, cilantro, sweet potatoes, red peppers and a beautiful white head of cauliflower. I still had lots of vegetables left from my initial purchase in Guatemala City on Tuesday evening so this was a small vegetable shopping for a vegetarian. I also bought the beautiful flowers that now sit on my dining room table. Total cost for everything was less than $4.00.

I then took a TukTuk to Cafe Bombay, a vegetarian restaurant in town. I have fabulous lentil soup, spinach lasagna, a chocolate brownie and a bottle of water. With a generous tip, it was under $11. My next stop was the gringo´s supermarket. Full of exported goods, I was able to buy my favorite cracker, Ry-Crisp, blue cheese, natural yogurt, organic eggs, rice crackers, disinfectant for my vegetables, organic chocolate and herbal teas. I bought everything I wanted in the store. My bill was $24. The boat rides and all of the TukTuk rides cost me about $8.

It is a wonderful feeling to know that in Guatemala there probably isn´t much I can´t afford to do. I´m already arranging massages, pedicures, facials and other delights that are so reasonable, it would be foolish to not take advantage of them.

I´m writing this while Maria cleans the apartment. The cleaning bill per month is $48 and Maria comes twice per week to clean and change my bed. Does it get any better than that? I don´t know.

When it is so normal to think, “I can´t afford that”, or “that´s too expensive”, it is good for the prosperity consciousness to be in a country where “I can afford anything” is the prevailing thought.