Lakeside

I said my farewells to Emma and Ian who are off on another adventure and I joined the guys and Rachel to Lake Atitlan before saying good-bye to most of them as well.

At the lake, I enjoyed my first Swedish massage in Guatemala. For $17/hr I enjoyed receiving a massage lakeside. However, for the first time, my phone rang non-stop from international calls. I can't figure out how to get my voicemails and so you are better off just calling again since I have no idea who called in the first place. By the way, I'm keeping this number and so feel free to call me since it's free for me to receive calls 502 43608200, but just don't leave messages.

Earlier, we took some kayaks out and around the lake. Once again, the rain came to join us on our activities and so Rachel and I paddled quickly back while the boys braved the rain. I didn't bother swimming in the Lake since it contains parasites. However, since Stephan had his own parasites throwing a party in his stomach, he swam around and figured they could all attack each other should more join the fun.

For a midnight snack, I bought some banana bread from a woman who had walked over an hour to sell her bread to tourists. The people of Guatemala work unbelievably hard for such little pay as do the children. I am constantly amazed at how many children are working manual labor jobs. I even met a couple of kids who worked the internet cafe by themselves. I argued with the 4 year old girl since she tried to overcharge me until her 5 year old brother set her straight. I can't believe I debated with her...

In the morning, we awoke to firecrackers. Anytime there is something to celebrate in Guatemala, firecrackers start the day. Everyday seems to be a celebration since we wake up to the loud booms of what sound like bombs blowing up the city all the time. If I didn't know better, I would think Bush had started another war of bomb and destroy. I hope I can figure out how to absentee vote in Nov. , but I digress...

Getting home from the Lake proved a little tricky. After waiting an hour for the chicken bus, we hopped on only to go about 3 blocks and then the driver took an hour break. To pass the time, I watched a man carefully eat his food from his backpack as though someone might take the food from him if he wasn't careful. We then started again, but we had to change buses at 148.5km. Since I didn't bring my measuring tape, I had to read the small signs on the street that called out each measurement. We drove so fast, most of signs blurred into nothing, but the driver did eventually stop at a major highway, and we all decided to get off. We did make it home 2 hours later than we had hoped.