On Saturday Will and I decided to walk to San Pedro for some exercise. I have been riding Dave's bike everyday to classes, and the route seems to get shorter every time. This cuts out the need to wait around for a lancha, flag down a tuc-tuc or kayac alone. Bike riding on the streets here is like mountain biking an easy to medium trail on Moscow Mountain. It's a great deal of fun, but takes lots of concentration, since there are vehicles and potholes to avoid. Anyhow, the walk over is approximately 6 kilometers and an enjoyable time. Everyone we pass is friendly with an "hola, buenos dias" which we happily return. In spite of getting in shape by climbing the volcano, biking, and walking up and down Dave's near vertical property, we were worn out by the walk over there. We sat down in our favorite little cafe, so Will could get on the internet and I could study for my nursing boards. After a few hours, we headed back to San Pedro via lancha.
We arrived in San Pedro to a gorgeous afternoon. Will relaxed while I did the laundry. The pic below is of Will a few weeks back at the pila, cleaning our clothes. Lake water is piped in and filtered for our drinking water, but laundry and showers are done without filtration. It goes without saying that laundry takes a good deal more time than it does with a washing machine, but I think my arms are getting stronger, which is always a bonus. Anyway, I was listening to some Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, which passes the time pleasantly.
After laundry, we watched Juana, a local woman who works for Dave kill the rooster (at Dave's request). Dave had the rooster because he was hoping the hens would have some chicks, but it turned out the chickens he got were very aggressive and not very productive layers. Instead of keeping a gallo around, he decided it would be better to eat it for lunch. So, we learned from Juana as she built a fire outside to boil water, and killed the chicken with hardly a blink.
After that event, Will and I relaxed some more and then got ready for a nice dinner out. We had heard rumors of a rad Japanese restaurant in San Marcos and our curiosity got the best of us. Our friends, Ryan and Brandi are living in Japan for two years (!) and we figured we could feel a bit connected with them in our travels if we tried the Japanese cuisine Guatemala had to offer. After following specific directions from Dave to a hidden location we arrived at a welcoming space called Allala. The ambience was calming and comfortable, if a bit dilapidated (I have always found dilapidated charming and appealing.) We perused the menus and ordered, then admired the decorations and ambience of the space. We ordered some sake to go with dinner, a rarity here in the land of cervezas whose quality matches Budweiser. The meal was increible. Filling and delicious. And after dinner, a complimentary portion of cheesecake with a scoop of ice cream was served and solidified our recommendation... this place is fabulous! We left the restaurant stuffed, promising to bring leftover containers for our next visit, so we could avoid wasting the food without being so full. And promising to remember to bring our camera next time (whoops, I forgot it!)
On Sunday, Will and I decided we needed to walk to San Pedro again. After another beautiful, friendly morning walk, we arrived at the Santiago muelle with the intention of heading to Santiago for the afternoon. The lanchera there tried to charge us 100Q each (200Q total; about $30) for the short ride. After little discussion, Will and I decided the fare was too high and we would better spend our money at a few great restaurants for dinner than a trip to Santiago. We started to leave, and the lanchero stopped us. Suddenly, he could offer us a price of 70Q to cover both of us. The reduced fare was about what we expected to pay, and so we were back on track to head to Santiago once again.
We arrived in Santiago with the idea to go visit Maximon, a local saint. We made friends with a man from Taiwan on the boat, who was also determined to find Maximon. The difference between us and our friend Josh was that he was unafraid to ask every person he met where to find the somewhat elusive saint. We followed him eagerly, but stayed too shy to ask around. We benefitted a great deal from Josh's efforts and found Maximon quickly. There we witnessed a prayer and short ceremony which included serving the icon liquor and lighting/ashing cigarettes for him. We paid to take a photo of him and after a few moments admiring we collected ourselves and headed off in search of lunch.
We had a great lunch at the first place with reasonable prices and watched the Real Madrid v. Barcelona futbol match. It was an exciting game and a mediocre lunch. We meandered down to the lancha with plenty of time to turn in our return ticket and catch the 330 lancha to San Pedro. In San Pedro we stopped in to buy chocobananos for a yummy treat, and headed up to central San Pedro for a ride in the back of a pick-up to San Juan. We climbed down in San Juan and walked back to San Pablo, to round out our walking weekend. Dinner at Dave's was the gallo boiled with vegetables, tasty, if a bit tough (he was old for a meat bird.)
We slept well Sunday night, which brings us to today. Nothing too exciting happened. Will continues to work on the tree house with Dave. I rode my bike to San Pedro and met up with a friend from Oly for a great, if short, chat and walk. On my way home, I was sailing down an awesome hill when I realized how fast I was going. I hit the brakes a bit too fast and sailed right over my handlebars, my body and the bike doing an almost complete rotation. Not complete enough to avoid a big bruise in my knee and forehead, and impressive scrapes on my elbow and hip. A crowd of incredibly kind people encircled me, and helped me get my bearings while I limped, embarrassed, to the side of the road. We all inspected my injuries and I was advised to drink my water, and wash my wounds. Everyone was so kind and concerned. After a suitable recovery time, I was ready to carefully edge my way back home, and optimistically got back on the bike. The crowd was skeptical, but I insisted, and off I went, slowly, with caution, as I was also advised (ten cuidado!). When I got to San Juan, I popped into a store for some ice and realized riding back was probably a bit too challenging with my aches and scrapes. I got a tuc-tuc to take me and the bike to San Pablo, and then made my way along the lake to Dave's. I got appropriate sympathy and further inspections of my wounds from Will. At this point I had changed from frazzled and fatigued to amused and proud, and Dave generously indulged my good humor. Will, I think was a bit too concerned to laugh it off at first, but after shared some stories of his own crashes and recoveries over dinner. I've got a bump on my forehead that would make my nephews (shout out to Max and Pax) proud, and a limp that has convinced me to hail a tuc-tuc to class tomorrow morning.
That's all for now. I should get to my homework and then to sleep, I think I'll be sore tomorrow. Until next time...
glad to hear you are ok after crashing your bike... where are the pix of your bruises? not sure the boys will believe you. ;)
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