A Walk in Paradise at Lago Atitlan

The three of us--Darragh, an Irish theatre student at Columbia University, Maria, a psychology student from Spain, and myself--set out on a walk yesterday morning to enjoy the day´s blue skies and sweet air. Over a few hours, we walked through magical forests of coffee trees, corn fields, leafy trees and wildflowers. Passing through tiny villages, we greeted people with ¨Buenos dias,¨or the local greeting, ¨Sacar.¨Everyone smiled and returned the greeting. As is the reality of Guatemala, in between villages where women wear traditional, colorful dresses and carry baskets of fruits on their heads, we passed by mansions designed by New York architects where famous people live on their vacations.

Going down the path, we marveled quietly at the magnificence of the lake, and we smiled with this feeling of awe as we crossed paths with villagers going about their daily business: hauling purified water brought in by boat from Panajachel, the nearest town, or bags of flour, or walking with machetes to trim the path.

The path ended at a town called Jaibalito, where we sat down to a delicious meal of meat and potatoes in a peaceful local restaurant. All around us we heard the musical celebrations coming from the village´s churches. Everywhere we went, in fact, the churches boomed with the saxophones, trumpets, guitars, drums, and singing of the villagers celebrating their own version of Christianity. Even late into the night, the music and chanting continued--a low, deep moan, a somber chant to the Lord. The most interesting thing about the church services is, if you listen closely, you´ll notice an almost seamless transition between Spanish and the native language, Kakchikel.

After the walk, we hopped the lancha, the little boat service between the lake´s various towns (about 7 or 8 in all), back to San Marcos. Here we are staying and working at a community project known as La Cambalacha, which is Kakchikel for ¨exchange.¨