Taking a class in San Pedro
Greg Malivuk
Lago de Atitlán. (Which is Lake Atitlan for anyone who couldn't
figure that out.) I paid for one week of Spanish classes along with a
homestay, and haven't yet decided if I want to stay here another week.
The total, for 20 hours of classes and the school's evening
activities, 7 nights accomodation in my own room with access to a
bathroom with plenty of hot water, and 6 days of meals, was US$106.
On a relatively poor teacher's salary in Mexico, I could live with a
family here and take 4 hours of class every day, indefinitely.
Unfortunately, I probably wouldn't earn that much if I worked instead
in Guatemala.
The people here are incredibly nice, and this morning I think I
experienced my favorite "little thing" moment while travelling. I was
walking from my homestay to class, and passed by a mother with her two
young kids. The younger daughter was in the middle of crying
(probably about one of those not-very-important things kids the world
over cry about from time to time), when she looked at me looking at
her, and through her tears said a very loud "Hola!". Both her mother
and I just burst out laughing.
But apart from the crying bit, I'd say it's pretty typical for young
kids to be quite friendly with complete strangers here, at least as
far as saying hola or buenos días.
As I said, I have no idea at this point where I want to go next, or
even how long I want to stay here. My uncle Karl strongly recommends
I check out Santiago de Atitlán, which is a fairly short boat ride
from here, so I may do that this weekend or sometime next week, if I
decide not to take more Spanish classes.
I hope everyone's having a lovely early fall. One regret about
travelling at this time is that for the second year in a row I'm going
to miss what has long been my favorite season back home. Oh well,
once fall turns into winter I probably won't mind being this far south
any more.
-greg
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