Panajachel

Kathy and I woke up and went for an unsatisfying morning run.  The safe place to run is in town, and the streets are cobblestone.  Dodging tuk-tuks, motorcycles, and dogs while hopping from cobblestone to cobblestone makes it hard to get into any kind of groove.  We did enjoy people watching though.  The Mayan men and women generally have a very serious visage, but when greeted with a ‘buenos dias’ brighten up with big smiles and wish you the same.

After breakfast, we got on a water taxi and went to the town of Panajachel.  The 30 minute boat ride offered beautiful views of the lake and surrounding mountains, and only cost $3 per person.  Panajachel is a larger, more touristy town than San Pedro and is full of gringos in their 20s lugging backpacks.  Since we didn’t really know where the central district of Panajachel was, we took our first tuk-tuk ride.  Tuk-tuks are a sort of open, three-wheeled taxi and cost about 70 cents per person for a five minute ride.  They only fit a driver and two passengers, so Kathy and Brooke took one while Lynn and I took the other.  Let me tell you, nobody took us for locals.  Kathy’s tuk-tuk was in front, and she and Brooke kept sticking their heads out of the tuk-tuk with ear-to-ear grins.  It’s all on video.

Water Taxi at Panajachel

A tuk-tuk here and a tuk-tuk there...

 

Panajachel has a huge market area where all sorts of souvenirs can be purchased.  The vendors here are not as aggressive as in some countries, but you still get accosted; especially if you pause to look at something.  “I’ll give you good price!  It cost 300 quetzals.”

“No gracias.”

“How much you pay for this?”

“No gracias.”

“250 quetzals for you.”

“No gracias.”

“200 quetzals.”

As we walk away, we would often hear an even lower price shouted at us.

 

Dogs Everywhere (Shout out to Aunt Nancy)

After a bit of shopping we went to the grocery store for pizza making supplies, since the options in San Pedro are limited.  Then we caught another water taxi home.

For dinner tonight the plan was to have empanadas with corn tortillas.  We were interested in learning how to make them for our North Carolina meal, so Brooke, Lynn, and I (Kathy) helped Marta make them. Marta made the tortilla dough while Lynn mashed the potatoes and added tomatoes and meat for the filling.  Brooke meanwhile peeled the carrots.  It was quite a production – with 4 of us working for about an hour to make them.  It went by quickly, as Marta was giving us instructions, as well as frying up the final product.  Brooke made the tortillas while Lynn stuffed them with the potato mixture and cabbage/carrots/lime juice.  Marta also mixed up a picante sauce for on top, and a drink made from chan.  Chan is a seed-like plant that you let soak in water for 1-2 days.  Then you add lemon or lime, along with sugar.  She's sending us home with the seeds.  Yum!  Brooke and I took lots of video and pictures, as well as Lynn and I wrote the steps down as we cooked.  The end product was delicious.

Making the empanadas.

End product

Irving came in and joined us towards the end of dinner.  He immediately inhaled 3 empanadas atop with a cabbage/carrot/onion mixture and a tomato sauce.  He also “liked” one of Lynn’s photos on Instagram to put her at 100 likes.  Then he went and “liked” Brooke’s photo from today.  Hilarious!

We stayed at the table for about another hour, Jeff and Irving discussing engineering (Jeff using the computer to translate and Irving using his phone to translate) while the girls chatted at the other end.  Tomorrow afternoon Marta’s sister, who makes traditional Guatemalan clothing, is going to come over after we return from Santiago for the girls and I to get outfits.  We also set up a time for the girls to help Marta and Irving with their English while Jeff and I are teaching English at the school on Monday.  Marta and Irving were thrilled at the offer.

We ended the night by getting a picture with Irving on his phone for his Snapchat.  He asked for the girls’ Snapchat accounts so Brooke gave him hers.  Her iPod is at home so she won’t be able to chat with him until we return to the states.  Lynn doesn’t have an account (can’t get one on her phone for some reason) so she’s going to create a new account on Brooke’s iPod when we return.  Good times!