Of scorpions and other beings

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We´re still in San Marcos, but loving every minute of it. We´ve fallen into a pattern of sorts. Lucy goes to yoga every day, I´ve been going to Spanish, Jack goes for a run. There´s lunch, there´s slow strolls to enjoy the view, we read our books on the deck slowly, easily distracted by the views. Then it´s dinner time, we choose a restaurant, play cards, and come back to enjoy the view some more.

San Marcos is a tiny little village, split in two by a not very busy road. Up in the mountains are the houses where the local indiginous live. Below, by the lake, is the network of paths that form the main village where hotels, resturants, plus a plethora of new age, holistic and spiritually enlightening options. I had a massage yesterday afternoon (fantastic), where I had the option of chanelling, aura cleansing or various other choices. I chose regular!

The village is set in what - to my eye so far anyway - seems to be a typical setting amongst lush vegetation with huge palms, pockets of maize grown everywhere, and above all else, coffee. In San Pedro we saw coffee beans drying in the sun but here we only see the ruby red beans on the trees. Such a shame it´s so hard to find the good stuff to drink!! Then every night from about 6.00pm for two hours we also hear what sounds like wailing, but is some sort of ceremony at the local church. We can´t tell whether or not the hippy gringos are part of it too.

Being on the side of the lake, it´s a constantly changing but eternally gorgeous view. A couple of nights ago as we headed home, it was such a glorious night we bought some wine, and sat on the verandahs outside our rooms and simply sat and enjoyed the view - twinking lights from the other villages, las bombas (these seem to be a constant feature here), the stars etc. Quite spectacular. This was probably why I was so chilled out when I returned to my room and saw my first ever live scorpion. It was huge, over five centimetres long, and frankly looked as eager to escape me as I did him. Sadly for him though I got in first, and the scorpion population in San Marcos is down one. I´m just hoping his friends don´t come for retribution.

But things sure do grow big here. Although I´ve seen normal sized ants, they also have a giant sized ant. Last night in the bathroom I thought there was an ant invasion, however it was only about 10 or so of these huge ants, nearly 2cm long, clearly looking for lodging. I sprayed the area liberally with Repel (40% DEET) and I swear they swam through to the other side. Best thing to do is just shut the door and forget about them.

There are also dogs at every turn, of an indeterminate breed. Or breed ¨mutt¨. Some of them look very cute, many of them look quite manky, although I haven´t gotten too close as I suspect the flea situation is not great. The birds here are also gorgeous to look at. Big ones with glossy blue-black wings, or tiny bright green ones. I´m looking forward to going to the jungle in Tikal where I´m sure there´ll be more.

The other most common being here are hippys. I guess the holistic and spiritual shops give that away anyway, but the main gringo population seems to be made up of hippys, or ¨the unwashed¨as Jack has been calling them. We went to a gorgeous restaurant today for lunch down by the lake and he could be right. However the food was about the best we´ve had so far. (I have to confess though, after a very primitive toilet experience, I avoided the organic vegetables. ) Even in Spanish they are called ¨los hippys¨. I had a very funny experience with my Spanish teacher today, as he asked me if I flew first class to Guatemala. I think he had formed this false impression after asking me if I owned a house and if I lived there on my own - sadly in Guatemala this is not a normal middle-class dream. I hastily corrected him that no, first class is very expensive and I travelled in economy. He asked in amazement, ¨con los hippys?¨. I suppose in San Pedro that he sees so many hippys every day that he might think that there are only two sorts of gringos.

I have had three days of Spanish lessons, five hours per day. It is completely exhausting, as the entire class in conducted in Spanish, however immensely rewarding. Not to say I´m anywhere near speaking like a local yet though, but I think that I have been able to improve my understanding and can communicate in more grammatically correct Spanish. (Although in a funny aside - Lucy last night asked the waitress, ¨habla Ud. vino?¨, or ¨do you speak wine?¨, which made everyone laugh so there are some advantages to slightly wonky Spanish). I´ve got a long way to go yet with my spanish, however I loved talking to a local person in Spanish and being able to ask questions and I found out all sorts of interesting things: the local men don´t wear traditional clothing as it´s too expensive being hand-woven, it´s cheaper to wear second hand gringo clothes; about the festivals and a Guatemalan Christmas; poverty in Guatemala; a bit about Guatemalan history and the war. He told me about one man, I think in Antigua (remember all in Spanish, so some of my details might be a bit sketchy) who is very rich and has restaurants all over the world. When his daughter was four years old and started going to school, she was accompanied by not one, two or even three armed bodyguards, but 12!! For a four-year old. Absolutely fascinating, but at the same time it was very sad, as the gap between life here and life in NZ is a gaping canyon.

Tonight Lucy and I are off to a different hotel, as the charming Hotel Jinava, with only five rooms, is fully booked. We are now in a very sweet little hotel in the village itself, set amongst a gorgeous garden. We don´t have our own bathroom, but Lucy and I have decided this is for the best. San Marcos is very cute, but not exactly modern, and let´s just say when the days are hot, there is something to be said for not having the toilet right next door. San Marcos is a charming little town, and the longer we are here the easier it is to imagine being here for longer. But don´t worry, we´re not throwing away the soap and growing dreads just yet - tomorrow we´re off to Antigua. It´s one of the most popular and charming towns in Central America (according to the guide book). We´re just hanging out for some real coffee!

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Photos

Me!
Proof I made it here after all. At Hotel Jinava, San Marcos.

Jack, chilling.
Jack reading in his room at San Marcos, chilling out. There was a lot of this happening in San Marcos!

Our hotel
Hard to capture it, but it is five rooms, set amongst a lovely garden on the side of a hill.

Volcan San Pedro
You can´t have too many views of it. Gorgeous!