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Published: December 26th 2008
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Justin and I decided to head straight to Santa Cruz de Laguna rather than staying in Panajachel, we took the ferry and took as a good 15 minutes. The ferry docked right at the La Iguana Perdida hostel, they were getting dinner ready when we arrived, Diana one of the volunteer workers showed us our dorm room then we orderd the set dinner as there really is not much place to eat around here, the town is above the hill. Met other travellers and most of the staff, Kata and Walter, married and working here for awhile now they are from Chile, then met a very cool Spaniard Eugenio, when he found out I am there to learn Spanish, he started talking to me in Spanish and the night was spent, over a few beers learning Spanish from him with the "proper"Spanish accent.
The next morning i had my first lesson with Victoria for only 2 hours just to review what level am i, we just talked the whole time no lesson plans, i was surprised how much Spanish i can speak, despite a lot of grammatical errors, which gave me confidence. After the session, i waited for Eugenio to
finish his diving course and off we went to Panajachel by boat and walked for a bit, shopping, well at least him, and had a good lunch of ceviche and longanisas. The town is quite touristy, but all the amenities are here so cant really complain much. We had a few beers over sunset at a bar near the ferry docks, the sunset was amazing! He again taught me more words in Spanish, and a lot of bad words too of course. Took the last ferry back to Santa Cruz and we were just in time for dinner, a lot more newcomers to the hostel and we chatted with a few people for a bit then off to bed for me.
The next day another 2 hours of Spanish lessons, then just chilling out, Justin went to San Pedro yesterday to attempt to climb the San Pedro Volcano. Eugenio was in a bad mood, he did not do well in his practical dive, the visibility was bad. After he collected himself we went for a walk near the bank of the lake and found this nice chill out restaurant near our hostel called Jaicaranda, the owner from Liverpool, England
SANTA CRUZ DE LAGUNA
JACARANDA RESTAURANT, ME WITH MY SPANIARD FRIEND EUGENIO is very nice fellow, he chatted with us for a bit and told us his story. He hurried back to the hostel for dinner, we usually sign up for dinner as there isnt much choice in this town but now I discovered Jaicaranda, i might stop there sometime. Lots of new people again, went to bed late, been talking to some people, in Spanish, good practice for me. Xmas eve so we got drunk and decided to wait for midnight, most of my roomates went to bed already and Eugenio and I and a few of the staff stayed to watch the fireworks from across the lake, in San Pedro and other towns. Slept pretty well. The Austrian girls Christine and Julia came today and was happy to see me and Justn again, our dorm rooms are full, Christine a goodloking Irish woman, albeit a bit older but very cute, A Finnish girl and then Dean and American and me and Justin, we all got along well. Some people in the hostel are quite boisterous, i.e. an annoying dude from British Columbia who threw up very badly over Xmas dinner the next day and woke us all up with his
vomiting.
Anyway, Xmas day, said goodbye to my good friend Eugenio as he leaves for Tikal today after his dive, we hang out for a bit and then early dinner came, lots of hippie gringo locals came to La Iguana Perdida for the Xmas meal, more than the backpackers, the dinner was really good, turkey, veggies, apple pie and home made icecream, i had a full second serving and thus was not up for desert whch i regert later as I was starving later that night, lots of loud and drunk people, our table is full of annoying Americans, sorry to say but true, loud and arrogant. Dean a fellow American and I decided to leave the table after dinner and chill somewhere else. Later Christine the cute older Irish woman came back with the Austrians from their trek to the next town and we chatted most of the night about life and travels.
Dean told me there was an Indian American couple that got mugged on the trail we are going to trek over the weekend, going to the town of San Marcos, these poor couple is celebrating their anniversary and got robbed by bunch of machete weilding
teenagers. Because it is Xmas they want money and so they decide to mug tourists, there is actually a note posted in the hostel not to trak that route by yoursel, go in groups as the locals occasionally rob gringos, quite sad. My Spanish classe start next week, well the proper Spanish lessons. La Iguana Perdida is a nce chill place to learn it, the owners are very friendly and kind, but some volunteers are not so friendly, oh well just chose who you hang out with. I started reading my Spanish for idiots book as well to supplement my lessons with Victoria, hopefully when I leave this magical place i am ready to face the Spanish speaking world.
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Zan
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Happy New Year
Hi Gil.....Looks like you are having a great time while we are all frozen and wet up here in Oregon! It is fun to read your blog....we were in Mexico two years ago right before a LARGE hurricane hit! The place we were staying at near Cancun was destroyed two days after we left!!!! Joe and our daughter leave on New Years day for their African adventure! Have fun and continue the great photo's!