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Published: January 26th 2013
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'Paradise' is such a fleeting concept, no? Five days ago, we arrived in San Pedro and considered never leaving. Tomorrow morning, we leave at sunrise. A lot can happen in five days, I'll try to recount the highlights and explain our change of heart.
Let's start with the positives - we've had a great time in San Pedro, met a couple interesting folk, and enjoyed our beautiful apartment (including the hammock I am currently sitting on as I type, see photo). Sara really enjoyed her Spanish classes and learned a lot in just a week. Muchas gracias a la maestra se llama Cecilia en La Cooperativa (Much thanks to the teacher named Cecilia in La Cooperativa, the cooperatively run spanish language school that we highly recommend).
We've enjoyed the view of the lake although have not gotten to enjoy the waters unfortunately. We took a wonderful long walk today through coffee fields just outside of town. We enjoyed the market, although it was hectic for its small size and we got more than a couple 'Im-giving-you-the-gringo-price' grins as we bought some groceries for the week.
I worked a lot this week - if I haven't explained already, Im
working for the first three weeks of this trip Mon through Thursday. Im using wifi where I can grab it and I bought a wireless modem that connects me via 3G sort of like a mobile hotspot - this was relatively cheap and very easy to set up. I got 3Gigs for 15 days and then I'll have to recharge it. Working from here has gone more or less as planned, with connectivity issues to one client, who has a particularly complicated server due to security concerns. But so far I don't think my clients will fire me, so it will be okay (if my clients somehow find this blog, please don't fire me - I'll be back in the states before you know it).
But I've tried to keep hard and fast to my 5pm EST end of day and get out of the house in the evenings, which has been fun. A special shout out to our friends at The Fifth Dimension - a real cool gringo restaurant and bar in San Pedro, well worth visiting. Its run by three guys, all hailing from outside of central america, who originally stayed in the area to run a
clean up operation working with children in San Pedro. As far as I understand, they only just recently opened up The Fifth Dimension weeks ago and some of their profit goes to fund their project in the area.
They have also been very welcoming to us, which is nice especially because we've found the general atmosphere in San Pedro to be one of slightly-judgemental-hippies who are on such a cosmic realm that they can't even be bothered to say hello - I mean, why should they? We don't have dread locks + we wear shoes = totally square, don't bother.
I guess this is as good of a transition as any into the reasons we decided to move on to another spot. San Pedro is full of gringos. I mean - full. On the streets, we hear more english and hebrew than spanish - which was a little cool when we first arrived but now it just feels like a Guatemalan-themed Disney ride. "Did you see the Guatemalan woman selling bread on the side of the road? Its so authentic!" I guess Central America is just likely to be more gringoful than South America or some of the
other places I've traveled by shear proximity but we are ready to explore less-white pastures.
Have I offended your racial or cultural sensitivities yet? Im sure I have. If I haven't, maybe this will offend you: its not just the gringo-ness but its the hippie-ness that is a bit overwhelming. And please keep in mind, I had dreadlocks for 3 years and I love jam band festivals, but there is something about this particular crowd that has moved into San Pedro that has left us with a strange taste in our mouths. Slightly elitist or priveledged, I guess. In someone else's country selling jewelry on the side of the road. I guess I just think that the locals should have rights to that sort of thing - foreigners selling handicrafts to other foreigners, who then go eat at foreign-owned restaurants feels a little unfair. The trash from our meals ends up here, someone else's home, and we'll move on without even having contributed fully to the local economy.
Okay, I know, this is a terribly stupid thing to complain about this much in a blog from Guatemala. No one wants to read a travel blog full of complaints - unless you were feeling jealous and hearing me complain makes you less jealous. Well, its also been sunny and warm enough this week to try our laundry outside and start on our tans - so go ahead and maintain 100% jealousy.
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This may seem weird for you, since you've only just gone from one paragraph to another but I wrote the above blog post on Friday afternoon and it is now Saturday afternoon. On Friday night, after writing that, Sara and I went out and actually had a very interesting night. We steered clear of the gringo spots, ate street food and met two very interesting people. It was really fun - ironically our last night - and it made me want to add a final thought in case anyone reads this planning a trip to San Pedro/Lake Atitlan. It is a beautiful place and I am quite sure you can have a really great, authentic and exciting travelling experience in San Pedro and around the lake - just don't get stuck in the hippyville and think that that is all there is. I learned that actually the hippies in San Pedro date back to draft dodgers in the 60s and there is a strong community here - but there is much more beyond these couple streets, you need to choose your hostel well, along with where you eat and how you spend your time (and money!).
Thanks for reading,
Mark + Sara
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joe c
non-member comment
keep it up
Mark and sara-- wow. I am really jealous of y'all despite everything. Sorry so hear that the hippies won't look your way, but screw them then. Can't wait to hear more stories. Keep it up and have fun! Love from Vermont, Joe