Cultural Experience Day

On our first full day in Guatemala, we were able to participate in cultural experience day! The majority of the group took an incredibly adventurous bus ride through all sorts of unique towns and ended up in Panajachel, a town on the north side of Lake Atitlan. The lake was beautiful and fairly smooth in the morning.

We were able to experience the Mayan lifestyle in two separate towns off the lakeside accessible by boat. There were a lot of dogs roaming the streets and sleeping in the shade. It was hard not to give them love. After challenging our cardiac capacity by walking up a steep hill in San Juan, we visited a Weaving Co-op and learned how the women make cotton into beautiful items of clothing and other house hold goods. We also visited an art gallery and herb garden where we learned which herbs, when made into tea, can cure everything from nausea to anger.

In Santiago Atitlan, we visited a church from the 1500s that had beautiful stained glass and intricate wood carvings. After a refreshing and invigorating boat ride back to Panajachel, we stopped at a restaurant where we dined on a traditional Guatemalan chicken dish and fish (bass and tilapia) from Lake Atitlan. The Vikings fans in the group convinced the bartender to turn on football and had a challenging time getting back on the bus before the big game started. Those who remained back in Antigua had the excitement of hearing and seeing Fuego, the neighboring volcano, erupt several times throughout the day. We were welcomed back from our 13-hour day with a delicious lasagna dinner.

 

Buenas noches!

 

- Mary & Miriah