Lake Atitlán

We've been in Guatemala an entire day and are starting to get the hang of things -- interacting with locals and practicing our Spanish; haggling for handicrafts in village markets; tossing used toilet paper into the bin instead of the bowl (Guatemalan sewer systems can't handle the paper waste); brushing our teeth with bottled water; and learning the choreography of shared bathrooms here at the Common Hope project site in Antigua. Overall, we're settling in and getting into habits that will help make it easier to transition into a focus on the volunteer service work we start tomorrow.

On the heels of our arrival, a group of us set out early for Lake Atitlán – and after the jarring 90-minute ride in from Guatemala City and tooling around last night on Antigua's congested, cobbled streets, a bit of paved highway was a welcome change. The bus wound west and south through the mountains and then into the near west highlands, driving through villages and layers of clouds as we ascended to Sololá, and finally down the steeply-graded road to Panajachel (Pana), where Lake Atitlán spreads out into the distance.

Lake Atitlán 

Set at 5,000 feet, the lake is encircled by volcanoes and indigenous settlements and is saturated with an incredible natural beauty. This crater lake isn't sourced underground -- it's the result of 850 centuries of accumulated rainwater in the caldera of a cataclysmic volcanic explosion; so much magma was expelled that most of the massive cone collapsed, and you can get a sense of the enormity of the space by imagining the entire surface of the lake replaced with a volcano rising in to the sky. This place was famously described by Aldous Huxley as "the most beautiful lake in the world," and I don't think a single one of us disagrees.

Lake Atitlán

We met our guide, Umberto, hopped on a dinghy, and headed for the town of San Juan del Lago on the southern coast of the lake. The achingly beautiful scenery combined with the lull of the boat was a peaceful, relaxing departure from land and air travel.  We hiked up into the village to Casa Flor Ixcaco, a textile co-op.  Delfina, the proprietor, told us about the values of the co-op and gave a demonstration of how cotton is turned into thread, dyed, stacked, and loomed to create scarves and other items. The co-op's goal is to support the local economy and especially women, many of whom are single or have husbands who are unsupportive financially.  (Living in such a remote location, it's common for men to leave the village to work for the week; rather than send earnings home it's common to instead spend it on alcohol. Alcoholism and diabetes are two top health concerns in Guatemala.)  Teaching women how to weave also maintains the traditions of the Mayan culture, and the co-op even grows their own cotton. All the dyes used are natural, made from plants and flowers that grow in the region. Using a backstrap loom, it takes about one week to weave a scarf. Each item created by the co-op bears its creator's name and the length of time it took to weave. Ninety percent of the profit goes to the woman who wove it, the remaining 10% is used to maintain the business. We were so impressed with the beauty and variety of items created by women of the co-op.

Next we stopped at a medicinal herb farm, another co-op model, espousing the values of education 

Handmade textiles for sale in a shop in San Juan.

and culture maintenance. For many centuries, locals used herbs for healing pain, wounds and other maladies, but the Mayans found their herbs didn't make a dent in the diseases the Spanish brought with them and so began to lose the knowledge of herbs and their medicinal uses.  With a renaissance of natural medicine in progress, residents of San Juan have again turned to their native roots to relearn and educate others on the use of herbs.  Here, the co-op consists primarily of midwives, bone-setters, and educators; again the focus is on educating the community.

It's clear that education in San Juan is valued, with families working hard to send children to school with an understanding and appreciation for how education can help them learn how to better pass traditions along to the next generation.

The new church in San Juan

Before heading back to the boat we toured a recently

constructed Catholic church, with the original 17th Century facade still in place. Although crumbling and poorly built, original religious cultural artifacts are highly-valued in Guatemala, and are left standing as they contain highly symbolic references to both Mayan and Catholic cultures.  Umberto pointed out to us a maize plant depicted on the facade -- maize being the cornerstone of Mayan culture, it represents life-giving nourishment, but is also evocative of the Mayan tree of life with its roots to the underworld and branches and leaves to the heavens.  Suffering persecution after the arrival of the Spanish, the Mayans hid their cultural symbols (corn plants, the sun, birds, and more) in plain sight in the form of textiles.  And while a tense thread of fear of religious persecution runs through the Mayan collective sentiment to this day -- just two weeks ago the police station was set on fire after a civilian was shot and killed by police -- they've never completely lost the connection to their roots. Yet, they've also incorporated Catholic culture into their life and this hybrid religious energy is ubiquitous.

Local women in traditional dress.

Specifically in the highlands region, the Mayan culture remains profoundly strong and the villages surrounding Lake Atitlán is one of the few places that traditional dress is still worn and indigenous dialects still spoken. In fact, Umberto noted that as tourism began to grow and there was more interaction between peoples from different villages around the lake, his 'group' native to Pana couldn't clearly communicate with folks in San Juan, the dialects had become so different over time. All told, there are four languages and 17 distinct dialects spoken in Guatemala today. Around Lake Atitlán itself there are 10 towns (not all of which are touristic), some with completely different lifestyles from each other despite the proximity.

We hopped back in the boat and were subjected to a very rough trek across the lake as we passed over two-foot waves.  But we laughed like children as each wave soaked us more thoroughly and the boat bounced along as we made our way to Santiago, a sprawling town of 40,000, where we had lunch and explored another church. The structure was originally built by the Franciscan brotherhood in 1547, but a strong pagan influence is clearly seen in the 18 semi-circular steps leading to the large cathedral, which symbolize the Mayan solar calendar. That they are on the east side of the building is also significant, as the sun rises in the east.  To the Mayans the sun signifies life, a new day -- because they don't feel anything while asleep, they hold a strong belief that they die each night and are reborn each morning.  They habitually pray early in the day and are thankful for the new life. Birds are another significant icon, being strongly symbolic of a connection to heaven.

This was us before we got soaked.

As the tour drew to a close, Umberto thanked us wholeheartedly for traveling to the region, as tourists' presence encourages locals to be thoughtful and industrious about their crafts.  The indigenous highland peoples have found a way to meld both pagan and Christian cultures into a unique world view that belies their humble lifestyle. We found these Mayan descendants to be a very warm, welcoming and hardworking people dedicated to preserving the past and making improvements as they move into the future. We had a great adventure learning about Mayan culture and getting to know each other better, too.

Group shot with Umberto, our guide.