Wow! We just spent the past week at Lago de Atitlan (Lake Atitlan). What a wonderful time we had! Here´s a little history about the lake. It was once a giant volcano, which slowly filled with water over hundreds of years. Now it is the biggest lake in Guatemala, and is surrounded by four or five smaller dormant volcanoes. Because of the volcanic activity, you can find small pumice stones floating all over the water! For those who don´t know, pumice is volcanic rock. It´s very strange to see floating rocks.

We arrived two Fridays ago. I´m not quite sure on the dates. But we came to the lake with three friends we met in Xela. They are Maria from Texas, Dana from Nova Scotia, and Matt from Scotland. We road on the chicken bus from Xela to Panajachel, the main town on the lake. It was our first "real" chicken bus experience, as someone actually brought chickens onto the bus! Our lucky friend Matt got to sit next to it, and he claims that it was caressing his leg the entire trip.

Panajachel was nice enough. When we first arrived, we got trapped in a grocery store because of the heavy rain. The street had about six inches of flowing water just ripe with dog feces. But this allowed us time to do some grocery shopping. We got buns, cheese, cheap rum and pineapple juice. After wading to our hotel and promptly washing our legs and sandals, we drank and played cards.

The next day as our friends went to a textile market in a nearby village, George and I decided to hang out by the lake and relax. Of course we didn´t really get to relax as we were acosted by locals every ten minutes trying to sell us their beautiful goods. I say acosted, because they really push you to buy things. One lady even found us a few days later and said "You promised to buy something later! It´s later now!" Of course we never said anything of the sort.

Anyways, while we were sitting we met a very nice Mayan lady whom we met in Xela. So she sat next to us, asked us to buy something, and then chatted for a bit. Her name is Josefina, and her very lovely daughter was named Carolina. They invited us to visit their pueblo (village) and their home! So we made plans to meet her the next day.

Now, that night. After we met up with our friends again, we took the taxi-boat across the lake to a small hippy village called San Marcos. San Marcos is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I think it beats Poole´s Land at Tofino! Except for the main road in the middle of town, all the streets are narrow cobblestone pathways surrounded and covered by cornstalk fences and fruit trees. They´re a little dangerous at night because of the two-foot trench to one side which carries away the rain water, and there are no lights. Yikes!

While we were looking for a place to stay, we met a man named Chuz (rhymes with juice), which we later found out is short for Jesus. He informed us that he would be playing music that night at the Happy Taco, and we should come and bring our instruments. So of course we did! First of all, Happy Taco had delicious tacos! Full of fried onions and broccoli and all sorts of other happy veggies! And Chuz´s music was great. They played blues, reggae, rock and latino. And eventually he invited us to play! So we played a few of our gypsy tunes, and then we jammed for hours with Chuz and his friend Tres!

The next morning we got up early to go to the pueblo. We said goodbye to our friends and headed back across the lake to Panajachel. From there we had to climb on the back of a pickup truck with the other Mayans which took us to the Pueblo, San Antonio Palopo.

Carolina guided us up a very narrow and steep stone staircase to her home high on the hill, overlooking the beautiful fertile hills and lake. Inside, Josefina showed us how she weaves, and all of the different textiles and clothing she has woven and embroidered. She even let me try on her clothing! Actually, she forced me. She took a beautiful Huipil, which is the shirt they wear, and put it over my head, grabbed a skirt and put it over my head, and then cinched it all around my waist with a belt. Then she wrapped my hair in the style of her pueblo. It was quite comfortable, and actually looked pretty good!

We chatted and had a good time, and when it was time to leave we chose a hairwrap for me, a jacket for George, and a beautifully embroidered scarf. We totally got ripped off, but we figured we were paying for a very wonderful and unique experience.

Then we headed back across the lake to San Marcos. Now here´s the part where I explain my title "Why I´m Not a Hippy". Or at least, why I´m not a hippy like the hippies in San Marcos. I need to tell you about this little village. There has always been a Mayan community up in the hills, but the San Marcos that the tourists see is quite new. It started 30 years ago with our wonderful friend Chus.

He bought some property about thirty metres back from the shore and built a beautiful house with his wife. It was the only house, and was surrounded by corn fields. There were no trees, and so he planted many fruit bearing trees, like avocado, orange and banana. Then other people began to follow building hotels and restaurants, until the San Marcos that we know today was formed. Now it is a haven for "hippies with a purpose", as the guidebook says.

They believe the village has some kind of happy energies, or something. There is a hotel that has four pyramid-shaped houses that only students of the meditation and reiki healing schools can stay in. They say that pyramids are good for your chi. Or something. There are a few holistic healing centres and schools, and you can buy healing crystals and meditation caps. Who knew you needed a cap for meditation?

Now, I don´t mean to make fun of anyone, it´s just that there were so many hippies wandering around telling us about all of this stuff, and George and I don´t believe in any of it. And we´re not the kind of people to disagree with people or tell them we don´t believe or accept their beliefs. So it got to be a little tiresome saying "Oh, really? How fascinating." And so many of them didn´t seem to notice when we did disagree. They just kept on preaching.

One guy even told us about the Mayan calendar and how we have a wonderful opportunity here in San Marcos to learn about the "one truth" that is the Mayan calendar, and how we can "spread the good word" back in Canada.

There´s also a growing amount of drugs available in San Marcos. People constantly asked us if we want some weed. At one hippy bar we went to with Chus, we even witnessed people getting pretty angry and crazy because they were on some kind of drug. He told us that´s why it´s time for him to leave. Too many crazy people and drugs taking away the peace of San Marcos.

So that´s why I´m not a hippy. Not that kind of hippy. The kind that means well and really wants everyone to be happy, but doesn´t think things through enough to actually do well. At least, I hope I´m not.

However, the Mayan calendar is actually quite interesting. Can I tell you one interesting thing about it? Okay. There are actually two different calendars. The agricultural one, and another one that is based on the length of time it takes for a baby to grow in the womb. So the year is nine Gregorian months long, separated into thirteen months of twenty days each. Each day has a very special meaning that is very different from all the others. Neat, eh?

Now, back to my daily life. Last Wednesday, we decided to go to San Pedro, because I wanted to take another weaving class. But before we left, we ran into Chus! He invited us to play with him again on Friday and Saturday, and in return he would give us a free room at his hotel El Unicornio! Of course we accepted.

We spent two days in San Pedro. It was okay. Our hostel was a little dirty. We didn´t really want to use the kitchen, because I don´t think the other guests washed the dishes very well. But I got to take a weaving class and learn how to prepare the loom. Now I´m trying to make a scarf.

Then back we went to San Marcos to jam with Chus at the Happy Taco. We had such a blast! The first night no one came to the bar, but we played music and drank beer and talked. It was very nice. The second night, the tiny little bar was packed! And people were having a good time listening to our music! A group of Israeli guys came in and they started jamming with us too! Man, I love music. Nothing brings people together like good food, cheap beer, and music.

When the bar closed, Chus took us back to his home where we chatted some more. He showed us old pictures of San Marcos before it was popular, told us a bit about himself and what he does and where he´s going. He´s a really great guy, and we really hope to meet him again. We do have the opportunity, as he is organizing a Mayan celebration of elders in December near Tikal! It´s entirely possible that we could be there.

Today, whatever day today is, we hopped on the chicken bus and went to Antigua. We´ve been here for a few hours now. It´s really lovely! Like all of the colonial towns, it´s nestled in the hills with only one story buildings. The streets are cobblestone like all the other cities, but these streets are wide enough for two cars! And the sidewalks are wide enough for two people! It´s very relaxing not having to dodge cars and people and lightpoles everywhere.

Okay. This has been a little long, I think. But there´s just so much to say! As always, there´s much more to tell you but I´ll save it. I´ll see you again in a few months.

So long!