Panajachel!

We finally got to go to Panajachel!! The three of us interns went by ourselves for a two day trip…yep by ourselves! We got Alfredo to drop us off in Antigua early Monday morning. That was such a panicked time. We asked him to meet us at 7:15am, but at 7:35 he wasn’t at our house yet. So we walked over to his and he looked at us like we were crazy or something. Like he was saying, duh, I know I have to come. So he comes over and we find out that he has to put the battery back in the truck…great. How long is it gonna take for us to get going? But I’ll tell you what, it was the fastest I’ve ever seen that man drive! So we get down to the park in Antigua and run (on the cobblestone) to the travel agency…but where did it go? We ran all the way to the market before realizing that we had passed it. So we turned around and saw a little van that said “turismo” on the back…there’s our ride! God really worked it out perfectly. Haven’t I learned that He always does yet? Haha
The van ride was interesting (and while we were driving, there was a 5.2 earthquake, but we didn’t feel it). We had some British people, a German, a native, a Canadian, 3 Americans, and 2 drivers. The people proved to be very diverse and never boring, I’ll say that much. The ride there was quick. We only got stopped for 10 mins for a road to be cleared of a mudslide. Then we made it to a checkpoint and had to switch vans. Only four of us were going to Panajachel. The drive from there was pretty short too, so soon we were dropped off at a hotel that the driver knew was cheap. We paid Q220 for the three of us and we got a room with 3 beds and a tiny bathroom. As soon as we dropped off our unneeded stuff we went for a walk. Immediately we found the lake- Lake Atitlan. Wow, how could someone not believe in God when they see a masterpiece like that? It was truly a blessing to be able to see the beauty that his hands have created! The people there hassled us a lot more about buying stuff and going on a boat and more. It got kind of annoying. But we kept walking around and we found the market so we looked around and bought a lot of stuff. The things there were much cheaper than in Antigua, so when we left we had a bunch of stuff! That night we ate at Panarock Café- it’s supposed to be like Hard Rock Café but smaller. It was good and we had a blast. We were there for a couple of hours. They had tvs playing old 80’s music videos- hilarious! That night we didn’t get much sleep because there were two roosters, one on either side of the hotel, having battle of the roosters!!
The next day we set out early to go on a boat across the lake. The same guy from the day before came and bugged us…but we didn’t get a good vibe from him so we went on a different boat. He wanted us to get on his private boat…yea right. So we went on a public boat that had another couple on it. They went to San Marcos, we went to San Pedro. We didn’t know what we were going to do there though. The ride took at 25 or 30 mins. When we landed we got the guy to come back at 1 to get us. As soon as we got off we were bombarded by people trying to get us to do this and that. We ended up decided to go kayaking! We had to leave our stuff in the “office” of the kayaking people, which we weren’t too comfortable with. So I took out everything valuable- money, camera, passport. Then we got a single and a double kayak. I was in the single at first and boy was that a lot of work. But once again, just seeing God’s creation, while sitting in the middle of it, was amazing. It took us about 40 mins to kayak across a little part of the lake to get to a beach. The water was so clear there though! It was a little cold but I got in to my waist. Hannah went all the way! After about 40 mins we had to start back because we only rented the kayaks for 2 hours. So on the way back Hannah had the single and she found out how much work it is!! I was sad to give them back, but I was ready to explore the city. It was a city of hippies! Everyone had big tattoos, crazy piercings, dreads, and loose hippy clothing. It was great! We looked around at their market, but it was really small. I was going to buy this beautiful painting, but I couldn’t get the guy to back down on his price. It really wasn’t bad, but I like to bargain. We went back and found a place to eat that overlooked the lake. The food wasn’t that good, but the view was great! Afterwards we went to a coffee shop that was highly recommended. Katy said the coffee was amazing. I tried it and still hated it.  But the guy was so nice. He’s a Christian American and he showed us the back room where they keep and grind the coffee for large orders. The machine was beautiful and took up a quarter of the room! We had to hurry from there to catch our shuttle. It was raining again so by time we made it to the “Dos Mundos” we were soaked! We had to wait a while because our driver was late…but he was very friendly. We were the first of 8 to be picked up. The drive back seemed to take forever! I was so car sick it was crazy! We even had to pay the driver extra to take us to “La Chos” so that we didn’t take a crazy chicken bus home. When he dropped us off there we still had about ¼ mile walk to get home. It was so dark so I was thankful we live in the safest area around. I was so thankful to get home!
We are preparing for a group to come on Saturday. There are 19 of them and several are medical professionals! Pray for us- we will be very busy with long days and short nights! I also ask for your prayers for me because I’m still not feeling well. We are really excited to see what God has planned for this group- I know it will be great!