Friday, February 10, 2006

1/27/2006

This is the eighth part in my Guatemalan series. Click here for parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Left to right: Unknown, Elena, Kaylea, Rosa. I bought Ana's little sister, Rosa, a pair of shoes last night. Best 20-something bucks I've ever spent. What a joy it was to provide such a simple but so-appreciated necessity. Both sisters have a prominent upper canine on one side (a sort of "fang" I had braces to correct), and so they tend to hide their smiles, which is a terrible shame since their faces light up so brilliantly when they smile. I made sure to tell them both not to hide their smiles, and I hope I helped lend a little confidence to the girls. There was an awkward silence when I asked Ana what she wanted to be, and she answered "nothing" and looked a little embarassed. I hope with time and a little more confidence that answer changes; she is certainly capable of more than "nothing." Dave and wife Jamie. - -Lake Atitlan, 4200ft This place is gorgeous. The hotel is so much better than I could have hoped for - there is a breathtaking view from my room of the lake and volcanoes. The hammocks in the garden make me imagine this would be a place Hemingway would stay and write. Our guides name the volcanoes as we speed towards them in our little boat. Toliman, the most imposing of the three, seems to have an impressive foothold on the biggest group of clouds in this bright blue sky. The spray from the crystal clear lake is flirting with this very page. The rest of the sky rolls past the volcanoes clinging to the clouds as if the earth is slowly climbing across the sky. Or maybe if these mountains loosened their grip on the heavens, the earth would spin out of control. We spent some time in one of the villages (Santiago) across the lake. Dave and I discovered a wonderful old mission church at the top of the hill. There was a memorial to a priest from Oklahoma, to which is bound a tragic and inspiring story. The recent hurricanes had devastated part of Panajachel (the town we stayed in on Lake Atitlan) due to mud slides. Though the mud slides had destroyed the water treatment plant, and raw sewage was now spilling into this part of the lake, many locals still did most of their morning washing in the lake.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

awesome pictures and commentary. i can remember lago atitlan quite well, it looks like you're seeing the mountains with much more clarity than when I was there (lots of haze).

2/11/2006 06:25:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

did i mention that these pictures are phenomenal?

2/11/2006 06:30:00 PM  
Blogger Ali said...

Heh, thanks. :)
It's really the scenery and people there - they make taking good pics easy.

2/11/2006 06:46:00 PM  

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