Community

My first week on Lake Atitlan has been different than my travels in Thailand. This time, since I have friends who live here full time, I have inherited a whole community of other friends who are connected to Sune and Marianne. It is like walking into an established life. The friends here, both at work at the Freedom Bar in San Pedro, and at home in San Marcos, both gringo and Guatemalan, are universally wonderful people. Life here is a constant adventure getting around on the crazy roads and navigating the culture and characters of the town.

Sune and Marianne, from Denmark and Norway respectively, have a perfect home for entertaining and have made it a bit of a neighborhood center of socializing, eating, and fun. It is a bit of paradise to be sure. One by one, I have more or less met the people who operate the gringo part of San Marcos: Anika, a German woman who is the town realtor, Alexis and Ariel who operate one of the great restaurants in town, Sarah who works in one of the few clothing stores, Felix a German uber hippy who keeps us informed of the energy ceremonies around town, and Oden who owns a massage center. Sune and Marianne are considering opening a cafe and store above a tienda on one of the more traveled paths in town.

When I say town, there really isn't much of one. There are no roads other than the main road that circles the lake. There are a few brick or dirt walking paths that wind through the trees, and one just comes upon random places in the trees while exploring the paths. There is no central commercial strip like most towns have.

In addition to tranquil San Marcos life, having a friend with the most popular night club in San Pedro means fun, late nights, full of cocktails and dancing. And the party continues day and night. Not in a debocherous way, more in a luxurious, relaxing way.

That said, part of me still longs for the independence and solitude of traveling alone. Staying with them has meant, in the most fun possible way, that I tag along a bit on their life. It's a fun life to do so, for sure. However, I have felt pulled to get my own space. I got a hotel room in San Pedro so that I didn't have to depend on friends for rides back to San Marcos. It seemed like a good plan and the room definitely came in handy.

Unfortunately, I picked a place that was just a bit too shady and it seems the staff entered my room and took some of my belongings: my mobile phone, camera, and I-pod. I really had a strong feeling that my stuff was not safe in there and when I returned to retrieve my bags to move to a better place, the deed was already done. No forced entry, just rummaged-through bags. Did I complain to the hotel staff? Do you mean the nine year old on duty with a cleaning bucket? I did complain but he just wanted his keys back.

The locals assured me that nothing I did would cause my things to return, so I just allowed myself to be pissed off for a couple of hours and then let it go and proceeded to plan replacement. Which I have begun. Some friends will be visiting here from San Francisco in a couple of weeks and can bring new supplies.

In the mean time I am floating a bit, trying to decide whether to live on my own in quiet San Marcos even though I have an open invitation to live with friends, or to live in fun but less luxurious San Pedro. I still can´t decide.

In the mean time, you can catch me spinning fire poi some nights at the Freedom Bar. Yes, it is true. I made it over the psychological hump from spinning mostly harmless rubber balls to dipping balls of Kevlar in gasoline and risking injury for the enjoyment of myself and others. Marianne coaxed me and coaxed me until I finally gave in and took the plunge. My heart still pounds each time I finish. But it is, oh, so much fun, especially to hear cheers from onlookers - and to have overcome some fear and aversion to risk. Wooo!

Life is good here, albeit a little lighter on the electronics.