bienvenidos a san pedro

yup, i made it.

i got up at 6 this morning and caught the bus that the women at the hostel recommended. it took me to chimaltenango in about 45 minutes and then i had to catch another to panajachel.

this is a picture i took just after stepping out onto the street from my hostel this morning and looking to the left. this city is beautiful and really, really old. it was built in 1500 and it shows. hope to see more of it later.

...and the other side of the street. its a horrible shot but thats a volcano in the background.

so anyway, on the bus to panajachel...i met another really awesome person. i sat next to and spoke to a woman and her little daughter for about two hours. she was really cool and i was able to learn a lot about the country. she also helped me find the docks when we arrived in panajachel. not sure if you can really tell from this shot but this was taken on the bus before arriving. its pretty impossible to capture the beauty of Lago Atitlan and the surrounding volcanoes with a tiny digital camera.

after taking this tiny boat across Lake Atitlan, i arrived in San Pedro around noon. i got ripped off by the dude who ran the ferry and tried to protest but he refused to give me money back. whatever. a nicer hombre showed me the way to the school, which would have been absolutely impossible for me to find on my own. the following pictures are of the view from the school and one of the ¨classrooms¨

once there i spoke with a teacher for a while until the 10-year old son of my host family and his 7-year old cousin came to pick me up. we walked back to the house and dropped off my stuff before walking the tiny streets of san pedro to find his parents at his grandma´s house. i had dinner there and spoke with my parents for quite a while. john was right - they´re so amazing. im really looking forward to getting to know them better.

i start class tomorrow at 8. really looking forward to meeting some other travelers my age. ive just been chilling by myself for the past 5 hours or so and its kind of lonely. i would have hung out with my host family but they´ve been in a conference at the church.

here are a few more pictures to hold you over - another shot of the lake and my home for the next month. thats their only sink, in the yard, if you were wondering. my room´s the farthest to the left thats not visible.

hope you´re all staying warm. keep in touch.

love and peace