Ryan and I had another exciting weekend adventure.  A shuttle picked us up from school on Friday and drove us to Antigua.  After getting our tickets for the necessary shuttles on Saturday, we raced over the cobblestones to try and get to the adventure company before it closed.  We made it in time and put our deposit down for the three trips we have scheduled with them.  The first two will be with Kati and Paul when they come in just a short 10 days!  The third is going to be the first four days of our Christmas break.  Once this was all taken care of we went in search of a hotel to stay in on Friday night.  The first hotel we tried was "lleno" (full) but gave us a recommendation for another place.  Posada Don Luisa was a cute little place that had rooms for a fairly cheap price.  The one question we asked was about a hot shower.  The lady working told us that they did indeed have hot showers and that we should just let the water run.  We would be able to tell it was getting warm when the bathroom light dimmed.  Needless to say the light never dimmed and we both had chilly showers in the morning.  The only other problem we had at the hotel stemmed from us not being of Mayan descent.  For those of you don't know, the Mayans are traditionally extremely SHORT people.  It seems that many of the door frames were made for people of this descent and Ryan currently has a scab on the top of his head due to a "run-in" with the top of the door frame. 

On Saturday morning, I made sure we got up plenty early to have enough time to really enjoy our breakfast at my favorite place in Antigua.  The Bagel Barn serves delicious breakfast bagels and scrumptious Guatemalan grown coffee.  I enjoyed myself so much I considered ditching the trip to Lake Atitlan to sit in the coffee shop all day.  Evantually our shuttle arrived to pick us up and we headed off to the lake.  The shuttle dropped us off right by the shore in Panajachel, where we were able to catch a boat to another town called Santiago.  It's about a 30 minute boat ride across the lake.  We arrived in Santiago and before we even got off the boat there were young boys pointing and talking about us.  Apparently, they know how to spot the "gringos" pretty quickly.  Once we were off the boat and walking toward the town a "tour guide" stopped us and asked (in English) if we needed a hotel.  Since we did, we asked him for some help and he took us to a nice hotel about five minutes away.  As we were walking to the hotel he offered to give us a tour of the town including the Catholic church and a very special and ceremonial Mayan temple where a god called Maximon rests.  He was only charging Q160 ($20) so we decided to give him a try. 

Realizing it was lunch time he took us to a restaurant and then sat and waited for us to eat our lunch.  Then we started our tour.  After a short walk up some dirt streets our guide, Francisco, stepped into what appeared to be someone's home.  We apprehensively followed walking by a man passed out next to the room we entered.  Inside this "special and very ceremonial" place were several men who were drinking and smoking.  Maximon was a cheap-looking wooden doll with a pipe in his mouth and a plate on his lap (apparently it cost Q2 to come and see him).  The smell of incense was overpowering.  I quickly turned to Ryan with a look that he understood loud and clear.  He told our guide that we did NOT want to stay!!   We quickly left and continuied our tour to the Martyrs of Santiago Atitlan Cathedral.  Needless to stay, once we arrived back to the city we checked out our guidebook (which we forgot to bring with us) to find out more about Maximon.  Our book refers to him as a "mischevious scoundrel" and mentions the controversy over his presence.  Apparently he has been banned from the church and Holy Week celebrations so the local Mayan elders move him around to different local homes.  They believe that he answers prayers and helps in times of need.  The fact that he "smokes, drinks, and enjoys the occasional romp" makes him easier to relate to. 

After this first stop on the tour I was a little bit nervous to continue.  However, the cathedral was actually quite an interesting place to visit and had amazing history.  The church was built in 1571.  From 1980 to 1990, Santiago was a large target for the Guatemala army and many assassinations, beatings, and torching of homes occurred during this time.  Father Stanley Rother, a priest from Oklahoma, was the pastor at this time.  He opened the church as a refuge for many of the targets to this trouble  and drew attention to the area.  In 1981, he was murdered while sleeping in the rectory of the church.  The people of Santiago rose up in protest and after nine years of fighting the army was finally forced to leave the area.  Father Rother has not been forgetten and the rectory has been turned into a shrine in his honor (paid for by the Dioceses of Tulsa and Oklahoma City).  We were able to attend a standing room only mass at the cathedral on Sunday morning. 


We did our best to "blend in" but considering we were the only two people in church with hair a color besides black, and Ryan being twelves inches taller than everybody else, I think we stood out slightly.  *Ryan wants me to also mention that before we went to mass we had breakfast at another hotel in Santiago.  He ordered pancakes made from locally grown blue corn with sweet butter and homeade macademia nut syrup- DELICIOUS!*

After mass on Sunday, we hurried back to the shore to catch a boat to Panajachel.  The boat started across the lake and Ryan and I looked at each other with concern.  This ride was definitely bumpier than the one the previous day.  With every smack against the water, it felt like the boat was going to splinter into pieces.  I admit that I said a few silent Hail Mary's for our safe trip.  We did make it safely and had a couple hours to do some shopping and also eat at our favorite little pizza place.  (Kati and Paul get ready for the Circus Bar). 

We're taking a weekend off to stay in the city and get ahead on our work a little bit.  Kati and Paul arrive on the 17th and we have big plans for the week of Thanksgiving!