In Hippieville

Happy Thanksgiving all you Canucks! I tried not to dwell too much on the turkey and stuffing I was missing, but I hope you all enjoyed yours. Thanks to Dani, the best friend ever, for saving me a place of her Mom's thanksgiving feast in the freezer for when I get back. Thanks to Gail for that too!

I was at the giant market day in Chichicastenango yesterday, and saw a woman with a basket on her head containing a giant live turkey. I briefly contemplated the possibility of a turkey dinner, but there was no way I was going to kill, pluck, gut and cook a turkey, not to mention getting it the 2 hour trip back to Antigua. It was a thought though. I also saw a man carrying a sack of pigs over his shoulder. Yes, you read that right. A sack. Of pigs. They didn't seem too happy about it either.

The market was absolutely fantastic. Totally overwhelming. The first couple of hours I just wandered around feeling a bit shell shocked. Then I ran into Basmot and Oded, my 2 isreali friends from the Guatemala City airport. They had come to Chichi from a totally different part of Guatemala, so it was very cool to run into them. We had lunch, and then I went out and bargained my guts out.

I also got the chance to check out the church in Chichi. The people in the area are pretty much all indiginous (all wearing traditional clothes too, very cool) and they have managed to meld their traditional beliefs and rituals with the catholic church in a way that seemsed bizarre to me as an outsider. On the steps of the church burned smoldering heaps of incense, and inside the people gave offerings of corn, alcohol, and cigarettes to their deities, with ceremonies that included singing, dancing, waving candles and incense.

I got back to Antigua at around dinner time, had supper with my housemate , and headed home to pack up to leave early today.

I am now in a pueblo called San Pedro on Lago Atitlan. It's not the biggest town on the lake by any means, but I heard good things about it so I thought I'd check it out. Here is some kinda interesting Atitlan info, of a geological nature, since Atitlan is a volcanic lake.

The lake is stunning, and I'll definitely be posting some pictures in the next couple of days. Surrounded by volcanoes, brilliantly coloured water, clean fresh air.

San Pedro is known as a laid back hippie kinda town. To give you a feeling about it, let me describe my lunch. I was just starving, so I picked an place right near my hostel with a really neat thatched roof patio kinda place. I grabbed a menu, and started reading. The waiter came and sat down for a chat. Then he brought me a drink, and chatted some more. Then I sat and breathed in the gorgeous view of a pristine blue lake surrounded by volcanoes. Then I started talking to a local ex-pat (from France) by the name of Yannis.

Let me describe Yannis: No idea about his age...somewhere between 30 and 50 I'd reckon. Long wild hair, matched perfectly by a long wild beard. Wearing bare feet, shorts, and a long half buttoned up shirt. We got to talking, and it turns out that Yannis has lived in Guatemala on and off for many years, in San Pedro for about 3. What does he do for a living?

"Well, I help people harmonize their vibes." Ahem. Turns out he's some sort of Shiatsu Reiki practictioner, but he does some pretty out there stuff that involves "magical musical instruments" and waving tibetan balls of some kind over people.

Yanni joined me for a drink while I had my lunch, and as we chatted he was making jewelry. At the table, in the restaurant! And he didn't seem at all out of place. In the couple hours I've been here, I've seen a lot of beards, dredlocks, and those thread hair wrap things.

I don´t know if it was the view of the lake or maybe Yanni was harmonizing my vibes without me realizing (maybe his power is so strong it's not even voluntary!?) but as I sat there, I just felt every little bit of stress and tension leave me completely. This place is awesome! "A very powerful mirror...reflects your emotions back to you, only stronger" as my new guru says...

I saw a sign for someone who teaches weaving, so I'm going to check that out after I finish up here. There are some incredibly cheap spanish schools here, and I was considering adding a few days of classes to cement that spanish in my brain. But maybe I should do weaving instead...how many chances in one lifetime do you get to learn indigenous Guatemalan weaving techniques?? And spanish doesn't seem like it will be totally required here, since lots of the people speak english and many of the locals only speak their Mayan languages.

Until tomorrow...thanks for all the comments and emails. Love you and miss you!