Monterrico continued to Lago Atitlan

The next day we slept in which isn't that hard to do considering that it is vacation time. By now my favorite drinks are the liquiados (fruit with either water or milk). We always had our share of fish and shrimps there. We had lots of fun together in the water and the current was even stronger than the day before. Okay, the sand was hot but how people can burn their feet I still don't understand. Guess they never had to dash across a black-tarred street that is steaming in the sun?!? The bar that night was more full and dancing in sandals is really awkward so I decided that no shoes are an even better option. At night one of the places had Heroes del Silencio on via their loudspeakers and we just sat there at the beach and enjoyed the view and the music. People were crab hunting which was fun to watch. The last day we took very easy since the pick-up was scheduled for 3pm. We were however in for a slight surprise. The driver had told us where we should be for the pick up in the way back and shuttles were standing there but not for us. At 3.15pm I was starting to wonder what had gone wrong and of course at such time the credit on the phone had run out. So we searched for a phone to use and called the agency. They said that the driver gave wrong information and that the driver had left already 3pm and that he had tried to call us, which was a lie since we had a signal and no phone call. After lots of calls going back and forth we had to take a boat to the other side of the mangrove swamp and wait there for a pick-up. We walked for a bit and than after some bargaining a boat took us along to the other shore. It was actually pretty much fun since I got to see more of the mangrooves and got to learn more words that I hadn't known before. The only down side was that my back was exposed to the sun and his face. We both were glowing later on! In that village were we arrived we had to kill more time for about 1,5 hours. By now we were starving and I got to try out a new dish tortiallas filled with cheese etc. and water not out of a bottle but out of a plastic sack. Finally the shuttle showed up and we got in. I was beat and went to sleep while Elmer was awake. At home around 7pm I quickly unpacked, showered, changed and went off to Antigua to meet again for dinner. Over dinner he told me that the ride back was terrible because the guy was driving like a maniac and when looking at the time that is correct. After dinner we went dancing in Casbah which was playing a bit of Salsa, Merengue and later on Disco etc. it was fun for a while but than I had enough of it all. I wanted to go home by tuc-tuc and that resulted in a nice argument. He was mad at me because it isn't safe etc. all very true but I do know what I am doing. In the end he escorted me home and made sure that I was in before they headed back to Antigua. I know that he means well but sometimes there are no other options.

Monday was washing day! I am not kidding that was like almost all my clothes that ended up in the wash. During the day I can't even remember anymore what I did. Oh yes, I arranged through Marty the tickets for Pana, checked mails etc. At night we meet for a late dinner and had a hot cholocate afterwards which made us both sick as we found out next day. Great!

Tuesday we got picked up around 12.30pm for the trip to Pana. Once there we took the boat to San Pedro de la Laguna. Toni (originally from Granada) who was also on the shuttle was with us and we stuck together for the boat ride and than searching for a place to sleep. We found one and than our paths split. The days flew by we stayed there most of the time and it is nice quiet and relaxed. One day we thought we should go visit Santiago but they had some kind of Christian convention going on with people from Mexico ... in total like over 1 Miollion people expected. We walked a bit around but we both didn't like the place and took the boat to Pana which is also not to my liking too touristy. At night it was fun though in one of the local places to go dancing - no tourists there! Than we went back to San Pedro next day for the weekend. Friday night was good fun dancing as well. Saturday night had a different note to it. There were some medical students from the City there and Friday night just loud but Saturday night loud and very drunk. One guy dealt me a nice blow which made me stumble over the dance floor and Elmer caught me. After asking if I was okay he went looking for the guy. They started pushing each other around and it would have resulted in a fight since that guy was spoiling for one but his friends intervened. Elmer just wanted an apology from that guy for treating me badly. Their honor thing is sometimes annoying! His mood was shot and mine as well. We finished u drinks and left. Took a drink with us and sat on the balcony of the hotel and chatted until very late. What else did we do during the days not really all that much eat, sleep, chat ... recover from the night before o,)) One day we rented a kayak for two hours and that was good fun but gee that was much sun as well. He loved the one spot that we had found with cristal clear water for a swim. He hates it when he gets dark while I am pretty happy with my tan right now. The day afterwards of course our shoulders were killing us. Just to add to some backpain from the boat ride the day before. In the afternoon the lake is a far cry from calm and we were shaken around either bumped with our heads against the roof or bumped heads with our neighbour and into each other. I had the seat next to the side and my knee was blue and my arm was hurting where it constantly banged into the wood. Not to forget the shower you also got for free. o,))) We talked a lot and had good fun together. In D’Noz there was a little kitty that he started playing with but she got tired of that in a while but would only settle in my lap o,)) he was being ignored. The next night when we returned to watch a movie she was there as well and hoped right into my lap. Oh yes, we had almost daily afternoon downpours or early evening so you start getting good at dashing around or where possible run around barefoot. Sunday we had to take the boat back to Pana for the pick-up. The shuttle came with delay and than they complained that I hadn't paid up full that wasn’t true but the agency had put 1 person down instead of two. Since Marty was also on that shuttle he had sorted it out for me. It was the same agency that left us stranded in Montericco. Idiots! I at least got lucky they dropped me off at cityhall in Jocotenango the rest just got dropped off in one spot in Antigua and could make their own way. Great service! Elmer and me met again for dinner in Monoloco. I was really looking forward to some nachos but in the end hardly touched anything. I was feeling crappy and we made it a very early night but I got told that there would be no way that he let me go home by tuc-tuc. So I spend the night at his place. Since I wasn't feeling much better Monday morning I called in sick for my project work.

Taking the bus back home I bumped into Vilma and Tobias. Vilma told me that I will start my project a week later and that Camilla didn't like hers and had changed into mine. So that should be good fun! I slept most of Monday, wrote some letters and took it easy. However a whole day more or less inside made me nuts. Elmer had the day shift so we met at night. He was surprise, surprise only 15 minutes late and we checked our mails, went for a drink at Reds and meet the others there. Hanna and I set up a meeting for this week. I got to meet Inga who is also working in my project. Camilla was happy to see me again and in the end I crashed at his again. Since he is working late shift today we had a nice sleep in. He is off now to see his parents and I decided that there is no point in going back to Jocotenango so I am at La Fuente and updating my blog. Also at the moment it is dry and none of those power outages that can be really annoying when you type an email ...

Tomorrow or teh day after I have to find a place where I can get my pics burned on a CD ROM and than I should be able to upload some pictures hopefully!