On the Road to San Pedro La Laguna (Feb.16th)

Just as I'm getting comfortable with the city that is Quetzaltenago (Xela) it is time to move on. For the sake of nostalgia ( 8 days and you have nostalgia?) I get up early again and walk into the center of the city to another bright and sunny day. The sun is actually just getting over the taller richer buildings of the square. Purposefully I did not sign up for the breakfast at our usual place because I want to freelance it a bit and not have too large a first meal. The idea is therefore to head to the ultimate coffe shop and one of the ultimate bakery shops. & Cafe is the name of this high end coffee place. Is the symbol & supposed to be multi-lingual. Anyway the coffee is pricey but it is the real deal and we all savour it when we can. The bakery is called XelaPan...(easy name) and there are many XelaPans around the city. They have an efficiency that is necessary for their baking industry. Consumers shop for their Q2.00 and Q2.50 buns and breads and this is quite reasonable for middle-class Guatemalans. For me I'll choose 2 chocolate on chocolate buns to carry me through the morning.

To transport 20-some volunteers(Dr.Bob and family have left already) to San Pedro we need a minivan and two-pick-up trucks. There is tons of baggage because we needed two checked bags and a carry on to bring in extra medical and other supplies for our Guatemalans. Along the way we are to make two stops.

The first stop is for Paul's girl whom he helped support for 4 vor 5 years. Jose asked for support for this orphaned girl and Paul stepped up. She is now finishing teaching school and should be eligible to teach in her village area. She is living with her sister and family and should have a good future.

                                                      On Roof-Top of ODIM Clinic in San Juan La Laguna:

The second stop is at San Juan La Laguna. (Yes, on Lago Atitlan just before San Pedro.) We stop to have a tour of the clinic there. The group is called O.D.I.M. Organization for the Development of Indigenous Maya.

Mary said that she and a brother and a sister started this place from a run-down building to what it is today. They have continued support from secular and church sources. Tom met an ODIM person in Xela and presented them with about a quarter of the medicines we brought in from Canada.

On towards San Pedro La Laguna. Our place is Hotel VillaSol. I'm staying in a comfortable room with Max from Merrickville.

Our late lunch is at 2:00pm at Hotel Mikaso Resto a hotel-Restaurant owned by a Quebecer. Here you are gazing out over Lago Atitlan with not a care in the world. I go for the Natchos but it is so good and filling that I ask Max to go walking and trekking with me.

                                                                                  The view from Hotel Mikaso Resto

We lumber and stroll across to the consumer-mall. All the latest in tie-dye shirts and hash pipes. But we keep on walking. Should we go up to the wedding cake building up on the heights of San Pedro? We'll try to get there especially with the help of Paul Hauraney. For me the climb up was not quite as bad as I thought. When we got to the top of the wedding cake building we had quite a view of San Pedro. If some ninos had not started throwing pebbles at the tin-roofed houses below we may have enjoyed the view a bit longer. The walks were very good to wear off the high-carbohydrate lunch.

For supper I really had almost no appetite. With a gang of 5 or 6 of we did sit down and ordered carefully. I settled for a Sopa Con Pollo. This time the soup was more Western style with cut up chicken pieces. This is not traditional Guatemalan style but I wasn't complaining. Early to bed.