Better With Family

One of the best things about this trip has been having family along to share the experiences and stories with. I came to Guatemala because the compañera of my house in Berkeley, Lorraine, had already made plans to study Spanish there and suggested it as a great place to travel. She was right on point. Fortunately, in San Pedro we lived only a few houses away from each other and ended up studying part of the time at the same school before she went on to travel to other places.

It didn’t take much convincing to get my sister Rachel signed on for part of the trip as well... even though she’s been unemployed for several months and has still yet to find a J-O-B. I had told Rae that she needed to have a job lined up first before I'd take her on any trips with me. But I ended up deciding to book the flight for her anyway cause I figured she'd waste her money on something ridiculous anyway and I've missed not having family with me on past trips.

The first Sunday that all of us were in San Pedro together we went to go kayaking. Unfortunately, there was a bit too much wind and the water was a bit rough. We were going to travel across lake Atitlán so this would have been a bit tough. Instead we decided to go to the beach and swim. The scenery surrounding the base of the volcano was beautiful, but the view of the lake was even more more breathtaking. We ended up walking to la playa dorada, which is a beach with very clear blue water. Again, words just don’t cut it and pictures can better capture the scene.


After returning from the beach, Rachel and I went to Julio’s fútbol game en el campo. Julio is the oldest brother in the family with whom Rae and I are staying. Julio is the arcero (goalie) for his team and they won 3-0. After returning home we rested a bit. Later we met up with friends, went to the fair, and played Loteria, a game similar to Bingo, but more fun... well, at least more fun in San Pedro.