Santiago

It's our final full day in Santiago. We're sitting at the Posada waiting on breakfast, looking out across the lake at the San Pedro volcano and watching the men walk down hill toward the fields to work. It's going to be a beautiful day.

Yesterday morning Allie and I went horseback riding. Nancy and Jim, a couple in their 60's from the US who have lived here for 21 years, have a "finca" at the far inland end of the bay. On their unbelievably beautiful property they have a bunch of horses along with 17 dogs! Our guide Chico took us up 1500 feet to a "mirador" that as best I can tell sits in a saddle between two peaks. From that vantage point you can see lake Atitlan of course, but in the other direction on a clear day you can see all the way to the Pacific. It was a neat spot.

During the afternoon we met up with Peyton and one of his best Guatemalan friends, Rebecca. She is in medical school and a really cool person. On Friday's the center of town is jammed full with the weekly market. We strolled through, but with no camera. Allie and I found a great "cubre cama" and I bargained for a good while and got a fair price I think. After meandering around town some more we came back to Posada. Allie read her book at the pool while Peyton and I baked in the sauna then sprinted to lake. We swam in the pool and jacuzzi for a while. Last night, the Posada hosted a local band that played classic rock! We ate with some girls we met here at the Posada from NC, and enjoyed the live music. After lighting a fire and reading for a while, we were zonked. It was a great day.

Today we're venturing across the lake to Santa Cruz by way of Panajachel. Should be exciting. It'll be good to see where I'll be for the next month, and we've heard there's a volunteer veterinary service in Panajachel, so we're going to investigate that.

A few more pictures:

Oh, and did I mention that yesterday I got crazy sunburned after sitting outside reading for just 30 minutes! I guess that's what you get when your sun exposure approximates that of Dracula. Stupid med school. 

Peyton makes fun of my emo blog all the time, and one of the most emo things you can do I suppose is take pictures of yourself in the act of blogging. So here you go, Peyton.

And this is the front of the Posada.