It's Sunday, a Day for Rest

The tiny specs in the midle of the lake are some early morning fishermen. Everyday begins with these men, getting some fish.  Either for income or for their sustanance, they are there. Some are in old wooden boats with small outboard motors, and some are fishing from traditional small dugout boats powered by their paddles.

The mornings typically start with clouds looming off to the northeast, creating some beautiful sunrises. We can see a few fishermen from our window. Morning is the best time to get our errands done, because lately, we have been getting torrential thunderstorms in the afternoons. Yesterday, after we got our staples at a store about 1 mile down hill, I had planned on getting the heavy items from a small store just a little down hill from our apartment in the afternoon.  The rain started about 1 and continued, as a steady downpour until after dark. I will take care of those items today…in the morning!

Our rains on Tuesday were completely out of the ordinary. The wind came from a different direction than usual and the clouds were dumping torrential rains on us. This was accompanied by very close lightning and thunder. Along with this unusual storm came rain into our apartment. Caulking doesn’t exist here and the rain was pouring down from the roof through the gaps around the windows. We are not talking some water. We are talking flooding on the tile, moving furniture, Mynor and Josefa mopping up and Mynor on the roof trying to spread some plastic. One bolt of lightning struck on both sides of the house simultaneously and the accompanying thunder shook us to our bones. The town was flooded and there was a great fear that that the corn crops would be devastated. Corn is the primary source of food here, so many people climbed the mountains to the crops the following morning to save it, but it was fine. The wind did impact some of the family crops near the edge of the lake.

It's nearly impossible to stop for photos in the heart of the shopping area.  There are so many people milling about, buying their food and household items that I didnt want to hold up traffic to take a picture. Besides, most vendors have an umbrella to sit under and I am usually bumping my head into them.

Sunday, domingo, is market day. While the market area has vendors every morning, Sunday is huge. There are so many people selling produce that it is a challenge to just navigate the two blocks.

The coffee grown in the mountains around here is some of the best I've ever tasted. Its worth the steep walk back up the hill to insure I have some for tomorrow morning.

This morning, I walked to the very local coffee roaster and purchased a pound of wonderfully delicious, Lago Atitlan coffee beans. In the time we have been here I’ve gone through nearly a pound and don’t want John to have to deal me in the morning if I don’t have my coffee. About a mile away, I walked mostly down hill to the shop. That means the walk home is mostly uphill. At an elevation over 5,000 feet, it’s a bit of really good exercise for this sea level gal.

One of the many kibutzes in the tourist section of town. On the hother side of the town, over a very steep hill, is our side of town, and the other main dock.  The boats there come in from the other small pueblos around the lake and isn’t nearly as solid of a dock. It is from this side of the town that the local fishermen launch their fishing boats.


San Pedro La Laguna, Solola, has two sides. The tourist section, near the dock to Panajachel, has local hippies selling their creations of jewelry and art. This is also where most of the restaurants, hostels and all of the kibutzes are. From our house, we walk uphill then down down down to the lakeside. I like our part of town, away from the tourists. It is necessary, however to go into tourist section to find the only store that has a good supply of staples.

Until later, God bless.  And remember the blessing we receive everyday, without even realizing it.

With the rain, lightnening and thunder having rolled in, its time to get some homework done. With these afternoon thunderstorms, it's easy to see where the tropical storms in Hawaii come from.