*sigh* then smiles

hola del Lago de Atitlan.

We took a super long busride out here yesterday morning (they almost weren't going to wait for Zach, and then there was a huge traffic jam so we got out of the car for a bit since the poor boys were crammed in the back seat!). We were STARVING when we got here, so we ate some pizza (not the best) and Rico was a little bit sick. We decided to go to San Pedro because there were more young people there, so we took a little boat across the HUGE, beautiful lake. we got two double rooms at the hotel, but it turned out our (mine and Rico's) room's toilet leaked copious amounts of water when the water was turned on...so we used the next room's bathroom because there weren't any occupants. we napped for a bit, then went kayaking. rico and i were in one, and ebbe and zach in another. they decided to go out further than we did, but it was really choppy, so we took it easy and didn't go out very far. i think we paid for two hours, but only went out for about 45 minutes, maybe. so that was a bit disappointing.

we hung out for awhile afterwards at the hotel. zach and i read, rico napped, and ebbe listened to his ipod. at one point all the boys were singing backstreet boys very loudly. it was QUITE entertaining! we went to dinner with our neighbors in the hotel (one of them turned out to be iliana! the others were a mother and daughter from humbolt county). after dinner we went to a place called "freedom" and sat by a fire. there were hippies all over the place and all that comes with that if you catch my drift...we stayed there for awhile, but then decided it wasn't our scene. i went back to the hotel, but the boys went out.

this morning i woke up early and had to use iliana's bathroom...thank goodness she was awake! i sat out in the hammock reading "Harry Potter y el misterio del principe" for about an hour. The lake was so peaceful and the sun wasn't too bright yet because it was only about 7:30am. I decided to go back to bed around 9am, and Zach woke us up at 10:30am. There was no power, so Rico had to take a cold shower, and I had to deal with my monthly problem using a flashlight in the guys' bathroom...interesting...We had brunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake, then decided we should head back to the city we would be picked up in because we were running low on quetzales. The lancha back to Panajachel from San Pedro was super rough, and full of hippies who weren't wearing deoderant and were holding on for dear life...another pleasant experience. Poor Ebbe was sitting on the floor of the boat at the very front and being thrown around like crazy (not to mention getting full force the aroma of the other passengers). When we got back to Pana the boys skipped rocks, and I found a bathroom. I know, this is a super interesting commentary, right?

We're not exactly sure where our shuttle is picking us up today, so that's also weighing on my mind. We don't really know where the beach is in this town, and are all just frustrated and want to go back to Antigua, so we are instead chilling in an internet cafe. I'm feeling very homesick right now because of the not superb weekend (i forgot to bring my lonely planet with us and we didn't have a plan...) and the fact that there was a mother/daughter travelling team and I miss mom. I just want to go back to something familiar. I can't wait to get back to Antigua because I don't like feeing down. Amelia is now sick with what I was sick with, but I finished my prescription of cipro and am feeling mejor. I want to make a point to speak more spanish because I also feel like I'm not progressing as much as I would like to.

Thank you all for reading and posting. I love hearing from you and am missing you all a lot. HUGS AND LOVE, me.

okay, that was pretty depressing, sorry! it is now monday and I am back in Antigua. we got picked up by the shuttle yesterday, but there was some kind of mix-up and these old Brits were yelling at us. so we finally got the right bus and the trip back only took 2 hours! but about half way home we stopped and our driver got out and got into another car and some other guy drove us the rest of the way...it was a little weird. we went back to our house to collect our roommates and the four of us went out to dinner. we met zach in the street and he took us to a really cute restaurant. he talked to his girlfriend on AIM while we all chatted. the power went out for a few minutes and they locked us in the restaurant...but it was delicious food! we were all super exhausted last night and turned in early.

today school was fun. i studied the uses of the future tense on the roof because it was chilly down in our little hut. after the break zach, ebbe, kelly, and i played blah blah blah with our teachers. it was really funny, but we all got sunburnt. =/ kelly and i spent the afternoon walking around the market and the grocery store. i bought some tennis shoes for $14. they're pretty comfy. when i went to pick up my laundry the guy was folding it, so i helped him. it was funny. this old guy came in to ask about the prices and was like disgusted that it cost me Q.46 fpr 11.5 pounds of laundry, but that's the cheapest in town! and it amounts to less than $7, so it's not a big deal. jake and carol told me about the amazing tour they had to semuc champey (some caves by Coban). I would like to go, but my friends are all on tight budgets, so I'm hoping Rico will go with me. He was definitely a high point of the weekend as well since we were always on the same page. He's like my Guatemala brother. There are t-shirts here that say very interesting things...kelly and i saw one twice today that said in spanish "virginity causes cancer, let me vaccinate you..." honestly, who would wear that?? and a lot of people wear t-shirts that say things in english, but they don't know what they say...i would NEVER wear something if i didn't know what it meant!

i love this building. it's so colorful!

Friday night there was a party at the school. i went with zach and ebbe. we were the bartenders. i wasn't drinking because i was still sick and taking medicine, so i was the nice bartender who gave people soda without alcohol if they wanted. one girl got sloppy drunk and made the party kind of polarized (students and friends of the school didn't mix) and uncomfortable for everyone else... this is our "cell phone service" picture because we look like the bars of service on a cell phone :-p

I'm feeling much better now that I'm back in Antigua. I really like this city. And I LOVE all of you, so thanks for reading for reals, yo! ciao, me.