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Hey so been a while since my last blog and ive been here in San Pedro for a week already. We left Antigua early last sunday morning and got a chicken bus to Panajachel. It took about 3 hours. an hour into the journey my rucksack was taken and put on the roof and the way we were swinging round the bends and breaking really harshly, i thought itd be a miracle if my bag arrived. and it did. the bars held it in amazingly. so we got a boat over to san pedro la laguna and walked to a few hostels. chose one called Zoola. its israeli run and we got a discount cus we were staying a week. The israelis who run it arent very friendly but the actual hostel is really nice. me and kerry got a private room with a double bed each. the hostel has a nice resturant and good israeli inspired seating on the floor with cushions, and the hostel has a pool which has reopened today after theyve built a temporary roof over it for the rain. so yeah nice hostel.
We wandered round and looked at a few spanish schools, and chose san pedro. also managed to get a discount. so all good.
San pedro itself is quite touristy. there are 2 docks going to diffrerent towns around the lake and boats are cheap and often. bars and resturants line the streets and its a lovely feel to this place. i can see why people come here and dont leave. there are a lot of gringos that have never felt the urge to move on.
My spanish teacher here is called Fransisco. Hes young and he lives here in san pedro. His favourite place is the 'English pub' called Pub Alegre. it does have an english menu as well as the typical stuff for here but the kitchen doesnt look that great so we skipped that! We did try to get a sunday roast last weekend but aparently you need to reserve on friday or sat and being as we didnt arrive til sunday it was impossible.
Monday spanish was hard work. i realised how little i had learnt in conversational spanish. in antigua glendy insisted on only teaching me the verbs and conjugating them. but the whole week i have improved and learnt so much. i did have to tell him off for talking too much english to me too! so now i dont get any english unless i ask!
In the afternoon on monday i went to help out at the local free school for the kids here. in the floods last year their school got washed away so theyve had to restart. our school is a big supporter and a percentage of our money goes to the school ninos de lago. so we went and i helped winston teach english to 3 kids. it was amusing.
We found a restuarant called D'Noz which is right on the Pana dock overlooking the lake. we have hot chocolate and rum everyday now and go there for our eveningmeal. the food is cooked by local lads. theres 4 of them and theyre about my age if not younger and theyre so talented chefs. the food is incredible and so cheap too. havent had a bad meal yet and doubt we will ever. they do good steaks, good fish, everything.
Wednesday afternoon me and kerry took a tuktuk to a neighbouring town called San Juan. It dropped us off outside a resturantwhich was awful. we shared a pizza but it had cat, dog and human hairs on it. too much to stomach i had to leave! worst meal ive ever had. i even told the girl that it was bad and why, it wasnt just the one hair it was one after the other! San Juan is a quiet mayan village with a small supermarket and a few local shops but thats all thats there. very quiet so we left after a couple hours.
Thursday my friend from antigua came to visit for a couple days so went for a drink with him. me and kerry treated ourselves in dnoz that night and went for the grilled pepper steak with roasted vegetables and we got a free desert each. banana crepe and chocolate cake of which i ate most and didnt leave anything. my apetite is ridiculous here. i eat so much.
Friday after class we took the ferry to Santiago. we got there quite late in the day so disnt really see much cus the market was winding down. wasnt much to do there. came back on the last boat at 5pm.
Saturday we took a local boat across the lake to the town of San Marcos. its a hippie alternative town with massage, hollistic thereapies and all that kinda stuff. healing reiki, kinesiolgoy, tarot. but there is a nice area with rocks to sit on. i found a rock on the lake and sunbathed and went into the lake. the current was strong and the water cold but it was nice.
i have decided to stay here another week and do spanish at the same school with Fransisco again then next saturday we are getting the chicken bus to Xela which is about 4-5 hours away and then gona chill out for a few days then head to the south coast for a couple weeks and do yet more spanish. my aim is to be fluent and use it all whilst travelling cus i will get a job here in a few months time and will need spanish. also its the best place to learn it!
Hope all is well at home
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