San Pedro - The Arrival

We’ve arrived in San Pedro, and though we didn’t think it was possible, the bathroom/shower situation has gotten worse. The whole flooding thing might be preferable to this. I’m talkin’ no toilet seats, vile-looking showers, and shower heads that electrocute you if you touch them (the previous shower also electrocuted me, but at least I was being electrocuted in slightly nicer surroundings). Oh, and one shower for over 20 girls, unless someone wants to brave the shower closer to the street, which has a window so people can watch you shower. That one’s really for the exhibitionists. Of course, we are only paying about $2 a night to stay here, so we can’t really expect luxuries like toilet seats.

We managed to get here without being ambushed or raped despite frequent (mostly) unnecessary stops, so that’s a plus. My bus driver hit a dog and it was absolutely horrifying and depressing and terrible and I did my best to avoid thinking about it. R.I.P., Guatemalan dog. It took three buses to get our group and all our luggage here, and the buses kept losing track of each other. Since my bus was the leader, we got to stop for some roadside food while waiting for the other buses to catch up. We had stuffed peppers, rice, beans, and tortillas for about a dollar, and it was absolutely delicious. I’m just hoping it doesn’t make me sick, because the place was pretty sketch. It was the Guatemalan equivalent of the American’s dingy roadside diner. The kids there were cute, though. They liked my blue headphones. I just wish I could say a bit more than “muchos gracias” to them. After food and a pointless bathroom stop five minutes outside of San Pedro, we travelled down a winding mountain road with lots of sharp turns and a view of nighttime Lake Atitlan and arrived here, where the smell of pot is wafting through the air. We have arrived at the final resting place of hippies from all over the world.

Seeing as how we arrived at night and it’s difficult to really see what’s around us beyond our rooms and the bathrooms, I’m hoping the conditions will improve in daylight. I’m pretty sure I saw the outlines of gigantic mountains all around here, so that should be awesome to wake up to. Most of the people are out getting dinner right now, so I have the room to myself for a bit. My stuffed pepper and rice were quite enough for tonight - I’m not sure my stomach could handle much more.

I just realized I can’t leave the room because the door locks automatically and I don’t have the key. You know, Guatemala is a lot like John Jay dorms.