Ixcan (Playa Grande)

The last night at the lake Lucie who I had met at El Retiro showed up...shes form France and I was able to practice lots af french along with my spanish for the next week! Although when i get home I hope i wont be mocked for having a bit of a France accent! That would be funny as normally I am just mocked for my english/french accent! Anyways she had spent a night before coming to the lake in a town called Playa Grande and said that the owners of her hotel were coming to the lake the next day. The lake is a popular place for locals to come on day trips, and expecially during national holidays which luckily it wasnt one at the time!

When the famliy arrived and made lunch I did not know it but my next week was set in stone. They had invited Lucie to join them for lunch and then me as well. A situation that i had been dreading for 3 months finally occured....I was offered a home made meal consisting of among some other things a hunk of beef! It was not easy to say no but obviously I had too..... (I guess had too is a little strong but so are my convictions about consuming animals) They were understanding and there was still other food to eat including a tomale...more on them later! The cook was the grandmother....a most incredible woman, and the family included parents, 5 kids, and 2 grandparents as well as 2 other people staying at the hotel who work in the town. Through my broken spanish we talked some, and luckily Lucie can speak quite well.

As it was too late in the day to make it to Flores, where I am now, I asked if they had room to give me a ride back to their town where I would stay the night and head out the next day. They said no problem and it was settled. That afternoon we all piled into the back of the pickup, (the grandparents made the 4km hike out no problem) just sitting on the lip...or hovering a few centimeters above it as the roads were none to smooth....I couldnt believe i managed to stay on! If i hadnt this post would be a lot shorter!

Lucie and I got a room at their hotel, one of the nicest I have had in a long time....for Q125 (divide by 7.5 for $) we got two single beds, with floorspace...A FAN!!!!!!! cable tv and a private bathroom! and 3 huge windows!!! quite often windows are not part of hotel rooms here! The only downside was that the bathroom walls were none too thick, which proved quite unfortunate for Lucie's ears, but more on that later....

That night was the opening night of the town fair....a week long festival that occurs annually.... The family invited us to join them and off we went.... Right away I found myself on a crazy ferris wheel with their son David.... We were a yelling and a scremaing and a swinging and a swaying for a long time! I must say that while some carnival rides at home may make you alittle nervous, its the ones that make you alot nervous that get sold to guatemala! But that is just another way of making things more exciting I guess!

A little backgound on the town is that Katie had told me she was avoiding it because one of her friends, an Aussi tough guy had said the place was dangerous, and when a 'tough guy' says something like that people genearally listen...but the family was sweet and I had a safe place to stay and it was only for one night so off I went!

At the fair we went into a tent to grab a bit to eat, Lucie facing out and i was facing the tent wall a couple meters away. Inside the tent was ridiculously loud music so you always had to scream...it seems the whole city is inlove with ridiculously loud music and we sometimes had to scream in the hotel room.

So while we are eating tons of people rushed somewhere and as a joke (because i heard it was a dangerous place) I said maybe it was a fight.... sure enough 5 minutes later a security type person is holding a guy with his arm twisted behind his back and a crowd is gathered around them just outside the tent we are eating in...(the tent is huge by the way, not a pop tent but one with 2 food stands and 40 tables) anywho, eventually the security guy sits the guy he is holding down just behind lucie, with his head resting on the back of a table that is agianst the wall. then everyone seems to leave. 2 minutes later this guy walks up to him and i thought he would talk or something but instead he gives him a roundhouse kick to the head that would have made chuck norris jealous....It was insane, and right infront of me, one of the scariest things i have ever seen, just walked right up and kicked this guy in the head, and not an amateur kick either...the guy was knocked right out! and that seemd to settle everything!

So I started to think that maybe Katie was right about this town.... just the sound of this guys head being kicked would turn any stomach.... also there were many peple carrying guns....but not carrying badges like gun carrying people do at home! That was enough for that night for me...after winning some tupperwear at a game we went back to the hotel!

The next day there was a parade that passed by outside and we had a great view from the roof, while i am not really a horse person I think the horses that passed by must have been some of the most beautiful in the world.... not sure if this picture does them justice though

Here is the fair in the daylight, this is a typical eatery there....

Gallo (the 'll' are pronouced like a 'y') is the Labatt of Guatemala, unfortunately I find it doesnt taste much better, although the hot weather helps....
It was so hot I felt I needed a hat, but I didnt end up buying one. This pic was my creative idea to see how I looked in the hat as there was no mirror....(there was one I just didnt see it right away!)
Here is a game where you throw quetzal coins onto plates floating in a pool and if it lands you get a 3 litre bottle of cola!

And here is a dude who was singing in the town square, he had a great song about all the departments (states) of Guatemala, but then turned to Jesus for every other song, like most of the music in the town.... Maybe all this Jesus music is why I am going around in a thick beard and sandals...Just cant help myself....soon I will be doing hail marys!!! hahaha Just kidding, but there are a bunch of churches that have live music what seems like all day every day, starting at 7:30am!!!! there was one right behind the hotel and it jsut never stopped, and the speakers are just fuzzy enough that it is between music and static but blaring! I dont know how to describe this most unusual type of church music, it is something that must be experienced but not recommended for those who want to keep their ear drums functioning!


More on Ixcan Later....time for breakfast....I have found a great internet connection to take advantage of as I am taking a resting day before going on a 5 day hike tomorrow!