Living in and around San Pedro

Happy Pesach!

I am finally back in my tent living right on the lake! I have been bouncing around hostels and staying in interesting places, but I am always happiest in a tent. The place where I am now is still under construction, they are putting up TeePees for people to stay in. The kitchen and bathrooms are working so I have what I need.

For the holiday of Passover I attended the traditional meal at an Israeli restaurant... there were very few of us non Israelis there, two of us bringing friends who had never been to a seder before (Hi Gretchen!), to share the experience.

Of course I was the first person who had to read the haggadah (book) and I struggled through a huge paragraph! It was fun... the place was like a giant tent you would expect to find desert wanderers living in... long and not wide with low tables all around the outside...and no walls... Talk about reclining, we were all on the floor leaning on cushions! No one outreclined us this year!

The lack of one big table was a little unfortunate, as everyone was in little groups.... Pages were read, Questions were asked, (4 of which I was sure I had heard sometime before), Songs were sung (some with more enthusiasm then others) some with tunes I knew and some knew ones, and we had all the trimmings. The food was delish, and I have had enough matzah for another year!

San Pedro is one town on the lake and I visited another, San Marco for a couple days. I had a cute little cabin near some friends. The cabin was less crooked in reality....

The place also had a temascal... a kind of sweat lodge, a small room with a backwards woodburning stove, so you feed the fire from outside and oor wateron the part that is iside for the steam.... and a working chimney... something the last one was missing. To get in (entrado) you crawl through a litlle munchkin door and are immediately reminded of the great jedi master Yoda and his home on Degobah (if you dont know what I am talking about run to your local blockbuster and ask for movies by George the Wise)

The hole town is a center for yoga, meditation, aromatherapy and other interesting self growth heal the planet, hug a tree nuke the whales type stuff. I went to one yoga class in a giant pyramid and had lots of yummy food. I found a bookstore with tons of english books, many of wich interesting, but i have more than I can read already....

Here's the tipical view from most restaurants around the lake! This one also had a garden to grow some of their own food... Sidewalks here are something else! This one just has a gap in it 30cm wide and the same deep! Good to see it in the day before walking there at night!

After that town it was back to San Pedro (15 minutes on a boat that rollecoaster enthusiasts would have sold their souls for...or maybe just a foot...it wasnt that bad) for the above-mentioned binge into Judaism...followed by an early morning kayak ride on the lake as the sun said Buenos Dias..... and a dip... Its nice to get into the lake before people start coming to wash their clothes in it... there are many quite contradictory theories as the the cleanlines of the lake.... the one thing I have not yet heard is a story of some giant creature that lives in it and eats fishermen.... but my ears are open....

Here are some daytime photos of the Israeli restaurant... theyhave a good menu and an interesting concept... The place smells a little like Otto's jacket, but it is San Pedro! They also have curious signs! The girl in the picture is Chen who helped me remeber lots of Hebrew on the hike here...

Last night the Canadiens swamped the Bruins! Yipee! No way to see or even hear the game... cjad.com wasn't working for me here! But a phone call to Mr. Lester filled me in to the good news! There is a chance to get the next round though, as the owner of a british pub (I had chips yesterday) said he knows a guy who can play with the cable given the right amount of time! (and maybe quetzals...guatemalan money)


Go habs Go!