Rain delay.
Lluvia en la tarde, nada mas;
Lluvia en la mañana, the day's a bust.
(The rhythm and rhyme's a bit strained, but I'm invoking English teacher poetic license on this little ditty...)
It's Sunday, our 3rd day in Atitlan, and as the final week of our trip this is where we tick off the last days: last Sunday (market day), last Monday, etc.
We'd planned a hike of indigenous villages, from Jailbalito to new-agey San Marcos, but the rain intervened to change our plans to loafing and reading at our week's lodging, Chalet Tony (see my pics in photostream). Dena likens our Canadian landlord to Anna Madrigal, the kindly trans-sexual in Tales of the City who takes in various strays and cast-offs at 28 Barbary Lane. There are 6 units in all (we have 2 of them), and 3 of the rooms are inhabited by full-timers, all women in their 50s who've walked away from their lives in the States to live here full-time. Divorcees, spinsters, subscribers to Cat Fanciers,...not sure what the story is, but our well-stocked bookshelf includes a "Dumb Men Joke Book" (sample: Why do men always have stupid grins on their faces? They're stupid), and I think that's The View I hear my neighbor watching via the Internet.
The comparison to Anna Madrigal is only figurative; the owner Marion is actually a big-hearted, reddish-purple haired, middle-aged woman, not a tranny, who left Canada 30 years ago to create her own quirky world here. There are flowers in her garden that seem to grow before your eyes, like you're watching time-lapse photography. The boys love picking dragonfruit and following the peacocks around the grounds (peacocks!).
The 2 apartments cost me $300 total for the week, but I get the sense that Marion takes a lot of people in for free...
Yesterday we swam in the morning on the cleaner side of the lake (still kinda murky; lots of bluegreen algae on the Pana side), did a little kayaking (better in a single, as the heavier guy in back gets pretty wet), haggled our way back to Pana on the lancha, then paid way too much for groceries at an ex-pat "gourmet" store called Pana Super ($7 for Cheerios!).
Tomorrow we head to Atitlan Nature Reserve on a tuk-tuk for spider monkeys, hanging bridges and zip lines.
Weather permitting.
Technical Note: VIEW VIDEOS AT 480p FOR BETTER RESOLUTION. These entries are all done on the iTouch, using Notes for the stories (hence the many errors and typos!) and uploading videos to YouTube and photos to Flickr directly from the Camera Roll using whatever WiFi we can find. Facebook is even easier to use with the iTouch, but the blog is more appropriate for longer entries and non-Facebookers. (My blog site is free through World Nomads, our travel insurer, but there are several, free alternatives.)
