This is Erik again. We arrived at our new apartment a couple of days ago, and all of us really like it. Everyone speaks English, throughout the 6 rooms of tenants, and the yard is an oasis. Peacocks roam the grounds, and so many fruits are edible that you climb trees to eat. During our tour of the yard, we saw papayas, bananas, a vitamin c fruit, grapefruit, dragonfruit (pytaya), mandarins and loads of herbs. But the most interesting part of the yard is the peacocks. They roam everywhere and are extremely beautiful. She once had a toucan caged up too, but she told us of the sad story where a tenant accidentally let it out of it's cage and it got away. Another plus of this place is it's toilet situation. Toilet paper can be flushed down the toilet rather than being put in the trash can. You will realize how important this is when you come to guatemala. The wifi is good too. At our homestay they had wifi but wouldn't let us use it for some reason. Anyways, its a great place to hang out in the hammocks and lounge out with the 2 great dogs she has. That is when it is not raining. They big thing you have to keep in mind about Panajachel or Guatemala in general is the rain. Especially in the winter here it rains torrentially. The mornings are when you should do all your activities, for that is when it is nice out and actually sunny. But every day that we have been here after 1 or 2 it starts pouring. For example, we went out for lunch at this pizza place one afternoon and it was overcast but not raining. When we were ready to go the street was flooded and no matter how hard we tried to stay dry we couldn't help being soaked. What I'm trying to say is that when you come to guatemala be prepared to have your plans ruined in the afternoons. And to bring 2 or 3 changes of clothes a day if you plan on doing outdoorsy activities.
