we spent a week in san pedro (also on lake atitlan) to study spanish.  it was nice to stay in one place for more than a few days, and we developed a little week-long routine:   wake up early // walk down to the water with tiny coffees and some banana bread that we had bought the day before from a lovely old lady // madly finish any procrastinated homework // hurry back to our ‘garden’ classroom for 8oo am (it was truly in a garden – so beautiful) // have one-on-one spanish classes all morning // take a looong fruit break with the rest of the students // struggle to stay awake through the last bit of class // chill out in the afternoon // do our spanish homework the rest of the evening (usually over pizza).

even though we only studied spanish for a week, the lessons were INCREDIBLY helpful.  i knew zero spanish coming in and left being able to more-or-less understand what other people were saying to me.  (that is, if the other person spoke slow and clear.  of course, nobody in the real world speaks as slow and clear as a language teacher.  ahh well.)

one afternoon braden and i took kayaks out on the lake, which was a surreal experience.  the water had risen over the past year, leaving many of the trees and buildings along the shoreline partially submerged.  we actually took our kayaks through a flooded restaurant!  (the yellow building)

we spent a weekend in the little town of panajachel, on (the gorgeous) lake atitlan.  it was fun to explore the packed markets, which we balanced with walking along the quiet lakefront.

it was in pana that we were also introduced to the tuk-tuk, a crazy mini taxi on three wheels that allowed us to zip around town for cheap!