A night with a Mayan family.

A couple of nights ago I was lucky enough to have a homestay organised for me, and so after my arrival in Panajachel on Lake Attitlan, I was whisked off to a small village 15 minutes away by car called San Jorge, where I met my host family. Mercedes and Alejandro, their children and Alejandro's mother Nana where very welcoming. As always in these situations it was a little awkward especially as, although they speak spanish (apart from Nana), their main language is their local Mayan dialect.


They live in a typical local house, made up of lots of different building on the hillside. The main house was one big room, with a kitchen area to the right, and a big table and desk to the other side. To get to the rooms and the bathroom we had to go round the back of the house and up some stairs. It was a strange set-up but everything was very clean and well looked after, and my room was probably one of the best I have stayed in since I started travelling!

Atitlan Lake. Not my photo.

It was very interesting to talk to them, and I found out that there are 23 different dialects of Mayan in Guatemala alone, and that even from village to village the language varies drastically. The traditional clothing is also different depending on where they are from, something I had never taken the time to notice.

In the evening I helped the girls (Nuria and Miriam, 17 and 19) to cook dinner which included making home-made maize tortillas. I was not great at it but had great fun giving it a shot! The girls in the household are expected to look after the house, do the cooking and even look after the baby when was needed, and they were surprised when I told them that at home my brothers and Dad help out. They also very surprised that I was travelling alone.

After a chilly but excellent nights sleep we had breakfast, homegrown coffee and eggs with tortillas and I accompanied Merceded to the local market in Sololá. Despite the pouring rain it was very busy and the market was huge but it was super to watch her negociate the prices of  her weekly shop and to give her a hand with the baskets. Once I left, without fuss, she wrapped an extremely heavy bag of potatoes and apples into a piece of fabric, sat it on her head and carried along her way...

I had a very interesting evening with the Mercedes family and was very grateful for their welcome.

I am now slightly soggy in San Pedro, waiting for some respite form the rain which is delaying my departure by 48 hours. We have been passing the time playing pool, hanging out in some thermal pools and reading; a forced rest that isn`t all that unwelcome!

Sorry about the lack of pictures... my camera is playing up and won't let me upload!

love Soph xxx