Saturday, February 03, 2007

San Jose and Lago Peten Itza

We spent a week back in San Jose, Guatemala, living with the same family we stayed with four years ago, with a view of beautiful Lago Peten Itza from our bedroom. The lake is undergoing a lot of changes -- the waterfront in San Jose has been paved and they are constructing a waterslide, of all things, much taller than any of the buildings in San Jose. Meanwhile, further along the shore, there are still docks with thatched huts where people bathe and wash their clothes. Either way it's pretty close to paradise to be able to go swimming every afternoon at the end of January.




The food was excellent, and included making bollitos. We still haven't nailed down the exact difference between bollitos and tamales. The end result in a bollito is a little less fine and sweet, maybe, and these had fresh black beans mixed in with the dough.



The language school in San Jose, Bio-Itza, uses proceeds from the school to support a nature reserve. Getting there involves several kilometers of very muddy road. On this trip we got stuck twice and lost a taillight. It's amazing people don't fly out the back of the truck.