Maximom, the evil saint

Trip Start Aug 01, 2007
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Trip End Sep 16, 2007


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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Last night I was reading in the hammock outside my room when I noticed a guy in a hat speaking with a British accent to the manager of the hotel I was staying in. The guy was trying to get a room at where I was staying, Hotel Maria Elena. However, there were no rooms available and he was told to try the hotel across the street. The guy looked and sounded familiar, but i couldnīt see his whole face. So I followed him across the street, until I could see his face, because I was convinced that I knew him from somewhere. Soon enough he turns around and I do know him. It is British Paul. He was in the 5 person dorm room that I was in last Saturday night at Yellow House. The room was a little bit more than what he had hoped to pay for. I explained to him that I had two full beds in my room and that if he wanted he could take the other bed. We were able to negotiate with the manager a better rate and we each ended up saving a bit on the hotel room. He was happy he had a place to stay and I was happy that I was paying less.

After a gruelling morning of irregular past tense verbs, I was happy to be done at lunchtime. After lunch I convienced Paul and August (a fellow student at San Pedro Spanish School) to take a boat with me to Santiago, a town on the southwest corner of the lake. It was raining earlier this morning, probably an effect from the hurrican closer to the eastern coast. It looked like the rain had stopped for a bit so we caught a boat to Santiago, only to be downpoured on halfway across the lake.

We got to Santiago and were immediately bombored by people asking if we wanted to see Maximon, the evil saint. We paid a little more to take us to see Maximon. We naviagted the flooded streets and steady rain until we got to somebodies house where his effigy is. Maximon is dressed in a felt hat with Western clothes and is revered by traditionalist. The exact orgion of the saint is unknown, but he is also referred to as San Simon. Maximon plays an important role during the Easter celebrations and there is a full week of events surrounding him.

We saw Maximom, paid a little and then went along our merry way. The three of us explored the city a bit and talked with few curious children. When it started to rain harder we ducked into a lovely cafe and munched on maccadamion nut brownies, the guys had coffee and I had water. An hour later we made our way to the dock and caught the last boat back to San Pedro.

It was really nice to see the bright purple bloues that the woman of Santiago wore. It wasnt as much of a tourist town as Panajachel and was nice to spend an afternoon there.
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