Our Hosts By The Lake-Santiago Atitlan

We drove to Lake Atitlan while Nick and Lindsay were here. We needed to visit our partner there and it gave them an opportunity to explore another part of Guatemala.

 We stayed with a host family, the director of our partner organization.

Tortillas made by hand and cooked over a fire in the kitchen.

We ate dinner at about 7:00 that night, but the rest of the family wasn't planning on eating until at least 9 or 10 o'clock, which is much more typical for them. They are accustomed to hosting North Americans and thankfully made us dinner much earlier than they themselves eat. 

For some reason, fried chicken is very popular in this area. 

It was probably the best fried chicken I've ever had. 

(I haven't had fried chicken since my one moment of non-vegetarian craving when I was pregnant with Ellie. So, also, it's been awhile since I've had fried chicken. It was finger lickin' good.)

My girls had fun playing with the children of our hosts.

It seemed Ellie brought the girls out of their shells.

She taught them how to play "Ring Around the Rosie."

(The "dining room" is behind them.)

Most of the families in this area speak their local Mayan language. Spanish, if it's spoken, is a second language. I really like that here because it means I can understand the Spanish better. It seems to be a generational divide. These girls are learning Spanish in school. Their parents speak decent Spanish and their grandmother speaks none. 

Kids playing near the house.

This was our host mother. She is making jewelry as part of a women's co-op in the community. 

This co-op is part of the work our partner does, which I'm hoping to write more about in my next post.