Today, I climbed a Volcano!!

On the edge of Lago Atitlan is the small town of San Pedro, which sits at the base of the now extinct Vulcan San Pedro. The day began at 6AM with a cup of coffee and a short tuk-tuk ride to the trail head at the base of the volcano where our hike would begin. Our guide was a man in his mid 50s named Luis. He is a kind and knowledgable man who set a pace that was hard for 3 thirty-something's to follow, it was quite impressive that a man at his age could move so quickly up this steep and slippery trail. As our hike continued we learned that much of the land surrounding the volcano was public land on which locals grew all sorts of crops from corn to coffee to avocados. Fences were in the form of non-food bearing plants that were planted in nice rose to clearly delineate the plots. Luis, feeling bad agreed to slow the pace, but warned that we must not slow too much or else we risk getting caught in the afternoon rain. As we continued we learned more about the indigenous people of the lake region. Language and alcohol were mentioned as two pervasive problems in the Mayan community. Young people were just know beginning to learn Spanish in school and this is considered essential for these kids to participate in the broader economy outside of the villages. Luis also lamented the abuse of alcohol within the indigenous community. I couldn't help but think of the parallels between this and the native communities in North America. Luis told us that he was born in San Pedro and had never been outside of the town once in his entire life. I could hardly believe it. On our way back to town following our hike we met a woman who ran a tienda and she told us that she had been to the capital city one time in her life but had also not left the town. She said that it was far too expensive to travel outside of town. It made me wonder about the many travelers / tourists that had made their way to San Pedro over the years from all over the world and how their interactions were shaping the perspectives of countless villagers throughout central America. We're we being good ambassadors for the places that we came from, or were we only being condescending, demanding party tourists that treated the locals as lessor people. The answer is mixed