Porque tu te lo mereces – El lago Atitlan y Chichicastenango

We entered a dark room, on the left, 3 old Mayan women filled with wrinkles were sitting on the floor with 3 candles lit next to them; they were motionless. They were staring at the statue of Maximon, the head of the Mayan Gods who had a cigar in his mouth. On the right, two men were covering a statue of Jesus with a white bed sheet, as though covering a corpse. We, five of us, were discussing at the entrance for more than 5 minutes, how to break 10 Quetzales into change, so that we can each make an offering to this Mayan God. Lost in translation and oblivious to the sanctity of the temple, we probably disrespected Maximon.

The lake of Atitlan is beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and little villages on its shores. As I sat on the boat, I kept admiring the deep blue of the lake, and the dance of the clouds with the mountain summits. Of late, I like to admire blue skies with few clouds dancing in open space. The names of the villages are as charming as they are – Panajachel, San Marcos, San Juan and Santiago. The walls of San Juan are filled with paintings; there, I helped a boy fly a kite.

The next day, in Chichicastenango we got lost within a swarm of people at the massive Sunday market.

In Panajachel, as I stirred the Caipairinha, I noticed that in my stirrer were written the words “porque tu te lo mereces” – because you deserve it.

If I deserve such experiences in my life, I’ll gladly accept them with gratitude and try to accept them with humility.