Sunday, January 1, 2006

Panajachel sucks, kind of. From a tourist/traveler perspective, it has nothing to offer but souvenirs. It’s true that it's on the shore of Lago Atitlan, a beautiful lake formed by the collapse of a volcano caldera. But you can’t see the lake until you walk the long, long tourist strip or Calle Santander and fend off hordes of women and children selling scarves and such. And then you get to the edge of town and get to view the lake beyond a barrier of scrubby, garbage-littered dirt while men try to get you to take a boat somewhere.

But it’s full of gringos (hence the nickname "Gringotenango"). And while normally that would not be a particular selling point for us, when looking for a place to celebrate New Year’s Eve we thought a gringo-fabulous spot might have more to offer the familyless traveler in the way of nightlife. And we were correct.

Prices were up because of the holiday, and we're all inflamed with the idea of spending less money this time around, so we took a wretched little room at the Hospedaje San Francisco. The room did not have much to offer besides our own bathroom, or at least it was our own after we cleared out the seven or eight misguided spiders who had intended to share it with us. Whatever, we're just happy to be back in Guatemala.

We hadn't slept very well after getting off that plane, so we took a little nap right away. Well, I took a nap and Michael began what I believe is going to ruin all our good plans for working hard - Sim City. We should not have this. We should take the CD and break it into a million pieces because it's going to single-handedly stop us from seeing Latin America. Seriously, do not get this game if you ever want to see daylight again. Right, so after our nap we took a shower - icy cold from a pipe that stuck straight out of the wall, and then went out to dinner.

We had a great meal at the Uruguayan place (it's in "the book") marred only by the fact that our waitress informed us that the place was too busy for them to make any mixed drinks... and then we watched mixed drink after mixed drink come out of the kitchen. I hate stuff like that. But the food was good.

And then firecrackers. We should have known. Mexicans and Guatemalans just love them some firecrackers, for every occasion, so why should New Year's Eve be exempt? It was like a war zone. Explosions everywhere, some with pretty lights and some just with the noise. This got worse and worse (or better and better, depending on your personality) as it got closer to midnight.

There were firecracker tables set up at intervals down the street and of course Michael had to buy some and set them off even though I warned him it would be hard to take photos with just the one hand. He set them off and gathered an entourage of little kids who wanted to watch his but also needed him to light their firecrackers - they had enough Quetzales to buy a few small ones but not enough for a lighter or matches. Can I just say how cute Michael looked bending way down to light the fuses and saying, "Listo? Cuidado..." ("Ready? Be careful...") Thankfully no one lost a limb and the memory is a good one.

After that we sat in a bar and watched the kids outside lighting little wads of red paper and then ducking away for the explosions. I ordered a Cuba Libre and since there was a two-for-one special, the bartender gave me two. At once. When midnight approached, we went to Pana Arte which looked like the happening spot, and got a table on the upstairs balcony to watch the crowds. Young Guatemalans in jeans and t-shirts set off eight-foot strings of firecrackers and young foreigners in baggy woven things danced and frolicked.

The year-change moment itself was a bit anticlimactic. There was no countdown or bell ringing or any signal that it was midnight. We just had to assume when some folks started hugging that the time had come. And then the fireworks really started. There were still cars and tuk-tuks and bicycles braving the street, and they'd have to pause when someone put some kind of explosive in the middle of the street and then speed off before the next one could be placed.

The really nice thing was that there were no crazy NYE cover charges or drink packages, we just paid whatever food or drink normally costs and wore our regular clothes and felt perfectly comfortable. I'm not sure why New Year's Eve is about noise and drunkenness for so many people, rather than, say, quiet reflection of the year that has passed and the year to come, but if you want noise and drunkenness, Panajachel is one good spot for it.

We wanted to leave Pana soon, but didn't feel like getting up super early on New Year's Day, so we slept in and will decide today where we want to go next and how. But go we will, because Pana is kind of unpleasant. I'm really not sure why it's so popular.

 

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Calle Santander.

More Calle Santander.