Santa Cruz La Laguna

This was a weekend unlike any other.  For starters, I had to work on Saturday.  What is that all about?  The podiatry surgery team arrived this past week, and Saturday was the day they had designated for screening and planning the operations for all of their patients.  It was actually a lot of fun for me because only one of their doctors speaks Spanish, so I did all of the patient intakes and interpreted for the physicians during the interview and physical exam.

There is another side to the coin, though, and that is that our clinic on Saturday did not end until 6:30pm.  It was far too late for me to safely meet up with my friends that night in Santa Cruz, so I woke up early this morning in hopes of getting there and meeting them at their hostel.  My journey went a little bit like this:

(6:30) I leave my hotel to go to the San Lucas market, where I wait for a pickup to Santiago.  After arriving at the Santiago market, I walk to the dock and wait for the next lancha to Panajachel.  When I get to Pana, I walk to the dock on the other side of town to take a lancha to Santa Cruz.  I finally arrive in Santa Cruz.  (9:30)

All in all, the trip lasted a ridiculous three hours.  THREE HOURS!  How could it possibly take so long?

At least I finally got to meet up with all of my friends, and we spent the morning eating, laughing about their antics the night before, and taking another kayaking trip.  We were out on the water a lot later this time than the last, though, and the water was a lot choppier.  What didn't change was the fact that the lake is still the most beautiful place ever.  I braved taking my camera out in the water today, and for good reason!

After our kayaking adventure, we took a lancha back to Pana, where we had a big group lunch together.  A few of us said our final farewells, since Emi, Evan, and Kate are headed back to the States at the end of this week.  Then, randomly, I ran into the group of surgeons on the streets of Pana and was able to catch a ride home on their minivan.  Free rides are always appreciated!

Now I'm back in San Lucas, and it's time for me to hit the hay early in preparation for a long week of interpreting.  Wish me luck, folks!