Culture Shock grilled to perfection

Lake Atitlan is the largest and deepest lake in Guatemala, the water has risen quite a bit in the last few years so many of the building that were built on the shore are now underwater.  Though we drove into San Pedro you can also arrive by boat, there are two docks one that goes to Panajachel and the other that goes to Santiago.  The “Pana” dock is the bar zone, the Santiago Dock is on the more relaxed “good side” of town.  Between the two and up a steep climbing street is “El Centro” which holds the Mercado and Catholic Church.  Zigzagging between these three points are tiny cobbled stone streets lined with houses, shops and restaurants.

The population of the town is divided between the points as well.  El Centro is where most of the local’s live, the women all wear the most beautiful weaved skirts and frilly tops and the old men wear traditional outfits of weaved pants, a sash (sometimes it resembles a skirt), a weaved shirt and a cowboy hat and machete, they are a hodgepodge of colors and patterns, while the younger men have opted for western style clothing of jeans and golf shirts.

 

 

 

 The area south of the Santiago dock is a mixture of local’s homes and weekend vacation houses.  The further you get out of town the nicer the houses get, most are owned (or rented) by Foreign Expats and people who live in the capital and have the houses for vacations.  The area is also sprinkled with Agricultural plots and the smaller concrete block (or wood) houses with corrugated tin roofs, and no running water of the locals in the area.

Between the two docks is a small cobbled stone street (known as the Gringo path) that is lined with bars, language schools, mini markets, message studios, and restaurants selling everything from Pho to Irish Breakfasts with at least three Italian restaurants thrown in for good measure.

Walking down this path you can see the various “Gringo” groups that occupy San Pedro, the hippies (barefoot and sporting dreadlocks often selling homemade jewelry on the side of the path), the students (either those here to really learn Spanish or those here to party and go to school on the side) and the Ex-Pats those who came here for a week 7 years ago and stayed. 

During our first week in San Pedro we ate Lasagna and Gnocchi, Buffalo Chicken Wings, and found some fairly decent Curry and Kung Pao chicken, along with exploring the Mercado and barbequing at our house, fixing chili mac and even Chicken Picatta.  Still I don’t think that we were quite prepared for Smoking Joe’s Sunday BBQ.

We had seen signs advertising a BBQ that took place every Sunday at noon at a bar by the Santiago Dock, and the idea of a real BBQ with ribs and steak had us both excited.  We could smell the food a block away and saw the little bar “The Deep End” to the left of the dock, when we walked in it was like walking out of Guatemala and right back into the US. To begin with I don’t think that anyone who was there was a native Guatemalan, and I am fairly certain that most spoke limited Spanish (if any at all), and then there was the food, heaps and heaps of “Good Ole American BBQ” with sides like potato salad, Cole slaw, Mac and Cheese, Corn on the Cob and green beans.  The meat was to die for Beef and Pork Ribs, Chicken, Beef Tenderloin and the biggest hamburgers I have seen ever.  We also met some great people who were students with Fritz at the Spanish School Dan and Brigid a couple backpacking for two years through the Americans and Jeff from Arizona learning Spanish so he can move to Honduras and become a dive master.  Between the Bloody Mary’s, Gallo Beers and 5 Quetzal tequila shots the afternoon passed quite enjoyably.