Panajachel, in Lago de Atitlan

Lago de Atitlan does not disappoint. (Happy Valentine's Day! I'm spending it in Guatemala this year!) A friend of mine has been traveling the world since we both taught English in South Korea back in 2005. She's visited almost every continent, and she's quite an adventurous traveler. She was in Guatemala in 2007 and told me it left quite an impression. "Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful places on Earth," she said. Coming from someone whose passport is bursting with stamps from some very beautiful and exotic places, this meant something. 

Today, I'm sitting on the beach in Panajachel, a hippie haven in the Highlands of Guatemala. It's a real tourist destination, but it doesn't feel cheesy or inauthentic. Everyone is incredibly relaxed and laidback. I wouldn't call it welcoming because I think cities that feel too welcoming feel insincere, but it feels comfortable and open. Everyone is to relaxed to be welcoming. 

I wandered through the town with my roommate, and I used my limited Spanish to bargain for some interesting textiles and trinkets for my friends and family. Handicrafts are everywhere. I've gotten change purses, scarves, woven cloths, a wraparound skirt, some beaded bracelets and a few other goodies today for about $100 US (maybe 800 Quetzales). Today I learned a quick trick to tell whether something is handmade: Smell it. Rural Guatemalans cook over an open wood fire, and handmade corn tortillas are a staple. The two leave a comforting and familiar smell in everything. (Day after I return home, I pull a sweat shirt from my still-not-unpacked suitcase and breathe deeply. That corn-and-campfire scent lingers, and I'm nostalgic.) 

Here in Panajachel, there's another smell in the mix: flowers. Lavender boulainvillea are abundant, and other flowers, whose names I admit I don't know, are everywhere, and their scent is heavy, especially in the morning and at sunset. Guatemala, my Lonely Planet guidebook tells me, boasts 550 species of orchids, 1/3 of them endemic to Guatemala. 

This country reminds me of Korea, where I spent 2005 teaching English. Guatemala, like South Korea, is a mix of old and new, prosperity and poverty, modernity and tradition.