Learning in San Pedro

This week we are in San Pedro la Laguna, a bigger town also on Lake Atitlan. Eli and I are taking classes at Cooperative Escuela de Espanol and staying with a very nice family. It´s good to have some structure after a week of wandering around. I am, again, struggling along with the subjunctive but feel like I may finally figure it out. My teacher is super interesting and involved in lots of community projects. On my first day of class we talked for a long time about recycling and environmental problems around the lake. The mayor has been taking steps recently to try and improve the water quality, including prohibiting people from removing sand from the lake (they would use the sand for construction, but the sand is needed to filter contamination in the water). He also ordered that new construction projects must leave 10 meters of public lake access in front of their building. This rule came about after local people objected that all of the beach was taken up by hotels and restaurants. Last year, a hotel wanted to build right up to the water. People were angry, and so tore down the construction. The owner rebuilt, the people tore it down, the owner rebuilt, the people tore it down....finally he got the point and left the beachfront open.

The family we are staying with is super interesting. They have hosted students almost constantly for the last 9 years. Rosa, the mother of the family, is very proud that the money they earn through hosting has let them put their kids through private school and the eldest has finished school and now is a nurse. Her husband Domingo used to work in the fields but now has a post with the municipality, on a commission to improve the city. He has big plans for the next two years of his position--to build more roads, expand access to electricity, and maybe even to build a larger market.