I learned here that the celebration of Easter lasts a whole week and is used by most to travel with family. There are a variety of parades passing through the city, depicting parts of the Easter Story throughout the week, but I was only able to catch one on Friday. People carried a giant statue of Jesus being carried to the grave, complete with a marching band following closely behind. In some smaller towns they have their own traditions such as running through town looking for Judas and then eventually hanging an effigy of him. It one form or another people spend the week re-telling the story Jesus from Palm Sunday, to Resurrection Sunday.
I was able to spend the weekend in Panajachel with a friend. It is on Lake Atitlan which is a gorgeous lake surrounded by 3 volcanoes about 2 hours away from Xela. It was very crowded with concerts, party boats and parties being hosted by beer companies. Probably the closest I will ever get to spring break in Mexico :) There were so many types of handicrafts being sold. The main drag was a giant outdoor market, with restaurants and coffee shops scattered in between. The lake is surrounded by lots of little towns with water taxi's carrying people between them. I know some towns are smaller and more isolated and other are lager and more touristy, but the lake view is hard to beat from wherever you are.
I have finished my Spanish classes in the morning and will now have some free time before our afternoon tutoring with the kids. Some of the time hopefully will be spent getting more physical activity, something that I have been craving, either at a gym, class or outdoors. I will also be able to dedicate my time fully to team and ministry things. Some of that will be team activities/meetings in the morning and some of it is still to be determined. I'm excited to see what this new mini-chapter will look like as I continue to immerse myself in my new surroundings.