And once again, there was light..

Thursday, July 27th

After having a great breakfast for cheap at a local restaurant, I once again walked the same single street that is the center of Pana`s life. At this time, the other guys were still taking classes in Xela but we had agreed that they would flee soon after classes and meet me in Pana to spend the night here.

In order for the guys to stay over, I arranged for a 4-bed room which was actually quite nice, cheap and with its own TV and private bath here in the hotel that I´ve been staying. Since I´ve pretty much done everything there is to do in Pana, there is no other choice but to read. So I finished a book and walked around bookstores looking for good finds in Spanish. I settled for El Viejo y El Mar.

Now, the guys arrive while I´m waiting at a corner reading my book. My thinking was that I must see them past and catch them before they go too far as the entrance to the hotel parking was a bit hidden. They pick me up and we all go to the hotel. Alexey at the wheel was warned well in advance about two piles of dog poop laying in the drive way. However, it seems as if he wanted it, bad! To complete the trifecta, he runs over one of the piles in the dead center stinking up the whole scene.. To be perfectly honest, it was a bit hard to avoid but there wasn´t even an attempt.

After this, I showed the guys the town rather quickly but we spend most of the time by the lake where the views are awesome! We have a beer at the lake and then go to do some interneting and have dinner. At dinner, there is the whole membership of the Guatemalan Tai Chi club. There must have been about 40 of them. After turning the lights off and putting some trance music on the speakers someone gives a speech welcoming new members. We are thinking to ourselves that if we don´t get an order soon, we will never see the face of the grilled fish. We managed to be nice to the waiter and he brings the plates right out.

After this we go out to the only place in town that seems to have a party going on. The music was of course, reggaeton which Alexey digs. There were about 3 girls and perhaps 20 guys but it was fun to hangout there. We all go to sleep and think about the drive that we´ll have tomorrow. We will attempt to cross the border into El Salvador not before stopping to see Guatemala City. Stay tuned!