rattlevan: Jesus Lives in San Pedro

San Pedro de la Laguna lies across Lake Atitlan from Panajachel, where we camped on the lakeshore for about a week. I made the boat trip to San Pedro twice. Once, I went alone, to hike up to the top of the San Pedro volcano. (Chuck and Lena sat it out because both had bum knees . . . or so they claimed.) The view from up there didn't suck.

A few days later, Chuck and I again boated across the lake to spend a day in San Pedro, a large part of which is like a gringo wonderland, a place where narrow alleys are lined by fancy little cafes and restaurants, where Spanish schools run the show and bored twenty-somethings complain loudly about drama within the expat set.

Gringolicious

But there's another side to San Pedro, a significant one, representing the ongoing clash between the traditional culture of the town -- fun fact: there are three separate languages, in addition to Spanish, spoken in the different villages around the lake -- and the more recent Pentecostal Christian contingent.

And the Christians of San Pedro have a message (or, ahem, several messages) for you, made possible by the very same marketing methods and painting skill also employed by phone companies and political parties:

Remember, God Loves You

Phone ad + Jesus

Smile, Jesus Loves You. (This picture kills me.)

It was really astounding. Not a wall was left un-Jesus-ed. And in contrast, in Panajachel the following day, we witnessed the annual movement of the town's idol down the streets. The guys carrying the idol went at a run, taking the thing around to various homes and businesses. They were accompanied by drumming, fireworks, and shouting. At one point, I saw an old woman running barefoot after the idol, shrieking with laughter. The whole thing looked like a blast.

Before we left San Pedro to head back to the rattlevan, Chuck finally picked a side in the political fight.