san pedro la laguna

12-01-20

The last time I was here was 8 years ago. Driving in on the shuttle bus, I start to remember old landmarks. I am sitting next to an American woman who tells me there are 13,000 people living here now. Bigger than I remembered. She has been living here for 4 1/2 years. She is 76 and looks much younger. She lives on her social security pension, she says, and is involved in different local NGO projects. Beside the American is a young Chinese man who has been travelling through North America for the past 7 months. I am impressed that he took a train to Churchill Falls, Manitoba to see polar bears. He saw 6. The American sitting behind him looks either Japanese or Guatemalan. He is living part of the year in a village nearby. He and his wife work with an NGO supplying and fitting hearing aids.

It is dark when we finally get to San Pedro. The tuk tuk drivers crowd around. I get in with the American woman and she drops me off at my hotel.

I am here to visit a woman I met here 8 years ago. She is a massage therapist and has her studio at my hotel. I drop off my things and we go for supper. The temperature has dropped from hot to cold. The restaurant we choose is an outdoor garden café. We are somewhat chilled when we get up to go.

The dueña has given me a ¨very quiet¨ room. Nonetheless, it is Friday night and there is a party on the roof across the way. Earplugs are required and sleep comes easily.