Day 6

Today we enjoyed our last breakfast at Hotel El Centro in Xela.  We had pancakes, oatmeal (avena) and fruit (papaya and melon).  Afterwards, we had a chance to say goodbye to Rosita, the coordinator from The Institute of Tulan.  We then packed our bags into the van and headed on a 2 hour ride to the Mayan Ruins called Ruinas de Iximche.  There we met our tour guide, Alexis, who lead us on a detailed tour explaining the history and significance of all of the structures.  We saw the temples for the sun and moon, as well as their water collection technique via aqueducts.  We also had a chance to see where the current Mayans continue to worship their gods, and were able to take some great group pictures. 

 
While we were heading back to the temples for photos a group of students from a university in Guatemala City stopped us to ask questions. They were doing a project for their tourism major and needed to interview foreigners on their views of the ruins. For lunch we headed to Chichoy, a restaurant located a few miles from the ruins. Here we had the chance to try conejo (rabbit) and yes it tastes like chicken. There was also a small shop where we were able to buy a few gifts.  
 

 Our trip down to San Lucas was long and curvy along poorly maintained roads. We arrived in San Lucas a few hours before dinner and said our final goodbyes to Archie and Carlos, our translator and driver. The hotel we are staying at in San Lucas is beautiful. We settled into our rooms then went on a walk around the town. 

We were able to visit Lake Atitlan where Dr. Rust was able to buy a baja sweater. For dinner we met with the San Lucas Mission. We had chance to meet other groups working with the Mission, and we had a brief orientation explaining the basic responsibilities and plan for the week. Tomorrow we will be beginning our work with the Mission.

-Alfonso and Tyler