I’ve often heard of places referred to as a vortex – a place that draws likeminded people in and emanates a special kind of vibe that makes it hard to leave. I’ve heard it said of Santa Cruz, Amsterdam and although I’ve never been there, I hear it is also the case in Dominical, Costa Rica. Something just makes these places special.

Already on the radar of adventurous hippies, wayfaring eccentrics and hip gringos, San Pedro de la Laguna is a vortex in every sense. I knew I wanted to come here before I really knew where it was, and somehow, Che landed us here through his Internet research to find volunteer opportunities with disabled children in Guatemala. In other words, the town found us rather than us finding it.

An ancient Mayan village, San Pedro climbs up the steep incline of a volcanic mountainside from the shores of the majestic Lake Atitlan. It has been a hotspot among American and European hippies since the 60’s and 70’s, and while hip Western sentiments have molded the bar/restaurant scene on the lakefront, the local culture of the city center remains rooted in the traditions of centuries past. Men, women and children still wear the traditional hand-woven garb, women gather and talk for hours as they wash laundry on the rocks in the lake, babies spend most of their first year wrapped in fabric and strapped across their mothers’ backs, and men make a living fishing from the same type of wooden boats used by their forefathers.

San Pedro offers a window to another place in time, and a fresh perspective on the ways of the world. I have never felt farther from my capitalist ideals, and the chance to volunteer with those so less fortunate really moved me. While I felt great sadness for the misfortunes and disabilities of those like Rosalia (the woman I was assigned to), I also sensed a simple joy of life in them that was missing from my life. As Che would later say, I think we got more out of the experience than those who we volunteered to help did.

Our week-long stay in San Pedro may have been short, but it was more than sweet. This is more than a location on some random travel itinerary, it’s a place to find your focus… or loose it if that’s what you’re looking for. Go there to share good vibes with liberal-thinking Westerners (or hip gringos as Che and I prefer to call them), go there to enjoy unforgettable encounters with the warm-spirited native people, go there to learn Spanish, go there to find a little bit of peace in this crazy world… just go there.

April 20, 2006