Life in San Pedro

I have now completed two days of study at the San Pedro School. My teacher this week is a young man named Lucas. He is laid back and pretty fun. He makes fun of my mispronunciations and I laugh at his English snafus. Together we make a decent pair. During the last two days we have reviewed the preterite tense and learned the imperfect tense. Once you learn the imperfect tense you have to wonder why you spent so much time and energy struggling with the preterite!
I have told Lucas that conversation is one of my weak points. Thus, we spent quite a bit of time simply talking. The schoolhas a daily Conversation Club that meets from 5:15 - 6:00 each afternoon. I was a bit surprised when Lucas directed me to the Intermediate group as I had doubts about my abilities. Lo and behold,I fit into that group quite nicely.
Enough school talk .... I may have mentioned in a previous entry that I opted to stay in a hotel this week rather than utilize the homestay option. What a good decision on my part! One of my classmates who is in a homestay has noted that his family's first language is a Mayan dialect. While they can speak Spanish, they do not choose to do so often. Another student spoke of cold showers, a situation I encountered in Xela. My hotel, Sa'Kari, has virtually unlimited hot water, one of the most beautiful views in San Pedro, a sauna, and kayaks for use. Better yet, the women renting on either side of me are also Spanish students and we have ample time to practice.
Because I study from 1:00 to 5:00, my mornings are free for other activities. This morning, I took the 7:00am boat to Panajachel -approx 20 minutes away - to explore. I