Editor’s Note: The David Eccles School of Business Ambassadors traveled to Guatemala for a cultural experience during Spring Break 2016. This is a series of 12 journal entries detailing their experiences. This experience is written by Nathan Johnson & McCall Longson. 

Day 9 (March 19):

Nathan Johnson: Our third-to-last day we spent at Lake Atitlan.

Atitlan means “place of many waters,” and the lake itself covers around 265 square kilometers (about 165 square miles). The villages around the lake are home to many of the 20 different Mayan ethnic groups in Guatemala. The 12 villages are each named after an apostle from the Bible, symbolic of the number of the original apostles. We were only able to visit three: San Antonio, San Marcos and Santiago.

Santiago, in particular, was fascinating due to its part in the Spanish conquest of modern-day Guatemala. While many of the other ethnic groups allied with the Spanish, the people of Santiago did not. They defied Spanish forces for more than 14 years until they reached an agreement with the viceroy. The people of Santiago agreed to be under Spanish sovereignty, and the Spanish conceded by allowing them to worship a local Mayan deity, Mashi-mol, under Catholicism after being made a saint.

Mashi-mol was considered to be the only Mayan deity who granted victories in battle in exchange for offerings of alcohol, tobacco, and shiny articles. Mashi-mol was the emblem of the anti-Spanish resistance. This is unique to any people conquered by the Spanish, because to this day they are allowed to worship a saint that was not actually Christian.

McCall Longson: Unfortunately, the morning of our adventure to Atitlan, I woke up really sick but decided to go anyway. It was fairly miserable being sick on a boat, but I really enjoyed my time in Atitlan. This lake is amazingly beautiful and the people in the surrounding villages are so nice. It was a great experience to visit some of these little villages and learn more about their culture and entrepreneurial mindset. Besides this, I really enjoyed the beauty around and on Atitlan. There are three volcanoes that you can see from the massive lake. Everything about this place was beautiful — the villages, the water, the people and the culture.