In 2009, I started a non-profit tech startup. The company provided a cloud-based banking solution specifically designed for microfinance institutions. Our very first customer was located in Panajachel, Guatemala, with a corporate headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

Prior to this engagement, I had spent a good deal of time in Guatemala, primarily in Guatemala City, and with couple of trips to Antigua, located an hour outside of the city.

• My visits to Guatemala first started in 2006 when I assumed global responsibility for technology, as a Global CIO, for FINCA International, a global microfinance organization operating in 21 countries. The organization has microfinance operations in the country, and had a software development hub located in Guatemala City.
• FINCA opened my eyes to the world of microfinance, and afforded a view into the lives of the poor across Central & South America, East Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Afghanistan.

Compared to Guatemala City, Panajachel operated to a different beat. It is a small town, less hectic compared to the city, and exuded closeness and warmth. I found it relaxing to be there.

Panajachel is situated right by Lake Atitlan, with breath-taking views of the three volcanoes that guard the lake: Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro Volcano. It is a gateway to the small villages that surround the lake, and is a bustling small town with a lot of hotels, restuarants, pizza places, and cafes. I could not have asked for a better place to work. It is a magnet for tourists.

An English author, Aldous Huxley, compared Lake Atitlan to Italy’s Lake Como.

Walking down the main street, Calle Santander – crammed with travel agencies, handicraft hawkers, restuarants, and rowdy bars, dodging people, shoe-shine boys, and tuk-tuks all the way – is an experience.

To implement our core banking solution, I came with a team five people, including myself, and spent close to a year, all told, and successfully achieved our goal. We worked 10 hr days from Monday through Friday, and occasionally on Saturdays. I enjoyed working with the team from the microfinance orgnaization. They were easy-going, eager to learn, and I am sure some had little trepidation about the new system and what it would mean for them.

I stayed about a mile away from the office, and walked every day up and down Calle Santander. After a few weeks, I got to know the street vendors, shoe-shine boys (and they were just boys – 6 to 12yrs of age), and frequented most of the restaurants, and all of the pizza places for lunch. The lunch favorite was a small restuarant owned by Walter Garcia, called Tuscany on Calle Santander – the man is a master chef, to satisfy my vegetarian needs he came up with a special item every day, and always very good. For dinner, I ate out only on weekends, otherwise it was Trader Joe’s Indian meals that came in vaccum packs.

On Saturday mornings would visit the local open-door market which was about half-a-mile-walking distance from my apartment. The supermarket was also nearby. Also in close proximity were a number of coffee places, and I made myself at home at one nearby, a meeting hub for most English speakers. And evenings were spent nearby at a bar/restaurant called Circus-Circus.

On Sunday mornings went for long hikes around the lake, a siesta in the afternoon, and evening at Circus-Circus or at a restaurant nearby.