I can´t believe it´s been over a week since my last entry. I kept meaning to write, but this is the first time I´ve sat down at an actual computer and so much has happened that typing from my iphone would have been painful. It seemed that everytime I wanted to head to an internet shop hay mucha lluvia (it was raining a lot - a common expression here in Antigua during the rainy season) and I didn´t want to go outside. You´re probably asking yourself, "Isn´t she from Portland?", but trust me on this one, it´s not the same here. I literally understand the expression, when it rains it pours, because in Antigua, it really does.
Anyhow, enough of that. I´ve settled in quite well and am really enjoying myself now. School is going really well and I think my spanish is coming along. It still takes a lot of effort to speak, but I get by and I´m understanding more and more each day. In fact, at lunch, Alice and Guillermo were just saying how I hablo bastante español y entiendo mucho. Translation: I speak enough spanish and understand a lot. They say I´m well on my way to earning my spanish diploma. They´re joking of course because there´s no diploma to be had, but it´s nice to hear since I have no idea how my spanish actually comes across.
I´ve been participating in some afternoon activities with the school. Last Tuesday, I took a salsa class. I really like to salsa and would go again today if it wasn´t for the arrogant instructor that was kind of jerk and who I think was making fun of me to my face, but was speaking so fast that I couldn´t understand him. Unfortunate, because I love latin dance. Don´t get me wrong, I can laugh at myself with the best of them, it just didn´t feel all that great in this circumstance. Don´t fear, I didn´t let it get me down and have plenty of other things to keep my busy....
Last week, I toured La Casa Santo Domingo, a beatiful old monastery turned nicest hotel and museum in Antigua, I got dressed up in traditional Guatemalan dress and got married, had a baby and took a weekend trip to one of the most interesting places in Guatemala, the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal.
The last few things in that list deserve a little more explanation....
I didn´t really get married and have a baby. The school had an afternoon trip to an idigenous village named San Antonio Aguas Calientes, just outside of Antigua. There, me and three other students visited the cooperative home of four idigenous families that are working to preserve traditional Mayan customs, crafts, dress and way of life. A few Mayan women explained how they weave the beautiful crafts they make and then dressed us up and took us through a typical wedding celebration. They were then quick to strap a baby to my back quickly after the wedding which, I think is a pretty accurate picture of how it works. I don´t say that to judge, only to reflect a cultural difference. Mayans typically marry between the ages of 18 and 20 (used to be 15) and often times have many children. After the celebration, we made tortillas, ate Pepián (a traditional guatamalteco stew) - delicioso - and ground coffee by hand. It was really interesting and a nice difference from the touristy streets of Antigua.
The more I think about it, the trip to Tikal deserves it´s own separate entry so I think I´ll save that for a little later.
This week I´m not doing as many activities with the school and am working on building some courage to venture out on my own in a little less structured way. I was talking with a guy and his 16-year-old daughter who have been travelling Mexico and Guatemala for the past three weeks and I think they´ve convinced me to be a litttle more adventurous. I´m thinking I´ll take a spin on the chicken buses, correction - transporto publico :)
Hasta próxima...
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