I've been really wearing out this week, but I realize I haven't posted any goings-on for several days, so I thought I would try and get something up.
I think I'm having a low energy week and this place takes quite a bit of energy to deal with the language and walking around (see rant on cobblestones earlier) and just being out of your comfort zone.
The food has been awesome. E has had some problems with his digestion but I seem to be perking along in that department just fine. We've found a restaurant that serves excellent local food very near the school and have been there twice. It's called Taquiza and it's kind of a mom's home cooking kinda place and Mom runs a tight ship. The bathrooms are srupulously clean and she has all these rules posted about when she will and won't serve beer and who she will serve it to. For instance, no beer after 11pm and no beer if you are in a school uniform.
The 1st time we went I had a marvelous veggie dish of chopped green beans and carrots with crispy pieces of tortilla in a really, really tasty green sauce with a bit of white cheese sprinkled over it. The next time I had basically the same dish, except instead of the veggies, it had chicken in it. We're probably gonna hit that place once or twice a week while I'm here.
Last night we went Peruvian and I had a rice and black bean cake stuffed with shrimp and more shrimp and sauce poured over it. E and I then split a chocolate thing that was incredible.
One thing that E and I have both commented on and like is the fact that you get reasonable portions served and not enough food to feed a family of six. You can have a meal and not be so stuffed you can't move or feel miserable.
More on food later, I'm sure.
The rainy season started Sunday. That means that the day starts out lovely and sometime in the afternoon it starts to pour down rain. It pours for a while, then it stops, the sun may or may not come out, then it rains some more later. After it gets dark, it gets a bit cool but not too bad. There is nothing over our room except the wood ceiling and the roof tiles, so you can really hear the rain when it pours hard. It was very nice falling asleep to it last night. Also, the electricity has gotten quite lumpy now that it's raining so much. It has blinked off and on several times while we've been here and yesterday afternoon it was off for about 2 hours. It really plays havoc with all the electronics.
Well, I'm really tired so I'm closing this for now. Hope to get a power nap in before dinner.
Your correspondent in Antigua - Mel
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Cobblestones - quaint, atmospheric feature or ankle breaking hazard
Sunday, May 27, 2:30pm -
Again, the internet connection is up and down, so I’ll post this online after things improve.
It’s been rainy here. Last night it poured and today started out sunny early and then got cloudy and cooler with scattered rain.
The whole of Antigua proper is “paved” with cobblestones. Oh, that sounds very quaint and European, you might say, and I suppose it is in theory. In practicality, it makes for fillings- rattlling, bone jarring travel by any vehicle. I had considered the possibility of renting a scooter or a bicycle while I was here, but immediately dropped that idea as soon as we were driven into Antigua by our driver from the airport. Yet, people are driving everywhere; in cars, chicken buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles and motor scooters. I’m not even sure why tho’, you can walk from one side of Antigua to the other in under an hour.
Not only are the cobblestones brain bouncing to ride upon, they are very tricky to walk on as well, yet I see young Guate women walking down the sidewalks and across the streets in 3”-4” heels and not breaking their ankles. I’m amazed.
Not only are the streets treacherous, but the sidewalks make for an interesting stroll as well. They are very narrow in most places and we often have to walk into the street to pass people. Most of them are not in very good shape either. It just doesn’t seem to be a high priority of the owners of the property to spend money to repair the walk in front of their buildings. If I manage to not get an ankle sprain while I’m here, it will be a major accomplishment.
I have a theory as to why Antigua has not paved their streets and gotten rid of the cobblestones. Aside from the money it would cost, I think the cobblestones are probably more forgiving and easier to repair in case of earthquake. The cobblestones probably just shift around during an earthquake and don’t get too much worse than they already are. If some section gets too lifted up, all that would have to be done is take the stones out of that section, level it off and replace the stones. Voila! Ready to rattle your bones again.
The cobblestones are definitely one of the things that make Antigua, Antigua, but it’s one of the things I’m personally less than thrilled with.
Again, the internet connection is up and down, so I’ll post this online after things improve.
It’s been rainy here. Last night it poured and today started out sunny early and then got cloudy and cooler with scattered rain.
The whole of Antigua proper is “paved” with cobblestones. Oh, that sounds very quaint and European, you might say, and I suppose it is in theory. In practicality, it makes for fillings- rattlling, bone jarring travel by any vehicle. I had considered the possibility of renting a scooter or a bicycle while I was here, but immediately dropped that idea as soon as we were driven into Antigua by our driver from the airport. Yet, people are driving everywhere; in cars, chicken buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles and motor scooters. I’m not even sure why tho’, you can walk from one side of Antigua to the other in under an hour.
Not only are the cobblestones brain bouncing to ride upon, they are very tricky to walk on as well, yet I see young Guate women walking down the sidewalks and across the streets in 3”-4” heels and not breaking their ankles. I’m amazed.
Not only are the streets treacherous, but the sidewalks make for an interesting stroll as well. They are very narrow in most places and we often have to walk into the street to pass people. Most of them are not in very good shape either. It just doesn’t seem to be a high priority of the owners of the property to spend money to repair the walk in front of their buildings. If I manage to not get an ankle sprain while I’m here, it will be a major accomplishment.
I have a theory as to why Antigua has not paved their streets and gotten rid of the cobblestones. Aside from the money it would cost, I think the cobblestones are probably more forgiving and easier to repair in case of earthquake. The cobblestones probably just shift around during an earthquake and don’t get too much worse than they already are. If some section gets too lifted up, all that would have to be done is take the stones out of that section, level it off and replace the stones. Voila! Ready to rattle your bones again.
The cobblestones are definitely one of the things that make Antigua, Antigua, but it’s one of the things I’m personally less than thrilled with.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
More photos are up
I've posted a few more photos. I apologize for the random order. I'm still getting used to what I can do in Flickr and what I have to do before I upload them. I promise the next batch will be in a more logical order.
Saturday news - Week One
Saturday am aproximento son nueves menos cuarto (approx. 9:45)
We had a brief power failure last night and internet connectivity has been spotty since then, so I’m composing this off-line and will upload it when I can.
Well, we finished our 1st week here and I can tell I know more español now then I did on Monday, but I feel like a slow child, plus my spelling is for s**t. Tony and Diego, our teachers, are very patient with us however. Tony is the more serious one, but very kind. Diego, who is also our salsa dance teacher is more fun and joking all the time. We have a lot of laughs as we try and say things.
We are managing to communicate with the cook and the housekeeper here at Casa Ovalle but it is sometimes frustrating on both sides, but we all seem to keep a sense of humor about it. Right now, I’m waiting for Cristina’s laundry to be done, so I can start ours. Just like back home.
We are going to spend the morning at la casa while I finish the laundry and we see how much connectivity we can get. We’ll go out for lunch when we get hungry and maybe to an internet cafe (which are *everywhere*) to see if connectivity is any better. Then I want to do some shopping.
And speaking of shopping, I found this great purple cotton skirt for $10 US and an aqua blusa (blouse) for the *outrageous* price of $23 US the other night. In USA they would have easily run over $50 US, if not more.
Gonna go do stuff now, like make flash cards for nouns y verbos (verbs) and see if I can get this loaded on my blog.
We had a brief power failure last night and internet connectivity has been spotty since then, so I’m composing this off-line and will upload it when I can.
Well, we finished our 1st week here and I can tell I know more español now then I did on Monday, but I feel like a slow child, plus my spelling is for s**t. Tony and Diego, our teachers, are very patient with us however. Tony is the more serious one, but very kind. Diego, who is also our salsa dance teacher is more fun and joking all the time. We have a lot of laughs as we try and say things.
We are managing to communicate with the cook and the housekeeper here at Casa Ovalle but it is sometimes frustrating on both sides, but we all seem to keep a sense of humor about it. Right now, I’m waiting for Cristina’s laundry to be done, so I can start ours. Just like back home.
We are going to spend the morning at la casa while I finish the laundry and we see how much connectivity we can get. We’ll go out for lunch when we get hungry and maybe to an internet cafe (which are *everywhere*) to see if connectivity is any better. Then I want to do some shopping.
And speaking of shopping, I found this great purple cotton skirt for $10 US and an aqua blusa (blouse) for the *outrageous* price of $23 US the other night. In USA they would have easily run over $50 US, if not more.
Gonna go do stuff now, like make flash cards for nouns y verbos (verbs) and see if I can get this loaded on my blog.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Our field trip today
Today after the morning class and a light lunch at a crepes place, the school arranged a trip to a park in San Lucas. They brought a light picnic for us to eat, but most of our money that we paid to go on the trip goes to an organization that brings Guatemaltico children from Antigua and Guatemala City to this park for them to spend some time in a place of nature. There are swings and a trampoline for them to play on. They also have pens of goats and chickens and a dog that lives there. There is a house for them to be able to stay overnight.
One of the people at Casa de Lingua works with several different groups that do things like this and also arrange for poor Guatemala City children to come spend 2 weeks in Antigua and for poor Antiguan children to spend 2 weeks at a time in Guatemala City in order to experience city life.
Most of the explanation of this was in Spanish when we got to the park. I got the gist of that explanation, but the conversation that followed was lost on me. It concerned what some of the various countries represented by our group did in order to assist poor children and families.
It was an interesting trip, nonetheless, and I glad some of the money we give to the school goes to assisting them to assist these various organizations.
One of the people at Casa de Lingua works with several different groups that do things like this and also arrange for poor Guatemala City children to come spend 2 weeks in Antigua and for poor Antiguan children to spend 2 weeks at a time in Guatemala City in order to experience city life.
Most of the explanation of this was in Spanish when we got to the park. I got the gist of that explanation, but the conversation that followed was lost on me. It concerned what some of the various countries represented by our group did in order to assist poor children and families.
It was an interesting trip, nonetheless, and I glad some of the money we give to the school goes to assisting them to assist these various organizations.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Oh, yeah! Photos
I've finally got some photos up on Flickr. Click on the link under my profile, to the right. There is a set for Antigua. Or you click on the title of this post and it will take you there as well. Let me know if that doesn't work for you.
Antigua - Not for the directionally impaired
Reporting after an exhausting day to day. We left for class at 7:45am and returned home about 5:30pm. We had our regular morning class until noon. Went and found some lunch then returned to the school to watch a documentary on the civil war that the US helped the in power army operate against the poor and native Indian population. It was very sad and depressing and made me want to start saying I'm Canadian. Yet, no one seems to hold it against any of the Estadounidense (US citizens) that come here to enjoy their country. After that, we had a group salsa dance class. Then we walked slowly and sweatingly home.
There is a social gathering tonight at one of the cafes near the school. We'll see how tired we are after we get dinner.
Antigua is not very big and Eddie and I are both pretty good at figuring out where we are in relation to where we want to go and we have several well laid out maps, *BUT* anyone who has trouble negotiating their way around probably will get very frustrated here. Most of the streets do not have the names posted on the corners. In fact, many of them still have the old names which are not used any more and are not on the map except for a few of the streets at the edges of the main part of town. To top it off, many of the street corners have few distinguishing features to tell them from any other street corner. It's been a challenge to say the least.
That's all for now. - Melinda
There is a social gathering tonight at one of the cafes near the school. We'll see how tired we are after we get dinner.
Antigua is not very big and Eddie and I are both pretty good at figuring out where we are in relation to where we want to go and we have several well laid out maps, *BUT* anyone who has trouble negotiating their way around probably will get very frustrated here. Most of the streets do not have the names posted on the corners. In fact, many of them still have the old names which are not used any more and are not on the map except for a few of the streets at the edges of the main part of town. To top it off, many of the street corners have few distinguishing features to tell them from any other street corner. It's been a challenge to say the least.
That's all for now. - Melinda
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