The Best of Antigua, Guatemala

+++ DISCLAIMER- the spell check here is in spanish, so there will probably be many spelling errors

Top 5 Amigos

Mario – The 13 year old boy at my school, we bonded the first day while both of us were in the principals office. He gives me hugs everyday and today, since it was the last day, he walked me outside of the school and to the bus stop. He hopes I have a good trip around the world. Mario has 10 brothers and sisters and wears a winter had everyday. 

Oscar – Oscar is my host dad and he is great. He cooks 8-10 girls three really good meals a day and all of the sweet bread you can eat and I love sweet bread. He is eager to learn english and helps me with my spanish. Yesterday was fathers day here and all of the girls bought him a rum cake, his favorite.  He listens while we eat and loves to repeat catch phrases. Oscar wrote a “where i am from” poem which i will post later. Oscar has 3 children and a wife and has been living in Antigua for 28 years. 

Astrid - Astrid is 17, but she is a teacher here and she works directly with Jose, whom i perceive is autistic. She is super sweet and we also clicked.  I got her to perform the “where i am from” poem and while we were working that, she was gracious enough to share alot of her story with me. This girl has been through sooo much in her short life and has percervered and her light is so bright now. She said, she likes me because i am always smiling when I come there. We will be facebook friends. Also note, that everybody in the world is on facebook, ALL of the teachers at the school are on facebook. So crazy!!! Astrid and I will meet tomorrow at the Central Park here, to hand out on my last full day here. She is from Antigua and will show me around. 

Paola – Paola is half Guatemalan and is actually a volunteer, but we clicked well. She is from DC, so she is actually the one person I met here that I might actually see again. Also note that I have probably met over 75 people here, between teaching and volunteering. Paola went on the Tikal trip last week and about 7 of us went to Guatemala City yestearday. This is a picture of her with some exotic fruit at the market.

Carlos – Carlos is the first person I saw at the airport, he does all of the transportation and weekend trips for my volunteer organizations. So he was our guide at Tikal and in Guatemala City. Carlos is rather tall for a Guatemalan, most men are like 5.6 tops. He is like 5.9 which is tall here.  Carlos’ family lives in Chicago, but he lives here and runs a travel business. He also has a hell of a walk on him.

Favorite Dish

Tapado Garifuna – a coconut soup, I have when we were in Livingston, the carribean section of the country. It was beyond finger licking good.

Favorite Tourist Site

Tikal hands down, its the face of the country and appropriately so. Its amazing, beautiful and well worth the 10 hour drive.

Guatemala in Words and Pictures

The top ten things you will see in Antigua

• Greenary- Antigua is pretty much surrounded by mountains and volcanos
• Guards with Guns
• Women selling fruit  at stands
• Parks and Old Catholic Churches
• Panadaria’s and Tienda’s – little convenient stores at mid block and on corners.
• Gallo, Tigo and Claro Signs
• Women dressed in colorful clothing and carrying stuff on their heads
• Colorful buildings – buildings are no more than 2 stories tall and span the color specture. Here is a poem i wrote about it – JUICY FRUIT
• Alot of PDA- public display of affection. Seriously, at the park next to my house, there is at least one couple making out every time i pass. My housemates and I affectionately call it – PDA Park.  Wherever you are, at the park, at the bar, walking down the street, you can probably see someone cuddled up or kissing.
• Tuc Tuc’s, Chicken Buses, Mopeds and Scooters and Cobblestones

MORE PICTURES – VIEW MY ENTIRE PICTURE ALBUM ON SNAPFISH

I will try to give you some idea of what Antigua is like

You will hear — buses going by with loud engines, roosters crowing in the morning and dogs barking at night. There is almost always a constant zoom zoom. For some reason you can also hear random fireworks going off.

You will see – colorful chicken buses packed with Guatemalan faces, people on motor cycles and scooters, many people walking, women with bags and pots on their head, vendors or street corners selling fresh cut mango’s and pineapples, women with baskets selling candy, nuts, colorful faboric and gum, corner stores on corners and mid block, men walking with Machetes (these are grass cuter and people who work in fields), children in uniforms walking to and from school. Tigo, Claro (Cell phone companies) and Gallo (its beer, similar to Budweiserr) signs everywhere. There are many restaurants and coffee shops. There are more places with WiFi then I have every seen in my life. Also, almost at every bank, store or nice restaurant there are guards with Guns. There was even a guard with a gun in the equivalent of 7-11. Big guns too, shot guns. You will see the remains of old churches, many parks and a portrait of green mountains at your every side.

You will smell black beans and bread from the panaderia (there is one on every block)

You will taste soups, black beans and rice, corn tortillas, chile rellenos, exotic fruit and vegetables and pollo campero fried chicken. There is also mayonnaise on everything. Guatemalan coffee is the best coffee that i have ever had, even better than Brazil.

Some things its hard to get used to:

Not flushing tissue down the toilet, seeing armed guards everywhere, not being able to walk alone at night – it gets dark at 6:30 so after work unless you have a group, I cant really go anywhere, the roads are cobblestone which is quaint, but really hard to walk on all of the time. Being around volunteers 24/7 who on average are about 20 years old. I have met many nice people, but it feels like the first week of college. There are bugs all over, there are ants, I found a scorpion, ants, a butterfly the size of my hand and slug in my house. I get bit by mosquitoes a lot and even perhaps bedbugs from my weekend trip.

Things I like:

The people are nice and are gracious with non Spanish speakers. Antigua is very walkable and if cobble stones are not traffic calming enough, there are speed bumps too. There is no need for traffic lights here either. The children at my school are precious. The food my host family makes is good and plentiful. The greenery is wonderful, the weather is generally nice, besides the rain here and there. I also like that there are alot of places you can get free drinks and wifi.

My most prized possession on this trip has been my eye mask and earplugs. At night, I see no evil and hear no evil. This has been the best sleep I have gotten in a long time.

Random Stuff

One of the kids asked me today if my hair was real or if it was a wig. They were kind of obsessed with my hair, but they liked it though, said it was muy bonita. Another comment on hair,  they must think i am a rasta here because for three days in a few a teen on the street asked me if I wanted to buy weed. So random

This is central america and everyone is absolutely obsessed with the world cup. At 8 am and around lunchtime, all schools, bars and restaurants are playing the game. There is also much world cup signage around these parts.

Yesterday, we were at the western mall and I had a McConos- that would be a cone- from the McDonalds ice cream kiosk. So random!!!

Also at the mall yesterday, I saw a sign for African Smoothies, can someone please tell me what an “African Smoothie” is and how is that different from any other type of smoothie.

I bet you have never seen one of these signs while going into a nice restaurant to eat lunch.

Last night, I was awaken by an EARTHQUAKE. How cool is that, it was minor, but the whole house shook and my bed moved about 2-3 inches away from the wall. I thought i was dreaming and was not sure of what happened until my roomate whispered enthusiatically that we had just experienced an earthquake. That was a first.