Una semana en Antigua

So it’s been a week that I’ve been living on my own in Guatemala. And, although I still haven’t been able to fully process it, I’ve found I really like the routine and have met more people in 1 week here than in the 6 months I’ve lived in Seattle. This is why…..

My typical day consists of breakfast with the mother of my family, perhaps some other family members and 2 other students who speak English. Then I walk 5 or 10 minutes to my school where classes begin at 8. We work on grammar for 2 hours then take a break for 30 minutes in which I talk to other students, regrettably mostly in English, then go back to conversation with my teacher for another 1 ½ hours. By this time, my mind is completely full of Spanish words and rules that I am grateful the day’s lesson is over. And actually this process is more fun than it sounds, there’s a lot of laughter and misunderstanding which is quite amusing. Then I meander back to my family’s house for lunch at 1 and Spanish is typically spoken at least half of the time. Well, mostly I just listen as my house mother speaks so fast I only understand a few words here and there. My sentences are so basic, choppy and fragmented. Meals thus far have been beans, beans, and more beans. My poor stomach is not cooperating all that well and I’ve been fairly careful. No fresh fruits and vegetables unless it has a very hard skin such as bananas. Salads are pretty much out of the question.

Besides homework each day, I spend my afternoon participating in the school’s free activities. These are awesome because I meet the other students and, of course, see more of Antigua. I toured the local rococo style church and its’ ruins, and took a bicycle tour around Antigua—quite the feat as the streets are made of cobblestone. Typically, I “study” with the students after the activities in a café. The activities have served to distract me from my studies, which I’m not taking super seriously. I feel better by telling myself that my brain can only take so much each day! I’m realizing I care more about immersing myself in the culture and connecting with people (who think like me, are from all over the world and all have really interesting life stories) than spending my time solely studying Spanish. Antigua is a great city to study Spanish in with its’ gorgeous scenery with the volcano in the distance, hills on all sides, and colonial architecture. Not to mention the availability of coffee shops, shopping, and many restaurants. Antigua is a great mix of Spanish, indigenous Mayan people and expats from all over the world plus the tourists and foreigners studying Spanish in the many schools.

What I’ve not enjoyed entirely is the living situation. At first, it wasn’t that bad but as more time passed I realized it was so noisy because it’s on the crazy chicken bus route and the house itself is really more like a boarding house with so many students and family members living there. However, the deal tipper to move is that the house is full of animals. The first few days I lived with my family, I thought how nice that they always greet me with an Hola! It was not until two days later that I noticed it was a parrot greeting me!! You would think I would have noticed that the hola! was immediately following the door closing and not when I entered the inner courtyard of the house. There are also 4 dogs (which I’m allergic to) and a handful of other birds. What was almost worse were the noises and smells from next door. The roosters crowing at all hours of the day and night did not seem bad when compared to the smell from the leather factory next door. Ugghhhh. Thus, I’ve moved to another family’s house. The house was off the tourist path and I did not feel safe walking alone at night so always placed a curfew on myself. Because of this, my nights consisted of eating dinner with the family at 7 and then either talking to the other students or studying. Although I’m not the biggest partier, I hated to feel so restricted and wanted the choice to go out as it presented itself. Maybe this makes me sound like a spoiled brat but I’m much happier now that I’ve moved.

My new house is much closer to the center of Antigua and my school and is weirdly quieter. (I say this and I just heard a round of fireworks go off and now it sounds like a band playing). There’s another American couple, and an American girl living here too. We all share 2 bathrooms. The house mother is again named Maritza, I’m assuming this is a form of Mary with all of the catholic influence here. She doesn’t actually live here but is here most of the day either preparing meals for us and tidying up the house or conversing with us in Spanish. My room is much larger and is decorated cutely with yellow walls and has a desk and a bedside table with a lamp, the latter is a luxury I didn’t have in my last house.

Well, I’m off to wander some more around Antigua and try to find a place to do yoga….