buena tardes!
our trip is coming to an end and we have left La Antigua. We are spending out last day in the Capital. tonight our stay is at the relaxing and quiet posada, where our friend Juan is a great cook. Tomorrow, we will be heading to the aeropuerto. It seems that we will be on at least one flight leg with the group from Allegheny center Allaince Church. Please pray for our safe travels and buen viaje.
There are so many little things that i will miss about Guatemala, the lively culture, friendly people and fresh fruit! but really looking forward to a nice hot shower, my own comfy bed........ and said that the first thing we will do is: flush the paper down !! here you must put it in the garbage can and not the plumbing.
Espero a ver todos pronto!
C.
Hola! can´t believe that it is Wednesday already! only a few more days left! i have been enjoying the class, and feel like i have been getting a bit better with conversation. i reviewed some medical spanish and got to learn a lot of helpful vocabulary and phrases. I was going to take some additional hours this week, but they are too busy to fit me in. Every table in the school is filled every morning. We have been staying at a guest room in the school building. we have access to the kitchen and had planned to cook some of our meals here. well...... after seeing the kitchen we lost our motivation to save $ by doign this. it is just a bit more complicated and also many things are not available (pots, etc) But this week, we discovered the food that they sell in the park across the street is very good and cheaper than anything in the supermarket. you can get tortillas and beans, guacamole, meat, rice, fresh fruit etc. and it is just around $2. The food is great, and we have been eating out in restuarants every night for dinner. But i am missing some of the comforts of home! Mom--- Amie wants some of your homemade cookies!! =)Yesterday we visited a large church, San Francisco El Grande. Part of the monastery was destroyed in an earthquake. the explanations of the ruins and musuem was in Spanish, which is good, but yet I hope I picked up all the details correctly. A man named Hermano Pedro lived here, and he later became a saint. In the musuem, there was a long hallway of plaques, pictures, crutches, canes, etc. dedicated to him because these 100s of people had experienced miracles of healings, or provision to receive operations. it was pretty amazing.This morning we hiked up to Cerra de la Cruz, which gives a panoramic view of the city. Later, tonight we are going to dinner at my friend from COTA´s house. Looking forward to that!Have a great week!c.
Buenas! Esta el fin de semana! it is the weekend!The first week of class was really good. i feel like i have learned alot already, and know that there is just so much that i don´t know yet. My teacher´s name is Delia, and we spend sometime in conversation about our lives, countries, etc. as part of the lesson. she has told me some interesting things about typical life down here. we are about the same age, so the differences are interesting. We played a game where you randomly roll a die and have to answer the question. the ?´s were about you and you life, experiences etc. it was a great way to learn more about each other. We also played scrabble en espanol. it was pretty difficult to play, & think of words to use.So i think i am cursed with watching Bridget Jones´s diary 2. I have tried to watch it 2x now, and both times i have gotten sick!! One time at Arlene´s, i couldn´t make it through it and had to go home. I lasted thru the whole thing this time, but spent most of the night and next day sick. my teacher told me of a remedy to use. I went to the tienda to buy it but they didn´t have it. I took some other stuff and i have been feeling much better today. it had to have been something that i ate. However, Amie and i had the same dinner, and she didnt´get sick. thank God! Amie and I were going to hike the Pacaya volcano today. But with feeling sick yesterday (when we needed to book the trip), i could not commit myself to hiking up the side of an active volcano. We are heading to Chichicastenango tomorrow for the day with other students from the school. We hear it has one of the best markets in Central America. maybe we will bump in to some of Amie´s friends who are there doing a missions trip with ACAC.Also, I have bumped into a guy i know from Cota (the medical mission organization). he is now living down here in Antigua. He is also studying at our school. it was nice to see a familar face! We had dinner with him and his fiance one night, and may also have dinner again before we leave. well, that is all for now! they are showing lots of great spanish films down here. that will probably be our plan for tonight!Miss you all!
Buenas dias!
thanks to everyone who has dropped me a line. it is good to keep up with you all, and things going on. haven´t heard any TV, radio etc, news. i bought a newspaper but it didn´t have too much US news.
My classes are going well this week. it is great to speak only spanish for 4 hrs straight. however, your head starts spinning after awhile. Reading goes well, but the speaking and listening part is great practice! My teacher knows only a bit of English. but some examples/definitions, she wasn´t able to give in English & explain exactly. I have homework (tarea) every night to complete.
this morning we went to the Coffee (cafe) museum, Mayan music, and local culture museums. The guides only spoke in Spanish. it was great practice. I learned alot about the coffee process. For every tree, they only get 1 lb. of whole bean! for each cup of coffee, 0f that dollar, 0.87 goes to the country who bought it ( ie. us), and the rest goes to the selling country (ie. guatemala). So we also learned about the Fair trade agreemnet. when i go to buy the local Antigua coffee to bring back I know how to say whole bean (semilla) or ground (molido). yo prefiero semilla.
have a great day!
Happy 4th of July! Hope everything is well for everyone! the weather here is much cooler! it is very comfortable, and sunny. it does rain sometimes late in the afternoon. Today our classes start at 2 pm. The school was pretty empty the past 2 days. there are only about 4 of us staying there. This morning it was bustling with 20 teachers, their students- plus other workers. they start at 8 Am with the classes. Since we are staying there, we can hear all the noise, and will be getting up early every day. they provide internet, coffee, pure water, etc. for the students. they give us a break & we can go over to the tienda to buy a snack & nearby park. last night, we went to see a movie. first we tried to see the Aviator. but they told us that at least 5 people needed to show up, if they were going to play the movie. A few other people came and we had 5, but then they told us that the rain was causing the roof to leak, so they were not showing the movie. We went to another "theater" about 2 blocks down. And were able to watch ¨million dollar baby". the movie was in english with spanish subtitles. this theater was a small room, with a decent sized TV, and a bunch of old couches lined up to make the seating... Kind of reminded me of college dorm days. they played the DVD, which was probably a pirated copy bought at the market for about $3. But none of us had seen this movie yet, it only was $2 admission, so no complaints. something to do on a rainy night. Also if the popcorn and drinks cost only $1.50 for both. Hope the fireworks are great tonight!!!!
Bueñas Dias ! We are now in Antigua, staying at the school. We got in last night after returing from Tikal. Tikal was really unbelievable! We had a 4 hr. tour where we walked about 3-4 miles. we hiked up Templo IV, one of the tallest. If i remember correctly, it was over 200 ft high. the view from the top was worth it! the humidity was pretty grueling in the jungle. We took a walk on our own to go out to the Mirador en arbol... a tree house lookout. Not as many steps as Templo IV, but definitely not for those afraid of heights. From here you could see all the tops of the Temples towering over the trees.
Our hotel consisted of little bungalows. We spent some time with our neighors, knocking mangos out of the trees to eat. Everyone is incredibly friendly, and we have spent time with alot of other travelers.
We wandered around Anitgua today. Stopped in an Assemblies de Dios Church but we missed most of the sermon. They started at 8:30am, which wasnt posted anywhere. We went grocery shopping and bought a whole pineapple for 50 cts, toothpaste for $1...
Tomorrow starts our classes.... but you all get a holiday! Happy 4th of July!
