things i most miss about the united states - ability to not have to duck as i walk through doorways, dad´s cookies, and being able to swallow tap water
beer of choice - gallo, though brahva is the other national beer widely avaialable
society change - better street signage
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
santa maria de jesus
went to santa maria today to build a house with de casas a hogares (from houses to homes). every 7 days or so they start a new basic concrete structure for some deserving family. i took it as a day off from studying. which was nice. today was day 1, consisted of ditch digging and concrete pouring. probably the most intense day, but all in all a good experience. very tired and very dirty. the town was about 30 minutes out and very poor. reminded me of alajuelita in costa rica, trash everywhere, corrugated metal houses - if it wasnt made out of bamboo.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
santa maria
tomorrow i head up to santa maria on a welcomed day off from school to help liz and jake build houses for the poor. this is their last week in antigua and i wanted to do something different and they obliged. should last the whole day, don´t worry i´ll wear sunscreen.
girl next to me is on skype videophone and is annoying the hell out of me. talking in swedish, laughing, and giving some friend the middle finger.
class continues to wear a bit on me, everyday is a little more exhausting. i´m learning a bunch, though it is a long process. don´t expect too much out of me and my speaking skills, although i´ll understand the language a lot better.
return back to the US is looking like early november, after travelling throughout central america - plan is to make it to the canal - we will see if time and energy permit.
girl next to me is on skype videophone and is annoying the hell out of me. talking in swedish, laughing, and giving some friend the middle finger.
class continues to wear a bit on me, everyday is a little more exhausting. i´m learning a bunch, though it is a long process. don´t expect too much out of me and my speaking skills, although i´ll understand the language a lot better.
return back to the US is looking like early november, after travelling throughout central america - plan is to make it to the canal - we will see if time and energy permit.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
antigua gfc
friday night went to cafe 2000 to watch bourne ultimatum with jake and liz. subtitles in spanish, lots of errors, looks like anyone can be a subtitler.
spent saturday morning sleeping in for the first time since i arrived. though the caw caw of birds and church bells and pati´s singing doesnt allow too much sleep. studied as well, then met jake and went to the market for the day. after dinner, went to cafe kafka for cheap cuba libres (for some reason americans are the only country that calls them rum and cokes).
woke up this morning, ate at bagel barn, then went to the antigua gfc vs. san pedro futbol match. antigua won 2-1, which was nice. stadium looked berlin circa 1936 olympics. people throwing smoke bombs and lighting fireworks everywhere. plans to watch some american football tonight, as sunday is our family´s day off from cooking.
spent saturday morning sleeping in for the first time since i arrived. though the caw caw of birds and church bells and pati´s singing doesnt allow too much sleep. studied as well, then met jake and went to the market for the day. after dinner, went to cafe kafka for cheap cuba libres (for some reason americans are the only country that calls them rum and cokes).
woke up this morning, ate at bagel barn, then went to the antigua gfc vs. san pedro futbol match. antigua won 2-1, which was nice. stadium looked berlin circa 1936 olympics. people throwing smoke bombs and lighting fireworks everywhere. plans to watch some american football tonight, as sunday is our family´s day off from cooking.
Friday, September 21, 2007
volcan pacaya
took another field trip with the school yesterday to volcan pacaya, about 1.5 hours away. hike up the mountain was another 1.5 hours and quite a workout. some of the less fit students (both american of course) needed to hire horses to carry them to the top. there was of course tons of horse shit all the way up the trail - haven´t had to dodge that much shit since feeding the ducks at friendly farms. i then fell down the side of the mountain while playing around, and have chunks of volcanic ash in my hand. cool souvenir i guess. more or less could get right on top of free flowing lava, though the heat was very intense - much like mgm´s indiana jones show. hiked down the volcano around dark and got back to antigua around 9.
went to monoloco and ate my first cheeseburger since i arrived, well worth it. though the rest of the night i didn´t feel all two well. met liz and jake and went to la sala for another drink before calling it a night.
i´ve decided to put in a couple more weeks of school here, just continue to grind away. i feel as though i´ll hit a wall sometime around then, its just so exhausting to put in 6 hours of class and follow it up with 2 hours on my own. all else is going well.
went to monoloco and ate my first cheeseburger since i arrived, well worth it. though the rest of the night i didn´t feel all two well. met liz and jake and went to la sala for another drink before calling it a night.
i´ve decided to put in a couple more weeks of school here, just continue to grind away. i feel as though i´ll hit a wall sometime around then, its just so exhausting to put in 6 hours of class and follow it up with 2 hours on my own. all else is going well.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
san antonio aguas calientes
went to a surrounding village yesterday to get a handle on the ´native´way of life. with school. after the first couple of minutes, i realized that it was really a ´show´which took a lot away from the experience. we saw how textiles were made, tortillas were baked - mine was the most circular by far - and able to but any goods. not for me. today i go with school to volcan pacaya in the afternoon, if it is not raining.
also had my first stomach tweak on tuesday. barely made it back to my house in time. made me feel a bit off for the next day or two, but ready to move forward now.
also had my first stomach tweak on tuesday. barely made it back to my house in time. made me feel a bit off for the next day or two, but ready to move forward now.
Monday, September 17, 2007
lanquin
left on friday after class for town of lanquin with liz, jake, rhona, and vance. rented a car and had a 6 hour drive. as soon as we hit guatemala city, we got lost. spent two hours asking guats (in broken spanish) for directions before we got a handle on our situation. roads were also held up by people running with torches throughout the country celebrating independence day. last hour, though only 11 km, took about 1 hour. bad roads for a mitsubishi lancer. got to the hotel at 3am, and no one was around to check us in. climbed over some fences, and got myself into a hammock for the night.
next day, got our checkin settled and went on a tour of semuc champey and the lanquin caves. climbed to the top of a waterfall and entered the cave. walked/swam/climbed around for about two hours as we carried candles. very cool. tubed down the river briefly and then jumped off a bridge (safely). rope swing as well. hike up to the mirador of semuc champey which is a collection of natural pools in riverbed of limestone. hiked down to the pools and frog jumped around in the pools for the next hour or so. road in the back of the pickup back to the hotel. ate buffet mexican dinner and hung out with a ton of people before crashing round midnight.
slow morning, breakfast buffet, then half hour tubing down river once again. ended up leaving around 330, and got back to antigua in good time, 10. it was an amazing trip. the views were gorgeous, right in the deep of the guat rainforest.
new housemate, ray from dallas, this week. bit older, but will probably bring him along to monoloco tonight to watch some mnf.
next day, got our checkin settled and went on a tour of semuc champey and the lanquin caves. climbed to the top of a waterfall and entered the cave. walked/swam/climbed around for about two hours as we carried candles. very cool. tubed down the river briefly and then jumped off a bridge (safely). rope swing as well. hike up to the mirador of semuc champey which is a collection of natural pools in riverbed of limestone. hiked down to the pools and frog jumped around in the pools for the next hour or so. road in the back of the pickup back to the hotel. ate buffet mexican dinner and hung out with a ton of people before crashing round midnight.
slow morning, breakfast buffet, then half hour tubing down river once again. ended up leaving around 330, and got back to antigua in good time, 10. it was an amazing trip. the views were gorgeous, right in the deep of the guat rainforest.
new housemate, ray from dallas, this week. bit older, but will probably bring him along to monoloco tonight to watch some mnf.
Friday, September 14, 2007
exam
went to la sala last night to meet some friends and discuss weekend plans. live salsa band playedpretty well, and jake thought that every new song they started was ´la bamba.´ i have finished my first workbook, and take an exam this afternoon. afterwards, i head out to coban and semuc champey for the weekend with liz, jake, and some other people. check out pictures online, it looks really amazing. parque central is very crowded today, as guatemala´s independence day is tomorrow. trying to kick a little sniffle but got clean clothes.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
antigua
we´re going to have to do a little catch up, and i apologize if my english is a little rusty.
sunday, 2 sep 07
the whole day was spent travelling, with a long layover in FTL. a 2.5hr jump across the carribean, and i was in guatemala! i heard britney spears on some store radio and was slightly disappointed. i spent 15 minutes waiting for my driver, then when he arrived, told me that there were 5 other people to wait for over the next two hours. met kelly, from holland, who is going to school with me, and four Brits doing volunteer work. driven an hour to antigua, where i briefly met my host family, and went to sleep after a long day.
monday, 3 sep 07
formally met other family members (ms and mr soto, one son Jorge and daughter Pati) and other language student Raef from Germany. Raef took me to class, where i met my teacher Danilo. he has turned out to be a real good teacher, although he cheats at Scrabble. at lunch, i got some ice cream and Raef showed me the internet cafe, bank, etc. at night, it rained, like every night, though Raef and i went to two bars, Reilly´s and Cafe Kafka. took a tuktuk, very small three wheeled cab home, while the driver was making out with his girlfriend.
tuesday, 4 sep 07
cant remember much, class and ladies night at monoloco. ran into liz, brit who rode from airport with me.
wednesday, 5 sep 07
after class, i met Raef and Jorge, and the three of us went to the Mercado, Bodegona, and cigar shop, as Raef was trying to get presents for friends on his 9 day trip back to Germany. Jorge took us to a family members sausage shop, that was very good, though i dont think it had a name.
friday, 7 sep 07
decided to go to monterrico for the weekend, a small, underdeveloped beach town on the pacific coast. crossed off swimming in the pacific. went with 7 girls from the school on a 2.5 hour bus ride. the weather in antigua is nice, though cool, about 70 everyday, and rainy in the afternoons, so i was not prepared for the 90+ weather at the beach. first thing we did was find a hotel, atelie del mar owned by a finnish couple and only had a french family and dutch couple staying there. signed up for a beach walk to look for nesting turtles and saw only one after 5 miles of walking and 3 hours of searching. could not sleep in the heat.
saturday, 8 sep 07
5 am wakeup to go on boat tour of the mangroves. mosquitoes bit like crazy, hope i dont have malaria. will let you know. very nice, and surprising how roundabout of a route the ´captain´ took. spent the rest of the morning laying in a hammock by the pool and sleeping. ate some decent food, though it was italian. there were two main streets in the town, and all the families that live there have makeshift restaurants on their front porch. needless to say, we did not feel comfortable eating there. ate at johnny´s and eco beach.
sunday, 9 sep 07
tried sleeping in, but national elections meant people were in the street partying and playing that damn fergie song over and over again. colom and molina? have a runoff in november, i think. took a shuttle back to antigua, and went to monoloco to watch some american football and eat beacuse host family´s do not provide food on sundays. i ate a brownie sunday. next sunday i will eat the desert nachos. talked with a lot of other americans, there are a lot of foreigners in antigua beacuse of the many schools and volunteer opportunities. it was nice to talk in english. i dont think that ill be great friends with any of the girls, there is a slight maturity gap. the weekend was very relaxing and nice.
monday, 10 sep 07
didn´t have afternoon class, and went to monoloco again beacuse the ravens played in the mnf game. they lost. i´m pretty dirty and need to wash my clothes. i also realized that i am too tall for this place, almost everywhere i am banging my head or the shower is too small.
tuesday, 11 sep 07
i´m seeing good progression with my spanish, which is nice. walk the cerre de la cruz, a 20 min walk up a hill with great views of antigua, although our view was slightly obstructed by clouds and rain. went to the grocery store to buy 5 things and had to go to 3 different cash registers. if someone wants to exploit the inefficiencies of the central american supermarket, they are there. met jake, brit from airport ride at airport, at the bar and had some mojitos. we may go to coban this weekend.
and today...
mojitos were a baaaaad choice, right ben? class is going well, and danilo says that after six more weeks, i have potential to be near fluent. that feels good is making me want to pursue more studying in my free time. it also means i may double my time here in antigua, we shall see.
other things people may want to hear about...
the city is over 400 years old, and it shows. mom and dad dont surprise me here, you wont really like it. the streets are dirty and the buildings unwelcoming, as well as not suited for tall people. i have all amenities i need, and i walk everywhere.
the soto family is very nice. they feed me three meals a day, and include me in conversation. my bed is big and comfortable, and i have a desk to study. i share a bathroom and the shower is small and barely warm.
the food is alright, nothing awesome. i have all kinds of otpions in the city, but ms soto usually fixes some combination of the following: rice, chicken, vegetables, eggs, bread, etc. i would call it bland, but not bad. i bought some oreos yesterday for my own personal use.
i also gave the family some of my dad´s cookies, which i never heard anything about. they better had enjoyed them, because i resisted all of them on my trip down here.
the school is very simple. i am one of 4 people who take 6 hours of class a day. the instruction is one on one. there are 20 students in total. almost all europeans, heavy on the dutch and german, and near 21 years old.
sunday, 2 sep 07
the whole day was spent travelling, with a long layover in FTL. a 2.5hr jump across the carribean, and i was in guatemala! i heard britney spears on some store radio and was slightly disappointed. i spent 15 minutes waiting for my driver, then when he arrived, told me that there were 5 other people to wait for over the next two hours. met kelly, from holland, who is going to school with me, and four Brits doing volunteer work. driven an hour to antigua, where i briefly met my host family, and went to sleep after a long day.
monday, 3 sep 07
formally met other family members (ms and mr soto, one son Jorge and daughter Pati) and other language student Raef from Germany. Raef took me to class, where i met my teacher Danilo. he has turned out to be a real good teacher, although he cheats at Scrabble. at lunch, i got some ice cream and Raef showed me the internet cafe, bank, etc. at night, it rained, like every night, though Raef and i went to two bars, Reilly´s and Cafe Kafka. took a tuktuk, very small three wheeled cab home, while the driver was making out with his girlfriend.
tuesday, 4 sep 07
cant remember much, class and ladies night at monoloco. ran into liz, brit who rode from airport with me.
wednesday, 5 sep 07
after class, i met Raef and Jorge, and the three of us went to the Mercado, Bodegona, and cigar shop, as Raef was trying to get presents for friends on his 9 day trip back to Germany. Jorge took us to a family members sausage shop, that was very good, though i dont think it had a name.
friday, 7 sep 07
decided to go to monterrico for the weekend, a small, underdeveloped beach town on the pacific coast. crossed off swimming in the pacific. went with 7 girls from the school on a 2.5 hour bus ride. the weather in antigua is nice, though cool, about 70 everyday, and rainy in the afternoons, so i was not prepared for the 90+ weather at the beach. first thing we did was find a hotel, atelie del mar owned by a finnish couple and only had a french family and dutch couple staying there. signed up for a beach walk to look for nesting turtles and saw only one after 5 miles of walking and 3 hours of searching. could not sleep in the heat.
saturday, 8 sep 07
5 am wakeup to go on boat tour of the mangroves. mosquitoes bit like crazy, hope i dont have malaria. will let you know. very nice, and surprising how roundabout of a route the ´captain´ took. spent the rest of the morning laying in a hammock by the pool and sleeping. ate some decent food, though it was italian. there were two main streets in the town, and all the families that live there have makeshift restaurants on their front porch. needless to say, we did not feel comfortable eating there. ate at johnny´s and eco beach.
sunday, 9 sep 07
tried sleeping in, but national elections meant people were in the street partying and playing that damn fergie song over and over again. colom and molina? have a runoff in november, i think. took a shuttle back to antigua, and went to monoloco to watch some american football and eat beacuse host family´s do not provide food on sundays. i ate a brownie sunday. next sunday i will eat the desert nachos. talked with a lot of other americans, there are a lot of foreigners in antigua beacuse of the many schools and volunteer opportunities. it was nice to talk in english. i dont think that ill be great friends with any of the girls, there is a slight maturity gap. the weekend was very relaxing and nice.
monday, 10 sep 07
didn´t have afternoon class, and went to monoloco again beacuse the ravens played in the mnf game. they lost. i´m pretty dirty and need to wash my clothes. i also realized that i am too tall for this place, almost everywhere i am banging my head or the shower is too small.
tuesday, 11 sep 07
i´m seeing good progression with my spanish, which is nice. walk the cerre de la cruz, a 20 min walk up a hill with great views of antigua, although our view was slightly obstructed by clouds and rain. went to the grocery store to buy 5 things and had to go to 3 different cash registers. if someone wants to exploit the inefficiencies of the central american supermarket, they are there. met jake, brit from airport ride at airport, at the bar and had some mojitos. we may go to coban this weekend.
and today...
mojitos were a baaaaad choice, right ben? class is going well, and danilo says that after six more weeks, i have potential to be near fluent. that feels good is making me want to pursue more studying in my free time. it also means i may double my time here in antigua, we shall see.
other things people may want to hear about...
the city is over 400 years old, and it shows. mom and dad dont surprise me here, you wont really like it. the streets are dirty and the buildings unwelcoming, as well as not suited for tall people. i have all amenities i need, and i walk everywhere.
the soto family is very nice. they feed me three meals a day, and include me in conversation. my bed is big and comfortable, and i have a desk to study. i share a bathroom and the shower is small and barely warm.
the food is alright, nothing awesome. i have all kinds of otpions in the city, but ms soto usually fixes some combination of the following: rice, chicken, vegetables, eggs, bread, etc. i would call it bland, but not bad. i bought some oreos yesterday for my own personal use.
i also gave the family some of my dad´s cookies, which i never heard anything about. they better had enjoyed them, because i resisted all of them on my trip down here.
the school is very simple. i am one of 4 people who take 6 hours of class a day. the instruction is one on one. there are 20 students in total. almost all europeans, heavy on the dutch and german, and near 21 years old.
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