Antigua, Day 1, March 27th

Antigua is magical. Can't wait to explore more of it. Cobble stone streets. Skinny pony's carting visitors around. An abundance of classy looking restaurants. I'll especially have to check out the Epicure Restaurant, because, according to the enneagram, the Epicure/Adventurer is the type I most relate to. Plus, my favorite restaurant in Taiwan was indeed The Epicurean, on Lanyu/Orchard Island.

Harold was kind enough to drive me out to coincide with visiting his grandmother in a nearby town - latin and american music on the car speakers, windows down and his little dashboard Jamaican figurine, "Skanky", leading the way.

I had lunch with my couchsurfing hosts and their grandmother and grandmother's maids at an excellent traditional Guatemalan buffet-style restaurant, La Cuebita de Los Urquizu. I ordered piles of vegetables and no meat and a drink that starts with an H - its made from a red flower and tastes like cranberry juice. People eat a lot of meat here, and I'm not used to eating so much.

We passed by the handicraft market after lunch. Unlike in Guatemala City, most of the indigenous women have learned at least sales English because there are so many foreigners in Antigua. I definitely feel qualities of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cool, fresh air, albeit with more wiffs of car exhaust. The altitude is at 5,000 feet. The mountains rising up are taller and dormant volcanic though. It never snows this close to the equator. Antigua has a population of about 35,000 people - half the size of Santa Fe, yet the streets bustle with activity like Santa Fe's plaza on the 4th of July. Lent and catholic processions are happening daily from now until Easter, so maybe its busier than usual. When the procession passes through, traffic clogs the streets and I wonder why they allow cars in at all. I can only hear noise and I can't see anything unless I push my way closer so I return home, sure I'll see a lot of this in the next few weeks.

I'm staying with a Guatemalan family a few blocks from my school. I expected a small house, but this is huge and actually has 6 guest rooms with other students staying here, so it feels more like a bed and breakfast. Meals are provided mon-sat, 3 times a day. I'll have 7 hours of Spanish one-on-one lessons for the next 2 weeks. Living is expensive in Antigua because its such a tourist destination, so then I'll move on to Xela which is close to half the price. This house is built right into the land/cliff behind it and does not appear that it would contain so many rooms and a center courthouse garden from the outside. There's a picturesque rooftop patio from which I have a clear view of the mountain. My room doesn't have any windows, but its nice none-the-less, with high ceilings, bed, dresser, desk and shelf. I like the ceiling; its curved with white painted panels trimmed in Silver. A Virgin Mary prayer hangs above the bed. Simple and sweet.

Breakfast is at 7am tomorrow and classes start at 8, so I think I'll go to bed early.