My Week in Antigua

(Just now able to post what I blogged on Thursday... sorry!)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
So it’s hard to believe, but my first week in Guatemala and my time in Antigua are nearly up! I have grown to love this place and its people. I have been blessed by my host home, by the teachers at my language school, and by complete strangers.

Macie and I met in Houston airport then flew together to Guatemala. We arrived Sunday afternoon and drove 45 minutes from Guatemala City airport to La Antigua. We were graciously welcomed by the staff of our language school, CSA (Christian Spanish Academy). After helping us exchange money at the bank (US $1 = 8 Quetzeles), they dropped us off at our host home of Irma and Salvador de Guerra. They were very kind to us and we were surprised to have our own apartment rooms, furnished with “aqua pura” (filtered water), a shower and sink, a queen-size bed, table and chairs, sink, and drawers!

La Antigua is a very beautiful colonial-style city, with all cobblestone streets. The weather is amazing, usually around 70 degrees every day with a light breeze and sometimes rain. There are three active volcanoes that surround us, but they just look like pretty mountains that disappear into the clouds. There are many tourists here because Antigua is famous for its many language schools. We have been spoiled by the weather here, as we have heard that Chicacao is extremely hot and humid and you are wet with sweat basically all of the time.

Well, that very first night, we had a lost passport scare. I couldn’t find mine, and although Macie and I searched my bedroom and tried hard to think back, it was no where to be found. Ugh! Already, my passport had been stolen, so I thought. But it was late at night, so I decided to just wait til the next day to do anything. The verse I read that night was Psalm 4:8, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” That was comforting and I was able to sleep well without worrying about my passport.

Our first full day in Antigua, Monday, we walked 10 minutes from Irma’s house to our language school. I was introduced to my personal Guatemalan tutor, Catalina Tejax. She saw I was distressed about my lost passport, so she helped me to back track and look at places I had been the night before. Edy, the school’s driver, found us while we were out searching, and had my passport in his hand! I have never felt so relieved and I nearly started crying as I hugged him! I had left it at the bank the day before when exchanging money, and he had gone back to look there for me. My heart was much lighter the rest of the day, and I thank God that it was found!

Can I just say that Macie Mills, my travel companion for this 6-week trip, is a blessing sent from God?!! I don’t know what I would do without her! I would be so lonely. She is a joy to be around; we are always laughing and already having lots of adventures. She is always optimistic, which is good for me, and I have enjoyed exploring Antigua with her.

Also, I have been extremely blessed by my host family, Irma and Salvador. They have a beautiful house and big garden with a majestic view of the volcano, which I get to enjoy every day. Irma makes every meal for us. I have tried many new foods, and I am very well-fed every day. There are other tenants that live with Irma - 7 of us total right now. We all eat meals together, but there’s a rule of “Spanish only” at the table. It’s difficult, but we all struggle through to communicate, and Irma and Salvador patiently listen to us and correct us when we need it. It’s hard for Macie who just started learning Spanish this week, so I try to whisper things to her, but she’s already picked up on a lot! The other tenants have been here a while and have been super helpful in telling us tips for getting around Antigua.

I absolutely LOVE speaking Spanish so much! I feel so much responsibility when Macie and I are out by ourselves because I am the sole translator for us! I have been put in many situations in which I have to talk to strangers in only Spanish. I have gotten to purchase a cell phone, ask for directions, bargain in the market, play with little kids, discuss medicine with a pharmacist, and order food at restaurants - all completely in Spanish. Wooftah. But I LOVE it. The challenge thrills me, and I am constantly learning and improving.

Irma reminds me a lot of my Grandma Dykstra. She is so funny if you listen to her, she loves to knit and crochet in the evenings while her husband watches TV, she is a great hostess and makes everyone feel welcome, she is always offering us more food and wanting us to take more. And Salvador her husband is just the most precious man. He is retired now, so he spends his day watching the World Cup (he is super into it!), reading the newspaper in the garden, walking to town, and doing Sudoku. Out of all the tenants, I have had the most Spanish, so I am always conversing with Irma and Salvador during meals. They readily help me when I have questions about Spanish or need advice. They make me feel at home.

We attend language school every day this week from 8 a.m. to noon, then walk back home to Irma’s for lunch. Then we are free in the afternoons besides doing our homework. With our free time, Macie and I have taken several salsa dance classes from professional Guatemalan salsa dancers, visited some of Antigua’s famous ruins, attempted to bargain in the market, taken “siestas” like the locals do, hung out in internet cafes, and just walked around the town exploring. Today, we wanted to go tour the “Cerro de la Cruz,” a big cross on the top of a hill near the outskirts of the city that has an amazing panorama view of La Antigua. By the time we reached the center for tourism, our meeting place for the tour, it was passed the tour time. Speaking in Spanish, I told the police of tourism what we wanted to do and asked if we were too late. They told us to hold on a minute, and five minutes later, Macie and I were on the back of police officers’ motorcycles! We had so much fun riding through the town on the back of the policemen’s motorcycles, and we got to see lots of the town we had never seen before!

Tomorrow is our last day at school, and we will receive our “diplomas,” haha. I have learned a lot in speaking four hours a day with my Guatemalan teacher. Then Saturday, Macie and I are being picked up and taken from Antigua to Chicacao, where we will live for the next 5 weeks.

Already I have learned several things this week. I have learned that it is imperative to where pants to bed in order to avoid lots of itchy, red bug bites in the morning. I have learned to avoid lingering eye contact with Guatemalan men if you don’t want to be followed or called after. I have learned how to use a Camelbak water bottle - to bite and suck at the same time to quench my thirst. I have learned that sweating is natural, and that although I thoroughly dislike looking and/or smelling sweaty, I need to get used it because it will be my life for the next 5 weeks. But most importantly, God has taught me this week that other people are most important. More important than advancing my knowledge of the Spanish language. More important than meeting my own desires and needs. This is a lesson I hope God continues to teach me, as I have seen that God wants me to invest in people, not just take what I can from them.

I hope you all are doing well and I encourage you to comment on my blog about anything and everything… perhaps I will be able to blog sometime next week! Hasta luego!

Macie and I in front of Irma's gate


View of La Antigua from Cerro de la Cruz


Irma and I eating mangos


At school with my tutor Catalina