Antigua... gentle beginnings

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Hi all

Have had a lovely two weeks in Antigua.. whoever thought cramming Spanish for 6 hours a day could be such fun?! Slowly but surely am dragging it back from the depths of my subconscious!

Antigua, Guatemala is a very chilled, very lovely city with loads of ruins and cafes and places to visit. The climate is perfect, warm sunny days but cool evenings. And compared to the rest of centroamerica I think it is probably pretty luxurious too. We even had hot showers. I've spent the time living with a family and socialising with students from the US, UK, Oz, Germany and the Netherlands.

We attended a lecture one evening on the world press view of guatemala which is for the most part horribly incorrect and, at the very least, totally negative.

Have attempted salsa, watched spanish films on scratchy TVs in the back of bars, gone on a bicycle trip to the local coffee farms and villages and am getting very good at chilling out in bars, playing backgammon, eating chocolate cake and partaking of a cuba libre.. or two!

Now it is time for the hard stuff... met with Pete today, another project manager, in San Jose Costa Rica and we head of to fieldbase in an hour. Wish me luck!

Memories of Antigua
*morning walk to school along ancient cobbles
*hidden courtyards with beautiful fountains
*majestic ruins
*tasting sweetness of a coffee bean husk
*colour all around - houses, Maya textiles, blue blue sky
*firecrackers and cockerels at all hours of the night
*midnight church festivals and processions
*sunset over three volcanoes
*sitting 4 metres from the active cone of Volcan de Pacaya
*meeting two members of the original Buena Vista social club
*Tamayos visit - wonderful restaurants, beautiful places
*Coffee beans, orange trees and aguacate {avocado to you and me}
*Tiramisu at Hotel Santo Domingo
*candles and rose petals

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