Another day...another family

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Hola Chicas y Chicos,
Today was moving day. Val and I left our lovely little Hotel Aurora in Antigua( highly recommended for price, location and great breakfasts!). We moved into the home of Senora Consuelo Lopez. Her home is located just behind the La Merced Church which is one of the most beautiful old buildings in Antigua.

It is part of our week of Spanish study at Casa de Lenguas. Well, actually, we opted to do it. It is not for everyone as you have to share a bathroom and fit into the routine of a family. But it gives you an intimate glimpse into how people live in other countries. It also is an incredibly inexpensive way to travel. I have done this now in Oaxaca, Mexico, Seville, Spain, Monteverde and San Joaguin de Flores in Costa Rica and in Copan in Honduras. Each family is different. Each experience is unique and has a special sweetness to it. I have been fortunate in that most of my families have treated me not as a paying boarder but as a member of the family. They have helped me with my Spanish, fed me great meals and usually there are lots of hugs and even a few tears when we part.

Val, my travel buddy from New Orleans joined me a week ago. We have been on the road exploring lots of small villages since then. On Friday we had the 'mother of all tours'- 4 towns, a Macadamia nut plantation called, of all things, Valhalla, and lastly, a jade factory and store. The towns were all from the 1500's. Many had been completely destroyed in the huge earthquakes in 1775 and the other in 1996 - give or take a few years. But slowly they have come back to life and throb with activity and kids. More than 50 % of the population is under 16! There are kids everywhere. There was a sign in front of the Catholic Church in one town telling them "that if you take a pill to stop a birth then you are taking a bullet to kill a life". Pretty strong message there. Perhaps that is why so many are turning to the 'evangelical 'churches, which are basically any protestant denomination.
Back to the tour... we visited the bedroom of the first bishop in Central Am. He was, of course, a Spaniard. Now his huge estate is a convent which is used for retreats. Only 4 nuns are in residence and they were busy sweeping floors, gardening and doing housework.
My favorite town was San Pedro la Huertas. The church was a magnificent peachy, rosy, salmon color. About 8 statues were in niches on the crumbling facade. We learned that the Spaniards put the statues on the exterior of the churches because the Mayan's didn't like to worship indoor. They also made squares where the Mayans stood to 'worship'. Men in one corner, women in the other, kids in the 3rd and old people in the 4th.
Other great sites were- a dog vaccination clinic with many people trying to coax, hold, tie and corral the reluctant and scared pooches. It was a lesson in co-operation to see how they finally got the shot into the dog. A town 'laundry'- a roof covered about 20 wash stations. Ladies were gathered with their baskets of laundry and their soap. They were scrubbing away on slanted rock slabs. The water comes from the mountains and even though they have water in their homes, they don't have telephones. So this is their way to get their clothes clean and get all the local scuttlebutt. It seems incongruous for me to be writing this where people all over the world can read it yet a few miles away women are washing clothes on rock slabs.
And finally, the 'rejuvenation' of Carolyn and Val. It seems a bi-product of macadamia nuts is an oil that is a 'magic elixir' that makes you look ten years younger. That's what we were told and we're sticking with it. A free facial was offered and the ladies exclaimed about how wonderful we looked. We had to agree. We both bought tiny bottles of this supposedly 'miracle'oil. I do hope you recognize me next time you see me!
Carolyn

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