The flight to Guatemala City saw this inexperienced traveller slightly overcome by the thought of stepping into a foreign country without speaking the native tongue. So with my Spanish phrase book in hand, and a few pleasantries in mind, I left the plane a little unsure of what was to come.
Having organised to be met at the airport by a driver from my Spanish school in Antigua, my observations of Guatemala City are few. The first thing that hit me was a huge billboard for Dominos pizza. I was amazed by the sheer number of billboards advertising all sorts of things from fast food (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Pollo Campero - Guatemala's KFC) to new cars and health care products. Most buildings were in need of some good handy work, the roads even more so, and most of the cars I saw were very old, with the driving erratic at best. Pretty much what I was expecting on those accounts.
The trip from Guatemala City to Antigua is about 40 minutes on windy mountain roads, and it didn't fail to throw up some interesting sights. Entire families travelling in utes (a few kids on the tray), a four car incident that left a police car with a broken rear axle in the middle of the road blocking all traffic, luckily in the opposite direction to my travel, and also a car spun off the road into a ditch. Both incidents presumably caused by the misty, greasy conditions high in the mountains. People of all ages walked tightly along the edge of the major road with traffic whizing by because there are no footpaths, and at a military checkpoint backpackers nervously unpacked their bags infront of soldiers with ancient yet no doubt effective automatic weapons. A very interesting little journey.
Arriving at my homestay mid afternoon Sunday, I was met by my host, Juanita. She's a delightful old lady whose speaks little English, so the conversation was short and there was lots of gesturing going on as she showed me around her home. "Mi casa es tu casa" was one of the few sentences I understood. I instantly felt very welcome in my simple little home of the next two weeks.
The city of Antigua itself is an amazing place, and I instantly fell in love with it. The mix of old and new is extraordinary. From the outside, all buildings appear to have been built hundreds of years ago, and some of them were. The cobblestone streets are lined with high concrete or stone walls, many with grand old wooden doorways and barred windows. It's impossible to tell what lies within. Places like McDonalds and Subway are no exception to this. From the street they are just another wall painted a single colour, with a small sign beside the doorway, but inside, they look like any other McDonald's or Subway anywhere in the world, or even nicer with beautiful plant filled courtyards to eat your meal in, completely hidden from view from the street. Theres many places with hidden gardens like this; bookstores, coffee shops, bars and restaurants. Amazing.
Remains of buildings destroyed by the 1773 earthquake dot the city, most of them churches, and to look through them is absolutely breathtaking. The markets are a vibrant mix of colours, sounds and smells, and after seeing chickens being chopped up and red meat hanging in shop fronts under the hot tin sheds of the marketplace, I'm somewhat glad we don't eat much meat at my homestay!
The contrast between rich and poor is quite striking as well. Central park and the streets around it are filled with ladies selling beaded necklaces and hand woven blankets for as little as a couple of quetzales (25-30 cents), people pushing ice cream carts (with cow bell attached) along the cobbled streets remind you that ice cream is extremely tasty, and kids as young as 5 or 6 offer to shine your shoes, even if you are wearing brown hiking boots. Or thongs.
All this goes on whilst armed guards with shotguns stand in the doorways of numerous jewelry shops, and slightly twitchy fellows on street corners not-so-discreetly ask 'whatchu need?', which goes some way to explaining the high end Audis and brand new BMW's you occasionally see roll down the street, windows tinted so dark I'm not even sure they're made of glass. The gap between rich and poor is obviously quite large, but the city seems to roll on without too much trouble. The stories of gangs and late night personal security appear, at least at this stage, to have been greatly over exaggerated, whilst the legends of the chicken buses appear to be every bit the truth judging by the stories of each and every traveller I've met who's been on one. An experience like no other, an experience I'm looking forward to.
All this blogging, and hardly a mention of the main reason I'm in this wonderful city. The lifeblood of the place is tourism, and a big part of that tourism is Spanish language schools. Every street has at least one, and every foreigner I've spoken to has been to one for at least a week, many for a lot longer than that. Having never been interested in learning a language while at school, the decision to come here to learn Spanish for 4 hours a day for a couple of weeks may seem a strange one. But one week in, it's one of the most satisfying decisions I've ever made. It's an experience I certainly recommend to anyone remotely interested in learning a language, throw yourself into the deep end and just go for it. A long way out of my comfort zone, the first week was tough, but I came through it able to (more or less) understand conversations going on around me. Confidence in making conversation myself is growing, but still has a way to go! I know 2 weeks is hardly going to make me a master of the language, but I'm closer to my goal of being able to ask questions handy for travelers, and most importantly, understand the responses!
I hope this goes some way to explaining how much I've enjoyed my first week here in Antigua. It's a fantastic place, and I'm glad I made the decision to come here. In some ways it's exactly what I expected, in others it's much, much more. Nothing has disappointed me so far, and I'm sure the experience will get better and better the longer I'm here. Until next time, adios amigos!!
Having organised to be met at the airport by a driver from my Spanish school in Antigua, my observations of Guatemala City are few. The first thing that hit me was a huge billboard for Dominos pizza. I was amazed by the sheer number of billboards advertising all sorts of things from fast food (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Pollo Campero - Guatemala's KFC) to new cars and health care products. Most buildings were in need of some good handy work, the roads even more so, and most of the cars I saw were very old, with the driving erratic at best. Pretty much what I was expecting on those accounts.
The trip from Guatemala City to Antigua is about 40 minutes on windy mountain roads, and it didn't fail to throw up some interesting sights. Entire families travelling in utes (a few kids on the tray), a four car incident that left a police car with a broken rear axle in the middle of the road blocking all traffic, luckily in the opposite direction to my travel, and also a car spun off the road into a ditch. Both incidents presumably caused by the misty, greasy conditions high in the mountains. People of all ages walked tightly along the edge of the major road with traffic whizing by because there are no footpaths, and at a military checkpoint backpackers nervously unpacked their bags infront of soldiers with ancient yet no doubt effective automatic weapons. A very interesting little journey.
Arriving at my homestay mid afternoon Sunday, I was met by my host, Juanita. She's a delightful old lady whose speaks little English, so the conversation was short and there was lots of gesturing going on as she showed me around her home. "Mi casa es tu casa" was one of the few sentences I understood. I instantly felt very welcome in my simple little home of the next two weeks.
The city of Antigua itself is an amazing place, and I instantly fell in love with it. The mix of old and new is extraordinary. From the outside, all buildings appear to have been built hundreds of years ago, and some of them were. The cobblestone streets are lined with high concrete or stone walls, many with grand old wooden doorways and barred windows. It's impossible to tell what lies within. Places like McDonalds and Subway are no exception to this. From the street they are just another wall painted a single colour, with a small sign beside the doorway, but inside, they look like any other McDonald's or Subway anywhere in the world, or even nicer with beautiful plant filled courtyards to eat your meal in, completely hidden from view from the street. Theres many places with hidden gardens like this; bookstores, coffee shops, bars and restaurants. Amazing.
Remains of buildings destroyed by the 1773 earthquake dot the city, most of them churches, and to look through them is absolutely breathtaking. The markets are a vibrant mix of colours, sounds and smells, and after seeing chickens being chopped up and red meat hanging in shop fronts under the hot tin sheds of the marketplace, I'm somewhat glad we don't eat much meat at my homestay!
The contrast between rich and poor is quite striking as well. Central park and the streets around it are filled with ladies selling beaded necklaces and hand woven blankets for as little as a couple of quetzales (25-30 cents), people pushing ice cream carts (with cow bell attached) along the cobbled streets remind you that ice cream is extremely tasty, and kids as young as 5 or 6 offer to shine your shoes, even if you are wearing brown hiking boots. Or thongs.
All this goes on whilst armed guards with shotguns stand in the doorways of numerous jewelry shops, and slightly twitchy fellows on street corners not-so-discreetly ask 'whatchu need?', which goes some way to explaining the high end Audis and brand new BMW's you occasionally see roll down the street, windows tinted so dark I'm not even sure they're made of glass. The gap between rich and poor is obviously quite large, but the city seems to roll on without too much trouble. The stories of gangs and late night personal security appear, at least at this stage, to have been greatly over exaggerated, whilst the legends of the chicken buses appear to be every bit the truth judging by the stories of each and every traveller I've met who's been on one. An experience like no other, an experience I'm looking forward to.
All this blogging, and hardly a mention of the main reason I'm in this wonderful city. The lifeblood of the place is tourism, and a big part of that tourism is Spanish language schools. Every street has at least one, and every foreigner I've spoken to has been to one for at least a week, many for a lot longer than that. Having never been interested in learning a language while at school, the decision to come here to learn Spanish for 4 hours a day for a couple of weeks may seem a strange one. But one week in, it's one of the most satisfying decisions I've ever made. It's an experience I certainly recommend to anyone remotely interested in learning a language, throw yourself into the deep end and just go for it. A long way out of my comfort zone, the first week was tough, but I came through it able to (more or less) understand conversations going on around me. Confidence in making conversation myself is growing, but still has a way to go! I know 2 weeks is hardly going to make me a master of the language, but I'm closer to my goal of being able to ask questions handy for travelers, and most importantly, understand the responses!
I hope this goes some way to explaining how much I've enjoyed my first week here in Antigua. It's a fantastic place, and I'm glad I made the decision to come here. In some ways it's exactly what I expected, in others it's much, much more. Nothing has disappointed me so far, and I'm sure the experience will get better and better the longer I'm here. Until next time, adios amigos!!
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