It's been almost a week!

Random things about Guatemala:
1. It is their winter here – March through October. Guatemala’s seasons are opposite then ours. Winter here just means that the sun doesn’t beat down as hard because there are so many clouds. Therefore I haven’t received any sort of sunburn and haven’t had to wear sunscreen at all! I wish the sky was clearer though so we can see all the volcanoes around us. It usually rains for about 10 minutes then stops, and that only happens every once in awhile. The first time we heard it rain we ran outside because it sounded like it was pouring - we go out there and the sound is just from all the tin roofs! It is SO HOT and SO HUMID but because its winter there is a light breeze. I haven’t had to wear a sweater at all here yet –but we probably will when we get to Patzi.

2. We go to school at APPE – Academa De Profesores Privados De Espanol. There I get one on one instruction. I love my teacher! His name is Rodolfo and he’s awesome. I think I’ve learned a lot so far because he’s really challenged me. I have mucha tarea todos los dias. (PS I can’t do Spanish punctuation on my computer and it drives me crazy! So please excuse my lack of punctuation) We are in class for 4 hours, which is plenty because we talk and pay full attention for the ENTIRE 4 hours. The school also has optional activities for us to do after we go back home for lunch. We’ve been on a tour of the city, went on a hike to La Cruz (a view of the whole city), and we’ve visited a volcano! I wish I could stay in Antigua longer because I would love to study Spanish more!

3. There are people from all over the world in Antigua that are here to volunteer and study Spanish. I’ve met people from England, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Canada, and some more I can’t think of right now. In many of those countries the citizens are required to either serve in the military or do community service. It’s been really fun hanging out with all of them! Our roommate Afra is from Holland and she is absolutely adorable! It’s been fun going on the little trips with them.

4. It gets dark so early here – around 6pm. We’ve gotten a little bit braver about walking at night. As long as we aren’t carrying big bags and we’re with a group - we’re fine. We get a little nervous when it’s just the two of us though.

5. There are 33 volcanoes in Guatemala and 3 are active: Pacaya, Santa Maria, and Fuego. We went and saw Pacaya yesterday! SO COOL!

6. Guatemala has very old septic systems so they don’t allow you to put any toilet paper in the toilet. You have to put it in a little trash can next to it- yuck! That’s one thing I REALLY miss about home – clean bathrooms! I’m OCD about using hand sanitizer – I carry one with me constantly.

7. The currency used here is Quetzales. Here 7 Quetzales = 1 US dollar. 100Q = about 12 US dollars. The 10Q bill looks A LOT like 100Q bill so we have to be careful. Gas and food are not that cheap here at all. Clothes and things are though. So far I’ve bought a purse (about 7 bucks), a skirt of many colors (about 8 bucks), some leather sandals (about 8 bucks). Of course it’s really easy to get scammed on here because most of don’t speak fluent Spanish. For example, I spend about 3 bucks on a necklace from this poor little girl on the street when I should have bought it for a dollar or less– oh well it was a donation I guess. We talk to our teachers and they tell us what prices SHOULD be so we know what to expect.

8. Because we’re in the city the bugs aren’t too bad. Our house we’re in right now is really nice so there aren’t very many bugs. I put deet on about twice a day so I feel sticky ALL the time. I got my first bite yesterday. We will see SO MANY more bugs in Patzi when we get there.

9. Water is so precious here. The water that comes from the sinks is not safe to drink – we could get really sick if we do. We brush our teeth with it and take a shower in it and that’s about it. Jenna and I end up getting water from the school and or we drink the water from our house. They are turning off the water for two whole blocks to clean a part that supplies it – so we didn't have any running water today. This means we can’t go to the bathroom or take a shower.

10. Electricity is not always very reliant here. The past couple nights the light in our room just turns off for no reason. Five minutes later it started working again. It’s done this a couple times. It makes me a little nervous for when we go to our school in Patzi – which is a MUCH rural area.

11. The food here is really REALLY good. We love it! And we haven’t gotten sick at all! J Dolores our host mother cooks us three meals a day and they are always different. So far I’ve tried eggplant, fish, chicken, beef in the way the Guatemalan’s cook it. She cooks the most AMAZING rice and beans! For breakfast one morning we just had a big slice of fruit. Sometimes there are large potions and sometimes they are tiny. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here.

12. Eighty-Eight percent of people that live in Antigua, Guatemala are Catholic. There are two huge cathedrals in the city that are absolutely beautiful. Last Sunday there was this huge parade in the streets with this really depressing band following it. We’re not sure what the occasion was but everyone in the parade was wearing black. The women not marching with everyone else were carrying this huge lit up float with the Virgin Mary on it. Anyway..it was interesting.

13. The city here is planned out in blocks – when you go through a door in the middle of the house or café is an open area (kind of like their backyard or patio) There are not very many two story buildings here. I have yet to go into a house, restaurant, or café that has air conditioning.

14. In front of all banks stand guards with huge guns – and you have to have a reason to enter. They usually let tourists in pretty easy. Some of the fancy stores have guards too. I was talking to my teacher and he said the biggest crime they have here is drug trafficking.

15. The buses here are called Caminonetas. Another nickname is Caminoneta de Pollos – aka Chicken Bus because the fit SO many in each bus. They can only seat 50 and I’m told they try and fit 75 people in them! These buses are HUGE and VERY COLORFUL, and I’m not really sure how they fit to turn on these tiny little streets. Ninety percent of the population in Guatemala uses these buses to get to work and to travel. Oh and by the way these buses do not run on any kind of schedule at all – they just show up whenever. So if you need to go somewhere you have to leave REALLY early and just HOPE there will be one there going the direction you are going. (reflecting much of the Guatemalan attitude on life = VERY laid back).

16. Me and Jenna think they have no road laws here. The people here drive like maniacs: really fast and they don’t pay attention at all. You always have to make sure you watch where you are going because they WILL NOT stop for you. I’ve seen about a million yard cars here Morgan Family – the other day there were this huge casket in the back of one with flowers on it. Made me laugh and I thought of you guys. There are also these tiny things called Tuc-Tucs – they are like taxis but tiny little cars smaller than golf carts. We’re told they aren’t very safe to drive in at night because people kidnap tourists. But during the day they are a fast way to get across town. We just walk everywhere.

17. From what I’ve seen the people here are up 24/7 – and we’ve been up different hours of the day. One of our first nights we thought we heard gunshots or something – it ended up being this firework that makes LOTS of noise. It goes off every night because there is ALWAYS a reason to PARTY. EVERY night here is “Lady’s Night” so the different bars give free or cheap drinks to the ladies various nights of the week. My friends that drink you would absolutely love it here – its about 20 cents a drink on some nights. We went to this bar/salsa club with a big group of our friends from the school the other night and Jenna and I got free sodas (don’t worry not alcohol). Most of the bars play American music and American TV.

18. Finding internet here is a big pain – and a lot harder than I thought. There are a lot of internet cafes but their point in life is to scam on tourists – so it’s hard to find places that don’t charge a lot. If we go to a café and buy a drink we can stay on as long as we want on my computer. Jenna doesn’t have a computer though so I don’t like having to make her wait for me. Jenna has a cell phone that people from the USA can call and it doesn’t cost her a thing – BUT the person calling needs to have international minutes. OR if I someone calls me from Skype to that phone that is also a way to use international minutes for a really cheap price. I’m curious how internet will be in our new home next week.


Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you guys. I’m so sad to leave Antigua because I love all the friends I’ve made here! We finally figured out the city too! On the new adventures! I love you all and I hope to write soon!


PS Things I forgot and wish I would have brought: more shirts! I don't know when we can do laundry and I'm running out! SNACKS: sometimes we're hungry but we're not sure what to eat. chips or something from America would be so nice.