Well, after quitting my job with few regrets, applying to a competitive journalism internship with many doubts, and dying my hair to appear less gringa, I am finally in Antigua, Guatemala.
I flew into Guatemala City on Saturday and after waiting for my bag which happened to be the last one to pass on the conveyor belt and after standing clueless for 5 minutes on how to pass through customs, I found my way outside and found the volunteer who was waiting to pick me up from the airport. The 25km drive from Guatemala City to Antigua was fast and with enough curves to make even the strongest stomach slightly queesy. Guatemala City was swarming with people, covered in brilliantly colored signs, and with a hint of smog in the air. However, when we arrived in Antigua, we immediately slipped hundreds of years into the past.
Antigua is a UNESCO site and consequently, the citizens are not allowed to rebuild buildings or churches that have crumbled because of the frequent earthquakes, pave any of the cobblestone streets, and can´t build more than 2 stories high. As a result it´s very expensive to build here because the locals have to use the materials that are permitted (instead of what they have) so that new buildings fit in with the old. Tourists flock all over the city which is difficult at times to feel like I´m living here and not only one of them, but at the same time it´s one of the safest cities in Latin America.
My friend and I are living with a host family close to the center of Antigua. The house is large, with six bedrooms (since a great deal of my host mother´s income is hosting volunteers), a modest living, a large dining room, and a kitchen. The house wraps around with a patio in the middle that always has fresh laundry hanging. We live with our mother, brother (who is 25 and traveled in Australia for 2 years and now speaks very good english with an aussi accent), and the small dog Chompy that is lacking a great deal of intelligence.
The exchange rate in Guatemala is $1 = 8.25 Quetzales. To spare you the trouble and embarrasment of realizing that you forgot your 8th grade math, I´ll give a few examples: the jeans I bought in the outdoor market (because I realized I didn´t bring enough clothes) cost about $13, and an expensive meal in a restaurant is mas o menos $8. To use the internet for 15 minutes, most places its Q2 or Q3 or about 35 cents...So life is cheaper but nonetheless it all adds up. I think I´ve finally found the cheapest place to use the internet after hunting all over town. Its called The Red (no se porque)and while it´s not quite as nice as the others in town, there´s something to be said for sitting in a closet sized room listening at the same time to people speaking in German and people crying and dying on a spanish soap opera.
Steph and I have spent all week, 6 hours a day, at Spanish school. We talk one on one with our teachers the whole time and while it´s frustrating at times to not remember what I should, it´s more practice than I could have ever imagined and I´m already able to talk with more fluency. While I can get my point across, I´m not sure I will ever be able to get my nouns in agreement. For by the time I finish saying a word and realize that comida ends in an ¨a¨ and is feminine, I´ve already said el instead of la. But Çe la vie. I mean es la vida!
No comments:
Post a Comment