Welcome to Antigua, GT

Central street with volcano Aqua in background

I believe the picture alone speaks to the beauty of Antigua. I was originally only supposed to stay a few days and then move on to San Pedro for more spanish lessons. But due to its closeness to Guatemala city (where I needed to get my bike serviced and buy a new laptop) it seemed the smart choice.

 I am back in spanish school for two weeks, but this time with a twist. I am actually living with a local Guatemalan family. The idea is to immerse yourself with the culture and language as much as possible to increase you ability to converse. So each day I wake up and sit down with the family for three meals or watch television and talk only in spanish.

School is different than what we are used to back home. If we have too many students we just build a bigger school, but that is not possible in Antigua for various reasons. So students have the option of choosing to attend classes in the morning, afternoon or at night (I believe attending afternoon only classes would be a dream come true to most teenagers back home). It is not uncommon to see marching bands parading through the streets practicing throughout the day.

And finally the famous Antigua chicken buses. The babies are school buses all decked out not only in paint a chrome, but the engines and chassises are all modified. The buses can fly and are not afraid to do so, just get out of there way. They are called chicken buses because they cram as many people in as possible, just like a chicken coop.