The last two weeks since I updated you all have been full of adjustments and excitement. Last week started with a 5.2 earthquake that I was sure was going to cause the house to fall down, but I was assured by the Guatemalans that it was completely normal and happens all the time...not sure how I feel about that. It is also safe to say that I am being eaten alive by some sort of unknown bug that I still have yet to see. I've lost count but I probably have over 100 bites at this point. I just hope that means they are sick of me by the time I get to the DR, where I am known for being the bugs' favorite person.
On the positive side, last week I took my first trip to the local market, which was quite an experience. They sell everything you could possibly imagine there and it is open every day of the week. This is where the locals go to get produce and meat frequently. There is a student from Korea living in the same house as me and she wanted to go buy some pig feet to cook (wasn't brave enough to try those), so I went along to check it out. The meat section of the market is pretty overwhelming for someone that is used to going to Safeway to get nicely packaged meat. They have every part of every animal that you could possibly imagine. The smell is also pretty intense since that part of the market is indoors and there are about 20 different stands selling meat...
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| Prepared food that is sold at the market. |
Last week I also got to go check out the McDonalds that is here. I had heard that it is one of the nicest McDonalds in the world, so I couldn't pass up seeing it. Apparently it's the place to go for local families to hang out and it's way different than anything I have seen in the U.S. There were families there that seemed to be gathering for special occasions and it was a big treat for them. On holidays when the mothers don't want to cook, the families will often go there to eat. There is a beautiful garden where they were all sitting and eating. A little different than the drive-thru McDonalds we have in the States.
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| Garden at McDonald's |
This week started out a little rough with someone slashing my purse/bag with a knife while I was at the market again last Saturday. The bag is ruined, but I am extremely thankful that they weren't able to take anything and it was only the bag that was ruined. This was a good wake up call for me to make sure to only walk around with what I need, and not bring extra things with me everywhere I go. This week I also felt like my Spanish was making a little bit of progress. It seemed like it was just getting worse before getting better, but it seems to be making a little more sense now. Hopefully I make a lot more progress in the next 7 weeks though.
This Monday (Sept. 15th) is Independence Day in Guatemala, so there have been parades and festivities happening the whole weekend. On Friday, my school had a party to celebrate. All of the teachers were divided into groups and those teachers and their students made a typical Guatemalan dish to share with everyone. There were probably about 15 different types of food that we all got to try. My group was in charge of fruit, so it wasn't very exotic but there were lots of new things that I hadn't seen before. The teachers also put on performances that included dances and songs. There are a ton of Spanish schools in Antigua and a lot of them only have a couple students attending right now, so I am very grateful to be at a school where there are probably 40 students and the school makes a big effort to help integrate the students into the culture and teach us as much as possible while we are here.
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| My group was in charge of providing the fruit. |
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| My teacher is on the right in the front, performing a traditional dance. |
On Friday afternoon, I went on a small tour of the city with a couple other students at the school. I got to see a lot of the ruins from old churches that are all around the city, and we also spent some time in the main park, learning about different things to do and good restaurants to go to. Along the way, we discovered a chocolate museum. I truly thought it was heaven on earth, so on Saturday I decided to go with the girl I live with to the truffle making class. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot, but I doubt I will ever be able to replicate the process. The outcome was well worth it though! Another student and I also found a place that sells tacos, just a couple doors down from where I live. It is a little hole in the wall, but the tacos are incredible. This might be dangerous to have so close, in the future...
It's hard to believe I have already been gone for 5 weeks. In just 7 more weeks, I will be on my way to the Dominican Republic!
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| Ruins from an old Catholic Church. |
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| Fountain in the main park in Antigua. |
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| Learning how to "Temper" chocolate to dip truffles in. |
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| The final product! |
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| Tacos down the street that might turn into a bad habit... |
