Saturday, July 24, 2010

I got up this morning at 6:30 and finished getting ready to go. I went in and had breakfast (cornflakes and warm milk and a banana and coffee) at 7. Instead of eating my banana, I took it with me for later. I went back to my room, brushed my teeth, and left at 7:20. I didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus to come. I took the bus to Terminal Minerva. I never know where is the best place to get off. I had to walk a little way through the market until I found the buses. I asked for a bus to Chimaltenango (Q35) and again had the experience of being shoved toward the bus as if it were leaving. Then I sat on the bus for ten minutes waiting to go. I had a seat to myself for most of the trip which was incredibly nice. We left at 8. I was able to work on some school stuff. I had started worrying about everything I have to do when I get back, but I was able to get about 3 hours of work done on this bus. I filled about 15 pages of a notebook with ideas for the year and lists of things I need to do. I actually started getting a little bit excited about a new school year starting! I was a little worried that the ayudante would forget to tell me when to get off the bus, but I moved up to the front, and he told me where to get off. I had no more than stepped off the bus than a bus pulled up behind and the ayudante started shouting, “Antigua!” I walked a few steps and climbed on the bus. I got one of the last seats. More and more people kept getting on the bus. It was the most crowded bus I have been on in Guatemala. The ride from Chimaltenango to Antigua (Q5) took about an hour. Many more people kept getting on. I was squished up against the wall by the two men who were sharing the school bus seat with me.

When we arrived a little after noon, I got off the bus and wandered through a market area. I asked someone which way was the center of Antigua. I wandered into town and was surprised to see no street signs. That is one thing that I have been very impressed with in Xela. Probably due to their confusing zoning system, almost every corner is labeled. However, in Antigua, this was not so. I asked someone what street and what avenue I was on. I ended up walking almost to central park and then going back to search for Elvira’s house. I found it, but walked way out of my way. Rosa, the maid, answered the door and let me in. She gave me water to drink. I was really hot. Antigua is really hot and I was carrying all my stuff in my backpack. I changed into a skirt and short-sleeved top (Hallelujah!), and headed out to experience Antigua. I wandered around looking at ruins of churches that were destroyed by an earthquake. I looked at Central Park (Plaza Mayor), the cathedral, and several other things. I went to find an arch over a street that connected two buildings of an abbey so the nuns could cross over without being seen. I found it after asking two people for directions. The funny thing is that this arch is only about three blocks away from Elvira’s house, but I had taken the long way around. As I was walking down the street after seeing the arch, I heard someone say, “Carolina!” I figured the person wasn’t talking to me, then I heard it again. I looked up and saw Brenda! I was so surprised and excited to see her! We walked along together, talking and catching up. Her guide book has more info about Antigua than does mine, so we went exploring together. We saw the San Francisco church (or something like that). We went inside and looked around. We saw the tomb of San Pedro. We went outside and looked at some vendors’ stalls. I bought a few things. Then it started to sprinkle. There were very few drops of rain, but the drops were humongous Brenda and I shared my umbrella and kept walking. We continued on and the rain stopped. We kept walking and then we heard a huge thunderclap. We kept walking and it started pouring. We ducked into a shop and asked if there was a café close by. We dashed four doors down and entered the café. We both chose a strawberry-pineapple licuado. We sat there, drinking and talking. It worked out perfectly because the rain stopped about the time we wanted to leave. We wandered around a little more together and Brenda bought some snacks for her trip. She was leaving at 6 to go to Guatemala (City), and then she was going to take an overnight bus to Tikal. I left her close to her place to get the bus, and headed back to the house. On the way, I met Rosa and she told me that no one was home, and that she was going home for Sunday. I decided to go to the market. I found a great offer on shirts and bought some for Q10 each. Now I have more clean clothes to wear! I went back to the house and Elvira and Enrique were home. Elvira had fallen two weeks ago and broken her foot (I think) and hurt her hand. I sat in the kitchen and talked to Elvira while she got supper ready. Then Enrique came in and I talked to him, too. I learned a lot about their family. We were also ready to eat when the electricity went off. Elvira lit candles and said that it would be more romantic! We had chilerellenos and salad and rice for dinner and reinitos (plantains with black beans inside) for dessert. I hadn’t had salad in forever and it was really good! We sat at the table and talked for a long time. Then Enrique went to show me my room. I slept in their grandson’s room because the other rooms were full. It’s a good thing he wasn’t there this weekend! They told me that it is the same room that Jenny slept in when she was here with a Tri-S group during spring break. I asked about churches and Enrique told me about the church that Jenny attended while she was here. I could hear fireworks and music from the park. If it hadn’t been raining, I would have gone out, but I journaled and went to bed fairly early. I think it was about 9:30.