Thursday, March 09, 2006
i think the last time i wrote was saturday...that seems like a long time ago. things got a little hectic toward the end of our trip and i never made it back to use the computer. so hola from denton! i want to write about what happened the past few days so i'll just try to write a few short stories working from saturday to today. also now that we're back, i'll try to figure out how to add pictures from the trip.
also justin wanted me to clarify that he does not remember me telling him that i wanted a pinata:)
saturday: we cooked dinner for our family. we wanted to do something kind of fun and different so we did tex-mex. justin made salsa and fajita meat and i made guac and mex. rice. we bought most of the things we needed at the market, including a 2.5 lb. slab of meat from the scary meat section. we aren't sure what cut it was but there was a huge piece of meat hanging from a hook and we asked for 2.5 pounds. the butcher cut off a chunk and weighed it, it was exactly 2.5 lbs. we hoped it would be fine to eat-thankfully, no one got sick after our meal. it was a fun meal and they liked the food (or did a good job faking it). we told them we wanted to cook for them some of the food that we like to eat. plus, for us it was good comfort, happy food. our house mom said she didn't think she'd have to take any pepto. you may think, they eat tacos and rice and beans all the time, how was this special? it really was different than the food we ate while we were there. we just used different mixtures of the same ingredients.
sunday: after church we were walking home and saw a carpet being made by the catholic church near our home. i think it was being made by the youth group because there were only high school age looking kids and they had Nelly blaring on the stereo. i asked if a procession was coming by and was told it was coming around 3. so we decided to go home and come back a little later. we turned down our street and saw everyone on our street making carpets, too. there were carpets made from flowers and pine needles all down our street. later in the afternoon we walked around the block and saw carpets made from colored saw dust, flowers, and beans. all of them were different. everyone was outside of their houses working on the designs. there were street vendors selling balloons, candy, fruit, and little toys. families were gathered waiting for the procession to pass. after we circled the block, we started hearing music coming down a different street. we looked and saw the incense smoke and a float being carried-it had arrived to our part of town. people started gathering around us waiting for it to pass. the float is a large platform with a figure of jesus carrying his cross on it. sometimes it can way up to 7,000 pounds and is carried by groups of men-they change out every block or so. after this float there are a few smaller ones, one which is of mary and is carried by women. this procession came from a nearby town, san felipe. it left in the morning, walk carrying it to antigua, would go around several streets and return to it's home church. we saw the procession pass us once and then we ran over to our house and saw it come down that street again. there is a band, incense holders, hundreds of cucuruchos-the men who carry the floats, and even special people who carry the poles to lift the wires so the tall floats can pass. as soon as it passes, there is a clean up crew sweeping up the street and all the carpets. within minutes the crowd has passed, all the carpets are gone, and you can only hear the faint sound of the music as the procession begins going down another street.
monday/tuesday: we left for our kayaking trip through the mangroves. i won't go into all the details but it was not a highlight of the trip and not the best way to end our trip. unfortunately there were not enough kayaks for everyone in the group so two people (us) got to kayak in inflatable kayaks, which is basically like trying to paddle in a lay-z-boy. we spent the next 5 hours trying to paddle through narrow passes of the mangroves in shallow brown water that didn't have the best smell, sometimes just getting out and pulling our boats through the mud. after lunch our guide offered to trade boats with me because i couldn't paddle as quickly in the recliner. (inflatable kayaks are much larger, wider, and heavier than ocean or river kayaks). this helped a lot but it was still hard not getting stuck in the roots. if there was pretty scenery, i don't really remember it. i have blocked a lot of the trip from my memory. there were some pretty white egret type birds and small fish that kept jumping into our boats and would made me jump and give a little shriek. my arms were dead by the time we arrived montericco. did i mention that we had to kayak all our stuff to the hotel and would have to kayak back to the van? we were assured we'd take the quicker route the next day. we arrived just in time to see a beautiful sunset over the pacific ocean and the black sand beaches. i thought, this is so nice to have such a pretty ending to a not-the-most-pleasant kayaking experience. i took pictures, drank a orange fanta-ish type drink, took some advil, and had a little nap before dinner. about dinner time justin started feeling sick and then got sick for the rest of the trip. by the time the morning came around, we were ready to be gone. we had to walk down the beach to get our boats and the kayak down the river to the van. we did stop at a sea turtle reserve and i got to hold a baby sea turtle that was only a few hours old. we decided that we shouldn't kayak back down the river. justin hadn't eaten or drunk anything all night or morning and didn't feel like making another trip. thankfully there was a boat at the dock full of people going down river. our guide asked if we could get on. it would cost 5Q (about 75 cents) a person. so we deflated our boats and got on board. it was a smooth 15 minute trip down river and probably the best $1.50 we spent.
tuesday pm: we drive back and after our van broke down on the side of the road briefly, we arrive to antigua. we got our luggage from our house, said a sad good bye and thank you to our family and went to our hotel for our last night. this was a really pretty hotel a block from central park and on the same street as the arch and one of the big churches in town. really nice with the cobblestone streets, shops and restaurants, people paiting pictures of the streets, flowers from all the balconies. we checked in and justin slept and i watched er and friends, both of us feeling worn out, stinky, dirty, and sore. around 7, we left to go eat dinner and then went back to the room. justin slept and i watched the parent trap dubbed in spanish on the disney channel until i fell asleep.
wednesday: woke up to the sound of the bells as we did every morning. (i think i forgot to mention that the bells ring for mass several times a day. i think at one point there were over 20 catholic churches in antigua. i don't know how many there are now but there are bells ringing all the time. one night they went for 20 minutes straight.) we had a good breakfast and got packed to head to the airport. there was confusion with how we were to get to the airport after we had been assured by different people it had been arranged the day before. but we did have a ride and we got to the airport and through all the different check points smoothly. i was sad to leave antigua but excited as well. i think all the stress from the past couple days made it easier to leave. we boarded our plane to miami around 3 and were headed home. we strategically decided to fly to miami and then dallas instead of direct to get more miles. by 10:30 pm we were in dallas, by 11pm greeted by mom and soon after eating bueno, and 12 am saying hi to the dogs.
thursday: unpacking and doing laundry and thinking about the past 6 weeks.
also justin wanted me to clarify that he does not remember me telling him that i wanted a pinata:)
saturday: we cooked dinner for our family. we wanted to do something kind of fun and different so we did tex-mex. justin made salsa and fajita meat and i made guac and mex. rice. we bought most of the things we needed at the market, including a 2.5 lb. slab of meat from the scary meat section. we aren't sure what cut it was but there was a huge piece of meat hanging from a hook and we asked for 2.5 pounds. the butcher cut off a chunk and weighed it, it was exactly 2.5 lbs. we hoped it would be fine to eat-thankfully, no one got sick after our meal. it was a fun meal and they liked the food (or did a good job faking it). we told them we wanted to cook for them some of the food that we like to eat. plus, for us it was good comfort, happy food. our house mom said she didn't think she'd have to take any pepto. you may think, they eat tacos and rice and beans all the time, how was this special? it really was different than the food we ate while we were there. we just used different mixtures of the same ingredients.
sunday: after church we were walking home and saw a carpet being made by the catholic church near our home. i think it was being made by the youth group because there were only high school age looking kids and they had Nelly blaring on the stereo. i asked if a procession was coming by and was told it was coming around 3. so we decided to go home and come back a little later. we turned down our street and saw everyone on our street making carpets, too. there were carpets made from flowers and pine needles all down our street. later in the afternoon we walked around the block and saw carpets made from colored saw dust, flowers, and beans. all of them were different. everyone was outside of their houses working on the designs. there were street vendors selling balloons, candy, fruit, and little toys. families were gathered waiting for the procession to pass. after we circled the block, we started hearing music coming down a different street. we looked and saw the incense smoke and a float being carried-it had arrived to our part of town. people started gathering around us waiting for it to pass. the float is a large platform with a figure of jesus carrying his cross on it. sometimes it can way up to 7,000 pounds and is carried by groups of men-they change out every block or so. after this float there are a few smaller ones, one which is of mary and is carried by women. this procession came from a nearby town, san felipe. it left in the morning, walk carrying it to antigua, would go around several streets and return to it's home church. we saw the procession pass us once and then we ran over to our house and saw it come down that street again. there is a band, incense holders, hundreds of cucuruchos-the men who carry the floats, and even special people who carry the poles to lift the wires so the tall floats can pass. as soon as it passes, there is a clean up crew sweeping up the street and all the carpets. within minutes the crowd has passed, all the carpets are gone, and you can only hear the faint sound of the music as the procession begins going down another street.
monday/tuesday: we left for our kayaking trip through the mangroves. i won't go into all the details but it was not a highlight of the trip and not the best way to end our trip. unfortunately there were not enough kayaks for everyone in the group so two people (us) got to kayak in inflatable kayaks, which is basically like trying to paddle in a lay-z-boy. we spent the next 5 hours trying to paddle through narrow passes of the mangroves in shallow brown water that didn't have the best smell, sometimes just getting out and pulling our boats through the mud. after lunch our guide offered to trade boats with me because i couldn't paddle as quickly in the recliner. (inflatable kayaks are much larger, wider, and heavier than ocean or river kayaks). this helped a lot but it was still hard not getting stuck in the roots. if there was pretty scenery, i don't really remember it. i have blocked a lot of the trip from my memory. there were some pretty white egret type birds and small fish that kept jumping into our boats and would made me jump and give a little shriek. my arms were dead by the time we arrived montericco. did i mention that we had to kayak all our stuff to the hotel and would have to kayak back to the van? we were assured we'd take the quicker route the next day. we arrived just in time to see a beautiful sunset over the pacific ocean and the black sand beaches. i thought, this is so nice to have such a pretty ending to a not-the-most-pleasant kayaking experience. i took pictures, drank a orange fanta-ish type drink, took some advil, and had a little nap before dinner. about dinner time justin started feeling sick and then got sick for the rest of the trip. by the time the morning came around, we were ready to be gone. we had to walk down the beach to get our boats and the kayak down the river to the van. we did stop at a sea turtle reserve and i got to hold a baby sea turtle that was only a few hours old. we decided that we shouldn't kayak back down the river. justin hadn't eaten or drunk anything all night or morning and didn't feel like making another trip. thankfully there was a boat at the dock full of people going down river. our guide asked if we could get on. it would cost 5Q (about 75 cents) a person. so we deflated our boats and got on board. it was a smooth 15 minute trip down river and probably the best $1.50 we spent.
tuesday pm: we drive back and after our van broke down on the side of the road briefly, we arrive to antigua. we got our luggage from our house, said a sad good bye and thank you to our family and went to our hotel for our last night. this was a really pretty hotel a block from central park and on the same street as the arch and one of the big churches in town. really nice with the cobblestone streets, shops and restaurants, people paiting pictures of the streets, flowers from all the balconies. we checked in and justin slept and i watched er and friends, both of us feeling worn out, stinky, dirty, and sore. around 7, we left to go eat dinner and then went back to the room. justin slept and i watched the parent trap dubbed in spanish on the disney channel until i fell asleep.
wednesday: woke up to the sound of the bells as we did every morning. (i think i forgot to mention that the bells ring for mass several times a day. i think at one point there were over 20 catholic churches in antigua. i don't know how many there are now but there are bells ringing all the time. one night they went for 20 minutes straight.) we had a good breakfast and got packed to head to the airport. there was confusion with how we were to get to the airport after we had been assured by different people it had been arranged the day before. but we did have a ride and we got to the airport and through all the different check points smoothly. i was sad to leave antigua but excited as well. i think all the stress from the past couple days made it easier to leave. we boarded our plane to miami around 3 and were headed home. we strategically decided to fly to miami and then dallas instead of direct to get more miles. by 10:30 pm we were in dallas, by 11pm greeted by mom and soon after eating bueno, and 12 am saying hi to the dogs.
thursday: unpacking and doing laundry and thinking about the past 6 weeks.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
it´s a nice cool, misty saturday morning here. it´s also our last saturday morning. we have officially graduated from school with over 300 hours of spanish between the two of us. every friday there are graduations cermonies at our school, one for the morning students and one in the afternoon...yesterday, we were the only afternoon graduating students. we received our diplomas and then i got a surprise. justin had arranged to have a piñata fiesta. (we pass a piñata maker everyday going to school and for valentine´s day i told him that i wanted a piñata full of candy.) as i was getting my diploma, the director and jefe of the school pulled out a bob esponja (sponge bob) piñanta. i got blindfolded, spun around, and then i started trying to whack him open. i got a few good swings in before we made justin try. the teachers would yell hints for us: arriba! abajo! detras! as we´d try to hit him. as soon as justin broke him, all the teachers came running out grabing handfulls of candy and stuffing it in their pockets and purses. it was pretty funny. it was a fun last day and both of my teachers were there to celebrate with us. justin was really thoughtful to plan the surpise. he done good. (he also passed his big test yesterday to go to the next grade. he´s the verbo master.)
after the party we had another 1 1-2 hours of school. it was friday, we had graduated, and we were the last two students there (most of the others left at 5 but we stay until 6). we weren´t really motivated to keep learning new stuff, so we went with our teachers to la merced and the catedral, two churches that had vigils for the first friday of lent. there was a colorful carpet made from colored saw dust and surrounded by fruits and vegetables. it was honoring mary. at the catedral there was a vigil with another carpet and flowers and candles in front of a painted scene of jesus in heaven covering a whole wall of the church. there is so much to learn about the lent and holy week traditions here. i´m thankful that i´ve been able to learn and see some and i am moved, impressed by the work, humility, and dedication of the people during this time.
tomorrow we´ll be here in antigua and then monday we are headed to the beach at montericco to go kayak in some nature preserve swamplands, not the official name but i don´t remember the technical term. i hear it´s pretty and there is wildlife. will be fun to see another part before we leave on wednesday.
after the party we had another 1 1-2 hours of school. it was friday, we had graduated, and we were the last two students there (most of the others left at 5 but we stay until 6). we weren´t really motivated to keep learning new stuff, so we went with our teachers to la merced and the catedral, two churches that had vigils for the first friday of lent. there was a colorful carpet made from colored saw dust and surrounded by fruits and vegetables. it was honoring mary. at the catedral there was a vigil with another carpet and flowers and candles in front of a painted scene of jesus in heaven covering a whole wall of the church. there is so much to learn about the lent and holy week traditions here. i´m thankful that i´ve been able to learn and see some and i am moved, impressed by the work, humility, and dedication of the people during this time.
tomorrow we´ll be here in antigua and then monday we are headed to the beach at montericco to go kayak in some nature preserve swamplands, not the official name but i don´t remember the technical term. i hear it´s pretty and there is wildlife. will be fun to see another part before we leave on wednesday.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
well, i can´t believe that we are down to our last week. we have two more days of class...i don´t think we´ll learn everything in 9 hours. things have been good but busy. we were both a little sick last weekend and were kind of lazy but now we are back in full swing and trying to make the most of our last week.
we went to a slide show presentation last night at school given by a woman who has lived in antigua for the past 30 years and has a background in cultural history and preservation. it was really interesting and informative, and now we have more places that we´d like to see before we leave. she talked a little about the lent festivities in antigua. antigua has one of the largest lent celebrations in the world, second to seville, spain. we are excited that we will be here for a little of it. the busiest time is during semana santa, holy week, but this friday there will be a procession and some special services at the catholic churches to begin this time. antigua is known for their elaborate carpets that the people make out of saw dust and flowers. hours are spent creating these designs in the streets that the processions will walk over during holy week. we will get to see a couple this weekend. there are over 50 acitivities in the next 40 days, not including sundays. people will come from all over central america and the world to see the processions and the carpets and to observe lent and easter here.
we´ve gone to the project a couple days this week and will go again tomorrow. it´s fun being able to be with the kids in the library. i made a knew friend on monday. her name is ana. she´s 13 and this is her first year in school. she loves books and the library but she is unable to read. after school she works in the market and on the buses selling fruit. we started reading the little mermaid on monday and finished it today.
there is a woman who lives a couple doors down from our house and she sells tortillas to all her neighbors. she charges 1Q (about $0.15) for 4 tortillas. to get an idea of how many she makes by hand each day, she goes through 25 pounds of maiz a day!
i´ve noticed that occasionally when i´ve walked around town, i´ve heard people say, china-chinese girl. so i asked my family, why do people say this? can they not just think it and not say it out loud? they said it´s common for people to say that when they see an asian person. i also found out that a lot of guatemaltecos don´t like koreans because many koreans are mean factory bosses and are really strict with their employees. so people don´t like koreans! i´m glad i have justin and my cabela´s multi tool pocket knife as protection.
oops 5 minutes over our time!
we went to a slide show presentation last night at school given by a woman who has lived in antigua for the past 30 years and has a background in cultural history and preservation. it was really interesting and informative, and now we have more places that we´d like to see before we leave. she talked a little about the lent festivities in antigua. antigua has one of the largest lent celebrations in the world, second to seville, spain. we are excited that we will be here for a little of it. the busiest time is during semana santa, holy week, but this friday there will be a procession and some special services at the catholic churches to begin this time. antigua is known for their elaborate carpets that the people make out of saw dust and flowers. hours are spent creating these designs in the streets that the processions will walk over during holy week. we will get to see a couple this weekend. there are over 50 acitivities in the next 40 days, not including sundays. people will come from all over central america and the world to see the processions and the carpets and to observe lent and easter here.
we´ve gone to the project a couple days this week and will go again tomorrow. it´s fun being able to be with the kids in the library. i made a knew friend on monday. her name is ana. she´s 13 and this is her first year in school. she loves books and the library but she is unable to read. after school she works in the market and on the buses selling fruit. we started reading the little mermaid on monday and finished it today.
there is a woman who lives a couple doors down from our house and she sells tortillas to all her neighbors. she charges 1Q (about $0.15) for 4 tortillas. to get an idea of how many she makes by hand each day, she goes through 25 pounds of maiz a day!
i´ve noticed that occasionally when i´ve walked around town, i´ve heard people say, china-chinese girl. so i asked my family, why do people say this? can they not just think it and not say it out loud? they said it´s common for people to say that when they see an asian person. i also found out that a lot of guatemaltecos don´t like koreans because many koreans are mean factory bosses and are really strict with their employees. so people don´t like koreans! i´m glad i have justin and my cabela´s multi tool pocket knife as protection.
oops 5 minutes over our time!
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