Antigua and Lago de Atitlan

Have been at school now for one and a half weeks and whilst I can kind of get the gist of written spanish to hear and speak it is still kinda tough. It`s a little discouraging too when we play group games and the other students are all way better than me........ still I know how to say ¨cheese is good¨ and ¨I like the table¨, very important phrases.

Being pretty much THE place to study spanish in Latin America there are heaps of other backpackers here and the nightlife is ridiculous (50 cent cuba libres anyone?) so staying focused on studying is not the easiest thing. I`m pretty much just trying to get as much of it written down as possible and actually learn and practise it later on as I travel.

The view from Cerro de la Cruz, a hill above town

Mi Casa

Cheeky neighbourhood kids, at least they`re not inside on the computer all day....

Antigua was the capital of the spanish colony in Central America from discovery through to 1773 when a massive earthquake destroyed the entire city, which was one of the most beautiful in the Americas at the time. Rather than keeping the capital in such a volatile area (there were and still are many other earthquakes, and there are three huge volcanos close by) the city was left mostly in ruins and the government shifted to present day Guatemala city. Most of the current buildings date from just after the earthquake when the city was partially rebuilt but on a far more modest scale, with very few buildings over two stories high and all with very thick walls. The enormous churches were stripped of their riches and mostly left as they fell right through to the present day, most streets have a large ruin of some sort on them. All of this means that Antigua today has a very even, historical look with every street lined with modest but still very pretty houses and shops from the late 1700s, cobblestone streets (sometimes doubling as rivers), nice little parks and the occaisional ruin here and there. Being Guatemala`s prime tourist destination it`s also very clean and suspiciously free of stray animals.....

One of the many ruined churches

Local ladies washing clothes in the town washing well

The only downside is that it pours rain every afternoon and also at random and sudden points throughout the day, meaning a fool like me who always forgets his umbrella gets soaked at least once a day..........

On the weekend I bussed over to Lago de Atitlan to have a look and a night out and was really impressed. The lake is in a huge ancient crater surrounded by steep mountains and three big volcanos, all covered with thick jungle, with several small towns on the shore.

Vulcan San Pedro

The dock in San Pedro with boats to Panajachel and the road out of town. Note the indio`s nose in the background....

I stayed in San Pedro (it was the cheapest) and after sneaking in a nice afternoon stroll along the paths that wind through the farms around the lake I headed out for dinner and a few beers. Afterwards, with everything closing at 1am me and an english guy bought some takeaways and followed a local down a sloppy track to an ¨afterparty¨ with ¨muchas chicas ¨. In Guatemala apparently this means two guys drinking in their kitchen so after half an hour of broken spanish and awkward silences we politely necked our beers and got the hell out of there. The next morning a baby chicken walked into my room. I was on the second floor too, weird......

Today being my birthday I`m about to go out and grab a nice expensive meal, then possibly take a nap, and then head out on the town for still more beer. I think two weeks in antigua is about enough for my liver.......