Summertime in Antigua, and the Livin is Easy

Welp, I believe my first week in Antigua, Guatemala just might have been a success. I am now fluent in Spanish. That’s right, I know everything. Taco, burrito, cerveza, fiesta, oh and uhm… escuela. I think I learned that word too. For those of you not as fluent as me, escuela means school. As in the Spanish language school I attend for four hours every day, which happens to be the whole reason for me coming to Guatemala in the first place. I have a wonderful lady for a teacher named Glendy, who is kind and patient enough to help me struggle through four hours of conversation each morning. She even laughs at my jokes, though I’m quite sure they make absolutely no sense with my limited knowledge of the language. So it’s probably a pity laugh, but I’ll take what I can get at this point. Everyone there is incredibly friendly, and the moment I showed up at the front door I felt welcomed. Even the students are cool for the most part, and probably the neatest thing about it is that they come from all over the world. My best friend here is from Belgium, our two other friends from the school are from Korea and Australia, and several nights during the week we’ll go to the bar or the park or a restaurant with our friends from Canada, Holland, or Germany. The city is a melting pot of tourism, and thanks to its reputation for fantastic language schools there are travelers and students from every corner of the earth here. In fact the other night during dinner our conversation was part in English, part in Spanish, part in German, and part in Flemish. I only understood 25% of it. Maybe I should try to learn some Flemish too.

The courtyard in Juanita's casa in the evening.

The other great thing about my situation in Antigua, is that I’m living in a house with a Guatemalan family. Juanita, an incredible 75 year old grandmother is the main person here, with her daughter Rita usually joining us for a least one meal a day. She has four beds for students who are studying at the school, but currently only I and my Belgian friend Stan are here. The food is spectacular, and probably the healthiest I’ve ever eaten in my life. The big meal of the day is lunch, and it is also the only meal during which we have meat. For breakfast we have eggs with tomatoes and green onions, along with fruit and bread, and for dinner we normally have either beans or rice, bread, and several servings of vegetables. At this point in the story my mom will probably be thinking to herself, “Well, Harrison is starving, cause he loves meat, preferably fried, and tends to shy away from anything green.” And while this usually true, I just don’t have the heart to tell Juanita I’m not going to eat her cooking. Nor do I have the stomach, because if I turned it away I would just go hungry. So here I am eating lettuce, cucumber, and broccoli salads every day for lunch or dinner. This is a big step for me. In addition to learning Spanish in Guatemala, I just might be learning to eat like a more normal, healthy, vegetable-loving human being. But I still wouldn’t say I love cucumbers.

Dusk in Antigua with Agua Volcano in the background.



The city of Antigua itself is also a magnificent place to be, whether attending language school or not. It is a small old colonial town, bursting with brightly colored buildings and pleasant weather. As you walk down the cobblestone streets you are surrounded by buildings painted in bright blues, yellows, and reds, along with towering Spanish ruins where monasteries and churches used to stand. If you look South you will see Agua Volcano rising from the horizon, the closest of three volcanoes within sight of the city. When you pass by Parque Central, the center and focal point of the city, complete with gardens and fountains, you will encounter colorfully dressed women selling blankets or scarves, often with a baby on their back. A large portion of the population here still wears the old style clothes, reminiscent of Spanish conquistadors and indigenous Mayans and all delicately weaved with every color you can imagine. The locals in town are almost always willing to strike up a conversation with the random tourist, and even are willing to put up with my rudimentary, painfully-slow Spanish for at least five or ten minutes. Is this utopia? Absolutely not. Is there poverty and hunger and do tourist sometimes get held up for their wallet and cell phone? Sure, this is a third world country. But as a whole I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the colorful town, beautiful scenery, temperate weather, and welcoming people.

I’ve got plenty more stories, but I think that’s enough typing for one week. Now back to studying my Spanish. Or maybe eating some tortillas and guacamole. Guatemalans make awesome guacamole.   

Panorama of Pacaya Volcano outside Guatemala City. We climbed it this past Sunday.