Greetings from Antigua

First, I apologize to anyone that I missed on the way
out of town. I have been in Antigua for a week now.
And life is good. Sunny, beautiful weather.

The trip down was uneventful and I had the pleasure of
sitting next to a 54 year old Guatemalan hotie (yes I
looked at the birth date on her passport). I think
she dug me.

I stayed in Guatemala city for as long as it took to
drive out of the city. Not much to see as far as I
could tell. My first glimpse into the strange ironies
of the Guatemalan culture. The airport is fairly
modern and in good working order. Also, the first
things I saw on the way out of the parking lot were
Chuckee Cheese, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts. (yeah
america) But the remainder of the trip included
scenes of shanties, people walking on the sides of the
highway, the chicken buses, etc.

Driving into Antigua, the first thing to notice is how
very old the city is. Cobblestone roads, ruins of
churches, vivid colonial architecture and three
volcanoes looking over the city. We drove directly to
a hotel through the central plaza (the center of
town). Even the government buildings on the plaza are
in very depleted condition. I was not sure what to
think of this and it was beginning to make me
concerned about my accomodations. So I changed my
range from the one dollar sign hotels ($5-$20) to the
two dollar sign category ($20-$50) (guide book
legend).

My first hotel was very nice. Typical architecture of
many of the buildings here. Square layout with a
courtyard in the middle with a fountain. I got the
king size bed, huge room, cable tv with 100 channels,
a hot shower, the works. Yeah, I am really
struggling. The hotel was built on the site of an old
convent. The only thing that remains of this convent
is an archway over the street. The rest was
completely destroyed in earthquakes.

After getting acclimated, I moved down to the one
dollar sign hotel. Twin bed, hot water between 6:30
and 8:30 in the morning, electricity goes out every
evening for varying lengths of time - making good use
of candles, no tv, no phone. But it is very
comfortable.

I have hit all the sites in the city at this point I
think. The sites pretty much consist of ruined
churches and convents but I also went to a renovated
colonial style mansion which was very cool. It is
fascinating to see historical sites in there natural
condition after 300+ years of degradation. The impact
of 3 major earthquakes in the city has taken its toll.
In stark contrast to the ruins are the houses,
restaurants and hotels in the center of town. All of
which are in excellent condition (tourist dollars no
doubt) and are adorned with vivid colors and striking
colonial architecture. And always on the horizon are
the massize volcanoes covered in evergreen with clouds
masking their peaks.

Everything about the culture centers around the pace.
Everything is so slow. And I know that America is
ridiculously fast paced, but this is slow even on a
scale with Europe as the midpoint. Walking on the
sidewalk can be quite aggrevating for a gringo. I
mean people can walk really slow, really slow.
Everyone is so relaxed here. It is refreshing. I
have been spending a good amount of time chillin in
the central plaza (a simple park with a fountain in
the middle) reading, smoking, and meeting the locals.

Yeah, so I have been hit on by a guatemalan native
already - and yes he is a guy. So I have that going
for me. Anyways, he taught me some interesting
spanish words I didn´t already know and he was very
anxious to hear all about San Francisco.

Ironies abound everywhere in this city. The poor are
so very poor. The stray dogs are really gross and it
is sad to watch them scrounging around for food. On
the same block, though the Range Rovers and beautiful
homes are very impressive. And there are many gringos
strolling around shelling out money and being accosted
by guatemalan children selling jewelry, clothes, nuts
and posters. You can definitely get by speaking
english here but I have been putting forth a good
faith effort to start learning spanish. And I for one
think I am doing an excellent job of butchering the
language. Although I have not been laughed at yet.
And people are very nice and patient with struggling
spanish speakers here which is cool. Yeah, the people
hear are very very friendly.

The food is great and everything is so cheap. Most
meals cost about $2-$3. Portions are a bit smaller
than normal so I have just been eating 4 time a day to
compensate. And for all those concerned, I am proud
to report that the steel stomach is working its magic.
So far no need for any over-the-counter
pharmaceuticals.

The social life in the city has been impacted very
recently in a negative way. I guess the tourists were
turning the town into something of a party town which
was not making the locals very happy as they view the
city as an old-style sleepy colonial town. As a
result, they have shut down 7 bars here in the last
month and eliminated liquor from many of the
remaining. The gringos have reacted negatively and
are not going out "like they used to." But I have
been able to meet up with some UVA people that live
down here and meet there friends. A typical night has
consisted of 3 or 4 beers and home by 11pm or so.

Crime has reared its ugly head once also. I just met
a couple girls that were accosted last night on the
way home by four guys in a car with a gun. Luckily
their screams were heard by the family one of them was
staying with and the aspiring rapists were forced to
leave.

And I think that about sums it up so far. To those
who are expecting a phone call - mom, dad, etc. I am
an idiot and can´t figure out how to call out of this
country so in the meantime email is the only source of
communication.

I am leaving Antigua on Saturday to go to
Quezaltenango and start spanish classes on Monday. IT
will be my first chicken bus experience which should
be cool. When I am in Xela (that is what the region
is called) I will be able to place and receive calls
from the school and receive calls at the house of the
family I am staying at. I will also be able to send
and receive real mail from the school. I will send
the contact info when I get settled next week.