Mi Gusta Muchas

The week has sped by - for having been here only 4 days I feel as though I've been here forever! I started classes this week, visited the local market - it's huge, more on that later, got lost in the rain, moved in with a host family, and hiked up to an active volcano and saw lava flow for the first time (more on that to come over the weekend too).

All in all it's been GREAT!!

Antigua is this amazingly quaint town - imagine extremely friendly people, volcanoes surrounding the city, cobble stone streets and over 40 churches, of which 30 are ruins that you can explore. You see the church here - it looks complete, but is missing a roof - so it's all grass inside, you can see throught the door in the photo below it. There are so many of these in the city - all in various states of decay. It's amazing to happen upon these every few blocks.

Because there are three major volcanoes surrounding the city, virtually every street affords a picture-perfect view, but it's not the volcanoes that make the city. There is so much going on all around. There are salsa classes on nearly every street, resaurants, plazas, chicken buses and more.

In the coming posts I'll touch on all of them!

Oh New York, I'll miss you!

The last four days in New York were ones that make you never want to leave the city. The rainy weather has just left and suddenly it's cool, clear spring, not quite summer, but the air is so fresh you just feel alive.


Thursday Ben surprised me by saying he had switched weekends at his Fire Island house so we could spend one weekend on the island before I leave. If you've never been to Fire Island, it is transportive place. You're so close to the city, but miles from it.



You rush to Penn Station to catch the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) out to the Hamptons, in the frenetic atmosphere of Penn Station you stand alongside harried commuters that have chosen to travel by train into the city daily so that their families can have a "real" home with a patch of lawn to give their children a "normal" upbringing. Mixed in with this group is another set of people. Eyes bright, weekend bags on the floor near them while they watch lcd screens waiting for the platform number light up next to the train that will carry them toward a crashing surf and salty breezes.



On the train the city passes your window, slowly the buildings get smaller and the spaces between larger and you're filled with the excitement that a whole weekend is about to start. In your train car you'll look around for a few familiar faces that are heading out and you'll share a smile in a knowing way that you're about to let all your cares fall behind.


You pull into a station in a quaint town, carry ayour weekend bag onto the ferry. It pulls out of the harbor and and lets the mainland and all your workaday worries slip behind you as it heads toward the thin strip of land on the horizon.

Is this how I will feel as the plane leaves on Tuesday? All my worries slipping behind feeling like I'm heading on an exciting break toward a barrier island that protects the coast from winter seas and shelters a group of people from their concerns.

I know it's the people around me, the ones that form a safe haven from life's storms - that's what I'll miss. That's what New York is to me.

Second Thoughts

I had dinner tonight with my good friends. We agreed to get take out and play Mexican Bingo (Loteria). It's like our Bingo version, but instead it's pictures and Spanish Phrases that you put your marker on. My friend, Pedro, claims this will be the bench mark to see how well my Spanish comes along. I call out each card and have the worst Spanish of everyone - even Andrew & Boun who are Asian seem to have more Spanish speaking skill in them. This shoudl be a hilarious experience.

Part way through the evening, Andrew says, "Are you going to be in Antigua the entire time? Jo was just there and she thinks you are going to be so bored. It's pretty, but there are only 12 people in the town."

"Oh no," I think, "What kind of mistake have I made? Am I going to be wanting to shove a fork in my eye out of boredom?"

The good news is, I guess I can always go somewhere else if I get bored, but I wanted to stay with one teacher the entire time so I can progress at a great pace in my Spanish. Hmmmm...suddenly Ecuador is sounding like it may be calling my name. I guess I can check out the Galapagos Islands and check into getting some tiny hats in Bolivia if I get really bored.





Herbalife - www.Lose123.com