Antigua Guatemala

Ola mis amigos. Vosotros ven me en Antigua, Guatemala con le viajar crocs.



Ok, enough of the Spanish as i have to admit its one of the hardest things i've ever done. Quite why at the tender age of 39 i've decided to try and learn a new language, when i was clearly never any good at them at school, is beyond me!! But that really is the main reason i'm here so i'm soldiering on (we've just started week 2 and i really am learning that Spanish is a language muy loco, very mad is the literal translation!!)

I think i gave you a slight update at the end of the last blog, but i'm now living with a Spanish family (Jose and Lucky) in Antigua. (the picture of the crocs is on the roof terrace with Volcano Aqua in the background). I'm not alone in my quest for Spanish as most of my housemates goto class everyday, the rest are volunteer workers out here at the various projects that the agencies run. It really is quite a fun existence, very much like going back to Uni, but i guess with slightly more knowledge about the world and a little bit more cash. The only thing i've really struggled with so far other than the toilet paper thing (more on that later) is the slight lack of privacy. 9 of us share 2 showers, 1 sink and 2 toilets and you can pretty much hear everything thats going on (this results in me getting up rather early for my morning constituational, i mean you cant have other people disturbing that can you??!!) And the toilet paper thing....... i noticed when i got here that all toilets seem to have a bin next to them, which always seem to have an abundance of toilet paper in. In these times of swine flu (much more on that later...) i assumed that maybe my housemates were nursing colds.... not so. No toilet papaer goes down the toilet..... hard to imagine i know, slightly unpleasant, but you do sort of get used to it. Apparently its all to do with the Guatemalan sewers having very narrow pipes and toilet paper blocks them up.....big design error......

Life in the house is excellent though. We're a very happy little bunch and the only sad thing is that it all seems rather transitory, so just when you get to know someone and persuade them that going to the pub every night isnt really that bad (i seem to have adopted the role of head ringleader in getting everyone out of an evening) they leave.... maybe its me, but i really dont think so. So a quick run down in no particular order of the assembled gang -

Matt and Jordan - Canadian students that have been out here 3 months volunteering - great lads, like a beer, but unfortunately have just left (Matts brother arrived to make a film and so there wasnt enough room.... big shame)

Melissa - American mountain bike guide (now in Matt and Jordans room) - hard core - climbed the biggest volcano here last weekend in hail and driving wind with altitude sickness.... (think i'll pass on volcano climbing for a bit to be honest)... a good lass....

Rachel - American, leader of a big volunteer project out here. Longest serving member of the house (been here 4 months or so) - likes a lively debate and has been trying to teach me how to salsa (a big project in itself..... one that might take a while...!)

Georgie - Austrailan, teaching in a school in Guatemala City that is perched next to a rubbish dump - leaves soon and has a flight unfortunately via Mexico City (this has caused much debate over dinner the last few days...)... will be massively missed.....

Patrica and Bas - Dutch couple who work in one of the rural schools (in San Matteo, if youve checked my facebook pics you will have seen them - i helped them clear their new playground) - top laugh and again leave this weekend to travel to Equador and Chile... leaving drinks Thursday if anyone's around!!

Barbi - Austrian girl that i havent really met much - she's been travelling and has only just returned - brought a lovely carrot cake to the house though...!!

Mari - Norweigen, bright as a button and my classmate at El Mundo. Cheers me up hugely on our walks back to La Casa when i'm whinging about how hard Spanish is.....

So there we all are. A top crew if i ever saw one, but i have to say its our hosts Jose and Lucky that make the house. They really are top value. The food is exceptional, theyre always smiling and laughing and generally making everyone feel brilliant about themselves, no matter whats going on. The one big house rule is Spanish at mealtimes. Given that my knowledge of Espanol is rather limited, Jose thinks its hilarious to try and get me to natter away in my rather English accent. After just over a weeks lessons i'm sort of getting the hang of it, but its still a struggle. It does cause alot of hilarity however (the rest of the house speak pretty much fluent Spanish so they are a big help at my stumbling attempts to chat.)

No two days seem to be the same here i have to say, but the general routine goes pretty much like this...

Get up, shower, eat breccie (generally fruit) spend an hour or so emailing and chatting to whoever is around, spend the next hour or so struggling massively with my Spanish homework (homework?? at my age) get a bit grumpy as realise Spanish is potentially the hardest language on the planet, have lunch and attempt to use my new Spanish words (Ejote - green beans just so you know), stroll to Spanish with Mari, spend the next 4 hours getting huge brainache as i have to concentrate massively to keep up with Aleida my non English speaking Spanish teacher, stroll back with Mari and whinge about Spanish (thankfully she seems very happy to put up with my whinging and has realised that promises of cereveza will always lift my spirits!), eat dinner with the crew (some sort of lively debate always ensues, unfortunately all about swine flu recently), get changed, goto pub of choice (it changes every night) have either a few or alot of beer and then stroll home....

All of this is excellent fun but a few bits need to be expanded on.

Spanish lessons - I goto a school called El Mundo and my teacher is the lovely Aleida, the long suffering Aleida i should call her due to the length of time its going to take her to teach me Spanish!! Doesnt speak a word of English (which they say is a very good thing as i have to speak Spanish) and has had an exceptionally interesting life. I was completely unaware of how bad the civil war in Guatemala was (around 30 yrs ago) - but as far as i can ascertain it seemed to amount to a huge amount of ethnic cleansing. The Mayans (the indigenous people that stem from the hoards that used to live in all those Mayan Temples) were persecuted beyond belief with many tens of thousands being killed. Aleida is half Mayan and half Latino and her and her family had to leave the village/town they lived in and leg it to Antigua which at the time was viewed as a safe haven. We've had some very interesting chats (her in perfect Spanish and me with my Spanglish) and i have to say that she really is great. I have at least another 3 weeks with her and i'm hoping that at the end of that i might be able to speak some sort of basic Spanish (i have to admit i got slightly dismayed when she produced a Spanish game for el ninos aged 3 and below the other day.... thats how good my Spanish is at the moment!!)

Drinking in Antigua. A very different experience than drinking anywhere else in the world. All the pubs/bars/discos officially close at 1am. Rather early. They do have after parties (i've yet to goto one as i've heard rather unsavory things can happen, but will obviously brave one soon, for research purposes of course..!) and lock ins. I got involved in a lock in in Cafe No Se (translates to Cafe i dont know btw) on Saturday night which involves everyone cowering in the back bar drinking relatively quietly hoping the police dont turn up. I have to say thank you to the Swedish Barmaid, whose name i cant remember, as it was her leaving drinks and because of her it was free mescal (posh tequila) all night.... bottles of it on the bar. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but wasnt so good on Sunday morning......The other major haunt is Monoloco (the crazy monkey) which is really like any other American Sports bar in the world. It does do the worlds largest Nachos however, has a rocking ladies night on a Tuesday (3Q a drink for the ladies, thats about $0.40) and i'm potentially going to work there (they seem a little short in the bar staff department and as i seem to be going back to my Uni roots it seems only right i should get a job in a bar...!!) The only other bar story of note is me completely failing to notice a tiny step in Reillys Bar (yes, an Irish pub.... they get everywhere) and falling flat on my face giving my knee a proper knock... it hurt like hell and was exceptionally embarrassing so i wont dwell on it too much...!

Also walking home from the pub. A very normal thing to do i hear you cry. Agreed, but here it involves some sort of risk. There are tonnes of police in Antigua and most people will say that this is the safest city in Central America. That said, Guatemala is an exceptionally poor place and if you bash a slightly drunken gringo over the head as he stumbles home you can probably get yourself at least a few weeks wages for free (the average wage here is less than $90 a month). I've only had two rather worrying incidents happen, being followed home by blacked out cars is never really my idea of fun, but thankfully due to my enormous stature (i really am rather big out here, i know most of you will say i'm rather big anywhere, but here i'm more 3XL rather than the normal XL!!) i seem to be less of a target. To show you how big people think i am here, i had a chap this evening come upto me, try and lift me up (obviously to no avail as he was about 5'1'') he then declared i was the biggest person he'd ever met and insisted on buying me drinks (maybe he though i might get violent, if only he knew the glass jaw Griffiths stories.... very funny indeed!!) In general we stroll home in little packs which seems to keep the robbers at bay.... always something to think about tho. And i'm also told that some of the police can be a little, well corrupt at best, so theyre not always as trustworthy as you think!!

Antigua as a place is a bit like any other old Colonial Town (for some reason it really reminds me of Cheltenham, but without the beer garden, maybe i'm just getting nostalgic in my old age.) The people here are pretty religious it would seem (the old Spanish Catholic thing, i wasnt here for Easter, Semana Santa, but the place goes nuts with huge processions, fiestas etc etc) but there really are a stack load of churches. The only real worrying thing, other than every single shop being guarded by a chap with a sawn-off, or the constant threat of death by swine flu, is that this city has been flattened 4 times in its history by earthquakes. Apparently you feel little tremors fairly often (i havent yet but that maybe something to do with the mescal and cereveza!!) It nestles in a valley of 3 huge Volcanoes, 2 of which are pretty active. And its been 40 years since the last big earthquake..... no one seems to mention that theyre a little overdue another biggy, i just have my fingers crossed that mother nature can hang on for another few months!! That said, the houses are built a bit differently now, but its still a slight concern i have....

Volunteer work. Another huge reason for people to be here. It seems that if youre not learning Spanish, youre helping in schools, build houses, working in clinics etc etc. I went with Bas and Patricia to their school in San Matteo, up in the hills above Antigua, a week ago to help with the building of a new playground for the kids. Its very hard to describe how poor these places are and that without the volunteer people alot of youngsters really wouldnt get any education at all. All rather humbling as when we turned up to clear the small site that was going to become the playground (it had a really rather unpleasant old long drop bog in the middle of it we had to demolish which really wasnt nice at all...) a load of kids turned up who seemed more than happy to slog away alongside yours truely digging stuff up, dragging stones and logs around, putting me to shame to be honest. They really dont have anything (most of them live in corregated iron shacks, that i'm told house upwards of 10 people - not great when the rainy season comes...) but are happy as pie..... bit of a reality check when you think of everything you have back home. The real distressing thing is that when you look at the extent of the poverty you find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed by it all (and i havent been to places like India where i'm sure its even worse...), but i guess every little helps and i'm certainly going to be mucking in again before i leave.......

And the other subject i have to touch on - Swine Flu!!!! ....Guatemala unfortunately has a huge border with Mexico and the majority (well alot in anycase) of travellers will get on a bus in Mexico city and head into Guatemala. The double whammy for us here is that Antigua is a huge tourist destination, it being safe (ish), clean, fun, happening etc etc and therefore the risk of the flu croping up here seems to be rather high....However, there hasnt really been any reported cases at all and what i find rather odd is that the only people that seem to have died so far are in Mexico City, which is a city with a huge poor population with little or no access to medical care. No one seems to have said who exactly the people that have died are (dont get me wrong anyone dying is a very bad thing) but my guess is that theyre going to be the same people that have no real medical care....My housemate Patrica has worked with flu vacination programmes for a very long time (before she came travelling) and she tells me that Tamiflu can pretty much sort you out if you catch this virus..... And the world stock pile of Tamiflu seems to be in pretty good shape, i mean you can even buy it over the counter here in Antigua (well you could up until a few days ago, i havent tried as yet) - so i'm not really sure what all the fuss is about. That is until one of my housemates gets flu and i'll be heading for the Guatemala City airport for the first flight back home (if they'll let me on the flight that is...!!) Media hype once again.... we'll see.....

So thats about the lot so far..... if i think of anything else i'll blog away, but lunch beckons and i know theres lots of anxious blog readers waiting for the latest instalment!! This weekend is a long weekend in Guat, as i know it is in most places in the world, and so i'm going to do what i know best..... off fishing!! The Pacific coast of Guatemala is home to a whole host of huge fish and i'm going off to try and tempt a few of them to the end of my line. I actually better be successful as i've promised the house i'll cook fresh fish on Monday night..... is going to all be a little embarrassing if i dont catch anything. There isnt a local Sainsburys i can pop to to dig myself out of that hole!! Should be exciting stuff though and i'm sure i'll have a story or two for you all the beginning of next week!! You all take care out there.....

Hasta Luego

B