spanish immersion

in Antigua, there is a large population of expats and tourists so you’d think that the locals in the main expats shops and restaurants would have english but they don’t. it is my experience so far that they either don’t have or don’t want to use english.  even in the heavily touristed areas of Antigua the menus are in spanish.  my spanish is good enough to get me around but not to negotiate a contract or debate politics.  there's another strange thing - even though i respond 'yo no comprendo' every time people keep speaking to me very quickly.  so i've found myself a teacher.  it is strange to pay some to talk to me in Spanish, however, I find that when it is my money i do a much better job of engaging than in my high school spanish class.  my teacher figured out pretty quick that I wasn’t going to conjugate every verb and what I need is street Spanish.  wish me luck.

all saints day - barriletes gigantes

my favorite was a box kite - this was one panel

the day after halloween is all saints day.  it's a national holiday in Guatemala and a day for the nationals to remember deceased family members.  it's typical for them to clean, decorate and picnic on the graves in the cemetaries.  they also fly kites which they believe to be a way to communicate with the spirits.  

in two of the towns outside of Antigua, Sumpango and Santiago, the kite building and flying has become quite competitive.  both of these towns celebrate with kite festivals which were highly recommended to me.











when i think of festivals, i think of sitting in traffic then wandering around a alcohol fueled crowd but this wasn't like that at all.  




it was an easy thirty minute ride from Antigua and the crowd was really tame.  i think it helped that they guy who was running our shuttle knew exactly where to go so we were dropped right at the kite field.

the kites which are massive can take months to build.  they use indigenous materials to glue the paper together.  the small kites are 30 feet in diameter - the largest are 90 feet tall.  that's a lot of glue and paper.

conquistadors still very much a presence here

into the air

getting a thirty foot kite into the air is no small task but it's clear the rope teams are experienced and well organized.  it takes the length of the soccer field to get them into the air and there is a blow by blow commentary from the stage which is hilarious even when i only understand half of it. there are crashes and near misses and the crowd is really wrapped up in the drama.  


it's mesmerizing to watch the kites floating in the sky and when they have four or five aloft at the same time it's really entrancing.

in Sumpango the kites are kept on a soccer field separate from the cemetary which i skipped because i felt like it would be more than a little voyeristic.  talking to people afterward i heard the nationals were not so happy to see tourists walking over and photographing graves - so was glad to have skipped that part.  i had been invited to join a family on what would have been a more intimate experience but i declined wanting the freedom to wander and observe without the concerns of what was culturally appropriate.

i think of kites as being playful toys for kids but the themes on these kites were very sophisticated and left me staring at each one to decipher the meaning.  corruption, conquistadors, peace and the planet were all depicted.

corruption

the day was filled with surprises, it was an awesome experience and the kites were amazing.  i felt so lucky to get to see this incredible expression of the Guatemalan culture.  

it's halloween

such a great holiday and not one that is celebrated in Asia or Africa so i've been missing out the last few years.  i was walking down the street today and ran across this.  Frida's gets the award for best party promotion.

antigua has craft brew too

as wall street says ... where there is craft beer there will be prosperity

explosion of color everywhere

f&$*ing metrics

tried to bake something today and the oven is in celsius not fahrenheit.  just once i would like a miss universe contestant to declare, 'it is my mission in the next year, as a prelude to world peace, to standardize the units by which we measure salt, distance and temperture'.    

and yeah, i did the math [via google] and i still couldn't get the tempature right.

summer’s here!

well, not really, but it is the end of the school year in Guatemala and the same joyful feeling i remember is on the faces of the school children in the village of San Antonio Aguas Caliente.

i was invited to a year end celebration and left humbled by the immense impact a few people are having in this village.   the situation here for school children is quite grim.  poverty, iliterate parents, lack of nutrition and poorly equiped schools contribute to a vicious cycle.

on the dream tree

supported by private donations and volunteers Creating Opportunities for Guatemalans is an ngo providing a holistic approach to success for school children.  during the after school program the children receive homework support, nutritional snacks and hygiene lessons.

scavenger hunt

and the staff here make it FUN.  during the party they had a scavenger hunt - the list was easily found items discarded on the street - plastic bottles, straws, bottle caps.  i have never seen a happier bunch of kids racing through the street picking up trash.  as the children left this year end celebration with hugs for everyone i could feel the love and appreciation they had for the staff.  if you know any ESL teachers who would be interested to join the staff send them to the website.

finally some sun

the people of Antigua say the rainy season is through September but that isn't true according to wikipedia which includes October as a high precipitation month.  so, while the locals celebrate every rain free day as the end of the rainy season it is for me still dark, cold and bit dreary.  today i did glimpse the magic that is Antigua when i stepped off the street into my courtyard and saw the Volcan de Agua peaking out from the clouds.  what a welcome surprise - not ready to break out a swimsuit yet but looking forward to more days like this.

search for the ultimate taco

you knew it was coming.  it's the impossible dream.  in thailand we chased the perfect pad thai and here it is the best taco.  people are passionate about the tacos here and i am working my way through the options in antigua.  i stopped in to try the Tacool which was too greasy so it rates only ⭐.  plus at 40Q [5.50$] is way overpriced for street food.

caoba farms

veggie burger

small place just outside the city of antigua - less than one mile from my house - so an easy walk.  it's a lot of things rolled up into one property. organic farm.  yoga shala.  music venue. amazing restaurant. health food shop.  artist's market on saturdays.  i went for the sunday yoga class [led by greg] which was awesome but a tad voyeristic as people wandered through taking pictures of the yoga class - made me understand how animals in a zoo feel.  there's also a 'rum lady' who is always pushing the local rum brew.  i've only been in the morning so not quite ready for rum sampling.  i wasn't however able to escape without buying a couple of new trinkets.