Antigua: Spanglish

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Days 79 to 82 – Wednesday 7th to Saturday 10th December 2005

I woke up feeling much improved from the previous day, so set about to look for a Spanish school and to see if Antigua was as fine a city as the guidebooks and other travellers had made out. I began walking about looking around and what immediately struck me was the similarity in layout and architecture that Antigua shared with Oaxaca in Mexico.

Both cities are laid out on a grid system, both have wide cobbled streets that all look alike and both have a very distinct lack of street signs! Both cities are therefore very easy to get disorientated in. Antigua is probably easier to rediscover where you are, as there is a great big volcano towering over the city to the south, and it is pretty much visible from anywhere you are.

I had inteneded to begin my Spanish classes the following day (Thursday) but after finding a school that looked decent I registered and was told I could have my first 4 hours of classes on the Wednesday afternoon. Thus a couple of hours later I found myself sitting in a quaint little courtyard speaking Spanglish with my teacher. In the time between registering and classes actually starting I had taken all my stuff to my new home for the week. This was a student hotel with room for about 8 guests, but there were only 2 including myself, so it was nice and quiet. As well as being quiet it was an absolute bargain. I paid $75 for a sweet double room and 3 meals a day. The classes went well and I returned to my casa for my evening meal. Still feeling a bit under the weather I crashed out early.

Next thing I knew it was Thursday and my classes were to begin in earnest! They ran from 8am to midday then the afternoon I looked around the city some more. I found it to be a really relaxed, pleasant place to wander around. The locals and foreigners all doing their own things especially in the Parque Union, which is a pretty little tree-lined square surrounded by two of the oldest churches in Antigua. On the grass in the park the travellers/students sat laughing and joking amongst themselves, while at the end, the local women laughed and joked whilst doing their laundry in the outdoor washhouse.

From 1541 to 1773 Antigua was the capital of Guatemala. During this time the city prospered and became one of the finest cities of the Spanish Empire, with glorious colonial churches, monastries and mansions. However in 1773 the city suffered from year long earth tremors, culminating in two huge earthquakes. The city was decimated and it was decided to move the capital to its present location, Guatemala City.

The order was given to abandon the city, but this never materialised. In fact out of the ash and rubble the city rebuilt and people began moving back into the area. Nowadays the city has been granted UNESCO World Heritage status and it has a truly international flavour. Arabic, Argentinian and Alemanian restuarants (amongst others) line the pretty cobbled streets, and shops selling a combination of traditional Guatemalan wares and iPods open into little tree lined courtyards which are totally secluded.

The centrepiece of the city is the Parque Central. This is big open square where the locals and gringos gather to watch the world go by. However by all accounts it didn’t used to be this way, as it once once the scene of bullfights, floggings and hangings. Nowadays there is a much more peacful nature tio the plaza, which is flanked by the huge cathedral to the east. The original cathedral was built in 16th Century but destroyed in the earthquakes of 1773. Today it has been partially restored, but to the rear of the building lie the ruins of the original structure. These ruins are basically a mix of rubble, fallen arches and rotting beams.

To the south of the plaza lies the Palace of the Captains General, which was entirely rebuilt following the earthquakes. Once the palace housed the rulers of the city, together with the military barracks, stables, royal mint, law courts and adminstrative facilites. Nowadays the administration remains, but the other, more interesting, things have sadly moved elsewhere. to the north and west of the plaza lie the ayuntamiento (town hall) and a row of shops.

For the majority of the week I spent my afternoons wandering about the central plaza or studying what I had been covering in Spanish classes. I made my mind up to stay in Antigua and take a second week of classes. The guy who was staying in the same hotel as me had been studying in Antigua for three months. I didn’t have the time to stay three months – I thought it a cool idea – but another week would have to do for me.

I made the decision to stay another week on the Friday afternoon, and to celebrate I went out for a few beers. I also wanted to see if the town had much of a drinking scene, but alas, to my disappointment there were no busy places. I had a few beers anyway and returned home about midnight.

Saturday was pretty quiet, I got up late with a hangover even though I didn’t drink that much the previous evening. The weather wasn’t great either so I spent the day reading and a doing a little studying. I also managed to catch some Premier League football on TV but I didn’t bother heading out on the town again as I planned to climb another volcano the following day.