Days 84 to 88 – Monday 12th to Friday 17th December 2005
Its funny, but the more I learnt in school, the more I realised I needed to learn. I suppose this is true with everything in life. The week began well, my brain was functioning after the weekend break and I soaked up the info. However as the week progressed I began to feel that my brain was leaking and I couldn’t take anymore.
This did get me a little frustrated for a day and on Wednesday I threw a paddy at myself for being slow, but I took a chill pill (not literally Mum!), relaxed and I was able to absorb some more. I wont say I’m good, even slightly at speaking Spanish, but I am finding that I am able to understand a lot more of conversations now.
The week passed without major incident, in the mornings I went to my classes and then in the afternoons and evenngs I either studied or did my own thing. On Tuesday I took a police escort up to the lookout point above Antigua. The specially formed tourist police escort people up to this point twice daily. They were originally formed due to the large number of robberies taking place against the tourists, which was harming the town both in reputation and commercially as tourist began to head to other destinations as a result of the high crime rate. Nowadays the city has improved its crime rate and the tourists have flocked back, but the tourist police, it seems, are here to stay. Luckily for me the presence of the police deterred any would-be robbers and I managed to get up to the lookout point, take some photos, admire the view and return to my house all without being mugged.
On Wednesday afternoon my school ran a guided bicycle tour of Antigua and some of the surrounding villages. As these towns are all built on the sides of volcanoes there were some climbs, but they were nothing this veteran of two volcanoes couldn’t handle! We stopped for a while in the centre of one of the villages. It seemed the focal point of the town was the washhouse, which had pride of place in the main plaza. But at least it is not just a monument that gets looked at and not used – Wednesday is apparently laundry day in the village, as the local women were out in force scrubbing away at their husbands’ dirty pants.
On Friday afternoon I wandered around the city looking for something to occupy my time when I accidentally stumbled upon a cowboy-hat shop. I went in to see if by chance they had the hat I had been looking for since Tulum, and there it was – bold as brass – waiting for me. I tried it on, had a cursory glance in the mirror bought it then and there. An early Christmas present to myself! Comments welcome……..
By the end of the week I could sense that I was improving in my Spanish but I knew that I still had a long way to go if ever I was to be fluent. Having booked my ticket to Buenos Aires, Argentina for 6th February I have about 6 weeks left in Central America to see the countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Unfortunately after Monday and Tuesday of next week this doesn’t leave me with any more time to study, but I have a basic knowledge to build upon now, and as long as I keep practising I am sure I will keep learning more and more.
cool, when are you sailing out of Guatemala?