La Antigua

On a bright, muggy Saturday morning in Managua , Trisha and I boarded a Copa Airlines flight and headed off to Guatemala for 3 weeks. The flight was a simple one-hour affair, and only slightly more expensive than taking a bus. The bus ride with boarder crossings and an overnight in San Salvador or Tegucigalpa would have taken at least 24 hours. So needless to say, we arrived rested and ready in Guatemala City , and were quickly whisked away to the city of Antigua , which is about 2 hours away.

Our first impressions of Antigua were ones which included many “wows!” and “how beautiful.” Indeed Nicaragua has its beauty, but it has nothing that looks like Antigua . The city is immaculately clean with cobblestone streets, Spanish style architecture, and magnificent looking trees and plants growing within every vista. There doesn’t appear to be a street here that is not photo worthy. Trisha wasn’t exaggerating when she mentioned on her Facebook that she can’t stop taking photos.

In addition to the postcard perfect city, the surrounding volcanoes and mountains make Antigua make feel more like a Bavarian village in the Alps , than a Central American city. It has a cool, mountain climate in the evening and a crisp, blue-sky feel during the day. Another element that has been refreshing to us are the plentiful amount of artisanal shops, bakeries, restaurants, and other highly appealing stores; many of which look like they must have a sister-store in Carmel or La Jolla .

All of this has been fun, but not an incredibly realistic picture of Guatemala . This city is like a fantasyland, inhabited by many local Guatemalans, but also just as many Gringo expats who have relocated to open businesses and live the good life. In addition, this is a key tourist destination for all who come to Guatemala , so the place is crawling with out-of-towners. It has been a perfect respite for us after living in a country that is just developing its tourist infrastructure. But a week here will likely suffice and we are looking forward to our other two destinations; Lake Atitlan and Quetzaltenango (also called Xela).

Other activities that have been consuming our time this week, beside lots of walking and exploring, are taking more Spanish and living with a local family. Our Spanish teacher has been our best so far and we have found that Guatemalan Spanish is easier to understand as there is little accent. Although we have studied Spanish often this year, Trisha and I figured these three weeks in Guatemala are our last chance to take this type of schooling. So why not drive-home all we have learned this year and take back more knowledge than we came with?

Our homestay has also worked out great as the family has been extremely hospitable to us. We have enjoyed living in their quant house just a few blocks north of the town center. Homestays such as this have been excellent choice for us as the three meals with a family and a room are a much more economical option than hotels and restaurants. Of course the main advantage is living with locals, practicing Spanish, and having that uncommon tourist experience. We will be sad to say goodbye to this family and looking forward to meeting a new one when we arrive at Xela on Sunday.