So what about Antigua??

I feel like I've been an Antiguan for so long and I've never really covered the city itself. There's so much food, architecture and other stuff that I've been up to, that hasn't made it into a blog yet. So I figured that this is the day, or the blog, to change all of that. If you look at the picture at the top of this blog, you'll see the dream team. That's Noah and Christina, they've been my classmates for weeks and Christina left about 10 days ago. I have to say I really miss her a lot because she's exactly the same age as the students that I teach so we got along famously. In fact, the top of this blog is our field trip!!! We really do have the best teacher, Vanessa, for our group four-hour morning classes. On that note, I really need to show you more of my school. I mean, I do spend six-plus hours a day here.

Above is a Video of where Noah, Christina and I have been having the majority of our lessons in Máximo Nivel. They have two Casas... Casa Uno and Casa Dos. I've actually never had class in Casa Uno but here is a quick one-minute tour of Sala Seis which has been my classroom for much of the six weeks that I have been studying.

If you look back at the top photo, it looks like my classmates and I all got the same flavor of ice cream but let me tell you, nobody else was interested in mine but me! The reason this is my favorite ice cream shop in the city is A. because the ice cream is amazing, and B. because they make a flavor that's reasonably close to dinner ice cream. Mine was cardamom, banana and jalapeno! Noah got chocolate and Christina vanilla caramel. Our teacher Vanessa was kind enough to buy it for us because we were all on a field trip together. Let me tell you, the best Fridays at school are on a field trip!

All of these photos were taken at the top of Cerro de La Cruz. Last time I was there, I didn't go all the way to the top because I thought it was just a parking lot. As you can see, there is a beautiful statue. On the left you can see Alejandro, the son of my teacher, my teacher Vanessa, and the other two students I introduced you to earlier. The toughest part of the whole day is that Vanessa made us speak Spanish the entire time. In case you're curious, the lovely caterpillar in the center is a Pachylia ficus, or Fig Sphinx Moth. On a totally separate note, the reason that I even saw this beauty is because my teacher is terrified of anything that looks like a worm, gusano. Today she showed me that she took pictures of me taking pictures of the Caterpillar; it cracked me up. Her son is also AMAZING at English. May I speak Spanish half this well some day.

The last stop on our field trip was the Cathedral of Santiago. Like so much in Guatemala, it has a long and very destructive history. It was originally created in its current form in 1680 by the famous architect Joseph de Parres. Unfortunately, the cathedral was largely damaged by earthquakes in 1717, 1751 and 1773. It was rebuilt the first two times, but the capital city of Antigua was abandoned in 1773 due to the Governor of Antigua being unfamiliar with destructive earthquakes, and being a royal bastard. I don't say this lightly. Needless to say, the people of Antigua did not want to move so the Governor wrote to the Pope and had all the churches desanctified ... needless to say, the people moved. In a dark way we really do owe him a solid for this, because Antigua was preserved as it looked in 1773. In the 19th century a new cathedral was built. If you were in the photographs with me, it would be to your left. The new cathedral is now the seat of the parish of San José, and one of the grandest in Antigua. If you look at the rather drab photograph on the left, you'll find that it might just be the most interesting. Take a look at the back center of the photograph and you'll see what looks like a set of stairs leading up to a platform, with a set of stairs leading down. When the Spanish took over the area that is now Guatemala, the indigenous peoples were forced to convert to Catholicism. Needless to say, not all of them went willingly so there are still bits of indigenous religion in so many of the churches of the time period. What you're actually looking at is a Mayan step Pyramid. If you're not sure what that is, you can look up the famous one in northern Guatemala called Tikal. In front of this interesting structure you'll see a grave. The first Spanish conquistador, his Mayan Princess wife and others are buried under and to the left of the altar ruins.

This is actually one of the first photos that I had taken of me in Antigua. It is in front of the Iglesia y Colegio de La Compañía de Jesús, Church and College of the Society of Jesus. It was originally a Jesuit church in the late 1500's. Like so many other places in Antigua, it was damaged during the many earthquakes that still hit the city today. What makes this, and other structures, so interesting is the intentional damage to the statues. The majority of a statue is created as one solid piece. The head, hands and sometimes the feet, are done separately and attached to the main sculpture. When the people were forced to abandon Antigua in 1773, they took anything that they could carry to their new home churches in Guatemala City. This included the heads, hands and other parts of the statues on the facades of many buildings. Unfortunately, they have not ever been reunited with their bodies which still stand in remembrance. Now this building houses a library and many different social and cultural offices. Overall it is a good outcome for this "Church".

In Antigua there is a surprise around every corner. For instance even the names of the city and country are a surprise ... Sadly, the name Guatemala is a bastardization of one of two indigenous words. Either Quauhtemallan, an Aztec word meaning land of trees, or Guhatezmalha, meaning mountain vomiting water. Also the original name of Antigua was Santiago de Los Caballeros de Guatemala, or Santiago of the Knights of Guatemala. I've also barely shown you anything of the reason that I am here!! Hidden on the side of Iglesia de La Merced are the Gigantes. I am SO sad that I have not seen them in action yet but there is still time yet. In action you ask?? Yes, these are better named Baile de Gigantes or Dancing Giants. Men slip inside these towering jumbo manikins and hide away under the folds of traditionally colored fabric. The only hint that they are real comes from the fact that you would be able to see poking from below the skirts and you can see the human animation as the actor stomps, sways and twirls the skirts to the rhythm of marimba music. I can't be totally sad that I did not see these guys in action, because it is always good to have 1... or 10 things that you did not see or do in a place. It gives you the bug to come back.

I feel really obligated to give a shout out to the amazing streets in Antigua. I'm sure that the people who live here have days when they really hate that they are all cobblestone, but it really adds to the ambiance. My very first day of school, workers in Antigua started to rip up a prominent intersection. I had the privilege of watching them tear it up and put it back together again. As you can see, there are differently sized and shaped stones. Some are wide, flat and rectangular, while others are irregularly shaped but flat on top. I can only imagine that this had something to do with cart travel when that was applicable, but they seem to keep it up today. If you look in the photos above, you can see that they put together two strips of rectangular rocks and then filled them in with irregularly shaped rocks. In another photo you can see the completed project. I don't know if you noticed it in this photo, but there is a dog standing on a roof. One can never predict where street dogs will appear in Antigua. Now to the very last photograph, ever since I set foot in the city I knew that I needed a rock to take home for my mailbox project. Last night I was walking home with Thomas and he said tonight's the night, I'm getting you your rock! I pointed out the one that I wanted and he pulled it up for me. It's actually from the street that I live on, so it's super special. Now before you start judging me, it wasn't held down very well. In fact it was out of a section that had already fallen apart and just needed a little bit of encouragement. I promise one of these days I'll put up pictures of all the projects that Mike and I have done at home on the mailbox, and Antigua rock will be included.

Up until now I haven't added too much food to the blogs. Needless to say, now that I've been here for quite a while that needs to change. Eating is probably the second most important reason that I'm here ... right behind learning Spanish. I was looking through my photos and realized that I've taken a bit of a food journey. The photos are in order of consumption. If you look at the top left, you can see that I started out with essentially Mexican food. The restaurant is called Tacool and they serve lovely food. I ordered Conchita Pibil in a taco. Overall very good, it's just that now I know it's nothing like traditional Guatemalan food. Later on I went to a restaurant called Fridas and we got a little bit closer. Unbelievably wonderful double-fried pork with limes and taco shell on the side. You can't see it but there's also a ton of guacamole underneath. Guatemalans love their avocado and will use it in nearly anything… even soup. Now we get into the true Guatemalan fare. On the top right-hand side is my favorite meal to date at La Cuevita de Los Urquizú. It is lengua estofado, Tongue Stew. I love tongue. It's one of my favorite meats that I can never get in the United States. Actually not that common in Guatemala but the overall feel of the dish is very Guatemalan. One thing that I learned early on is that they love their stews and they don't love spicy food. In fact, if you want most things to have a kick you need to ask them to bring you salsa picante. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, salsa is not what we think of in America. It's anything that goes on top of any food. It's genetically the word for sauce. Salsa picante, salsa roja, salsa verde, salsa fresca … the list could go on. The next dish is Kaq´ík. It is a slightly spicy smoky stew that is just amazing and, like the last dish, is reserved for special occasions. The last one is Pepián Pulique, and it was made by my Host Mom. This is a really special dish in Guatemala. In a normal household, it is reserved for Christmas, birthdays, and very special guest visitation days. It's not an everyday dish, even though it might look like that to an American. If you look at the green vegetable in the bottom center, it is called Wiskil in Guatemala or Chayote in Mexico. I always knew that I liked it, but I love it in Guatemala. It just adds something to the Pepián that is very special. The last dish is the most surprising. If you can believe it, it's Chili Relleno, nothing like its Mexican cousin. I want you to think about it like Chili Relleno made into a delicious meatloaf. I'm telling you they can only come up with this stuff in Guatemala. Oh, and the red stuff on top, that's salsa roja.

OK these are the last food photos, I swear! Well at least until the next blog… I divided these out because the first four are ones that I made. The best thing about Máximo Nivel, other than my teachers Vanessa and Sandra, are the cooking classes. Every single week I get to make a different dish. I've only missed one week, and that story is for the next blog. The reason that I want to show you all this amazing food is because I am going to have a Guatemalan food party when I get home. Not that I'm the kind of person who really needs an excuse to cook and have a party but I figured, who doesn't love a themed event. From top left to bottom right: Doblado, Platano en Mole (it's a dessert), Piloyada (Salads in Guatemala are not an afterthought or an appetizer… they are the main dish!) and my Chili Relleno. Here is me making them!!

Then we need Guatemalan beer, easy to acquire, and Guatemalan fruit, impossible to reproduce. Of all the things that I have eaten here, I am going to miss the fruit the most. For those of you who have seen me come back from abroad before, the loss of great tropical fruit is something that I winge about for months.

I've talked a bit about living with a host family, but sometimes it's hard to explain just how quickly you get close to people whom, in theory, you've just met. My host mother Jessica is a wonderful cook, a very patient Spanish listener, and a truly amazing person. It was Henry's 18th birthday and I think he thought everyone would forget. It was all the way down the end of dinner and we were just about to clean up when Jessica appeared. She called in her sons and we all sang Cumpliaños Feliz. What I learned is that in Guatemala they count the birthday years after the song is over. Lucky he was18 and not 81 !

One of the worst things about making fast friends is that you have to say goodbye to them if they leave before you do. Thomas and I took Hailey out for a goodbye dinner at a beautiful French restaurant. She truly is one of the best people that I've met on this trip, and I hope to see her if Mike and I make it out to Utah again. OK that's dumb, we're definitely going to be in Utah again, so I know that I will see Hailey in the future. If you've forgotten, I went to the beach with Hailey and we shared a room. We also shared a whole heck of a lot of laughs every time we were together. She has a beautiful soul and is going to make an amazing nurse.

OK, time for me to sign off because I'm sure that you're wondering where the end of this blog is. Don't forget to check out the photographs on Instagram because they were ones that just don't fit in a blog because there's not a story, but they are probably some of the best photographs I've taken. See you soon!