Friday, August 25, 2006
It's a pretty city
We haven't ventured out much at night yet, but it's really pretty. They light up all of ruins; this is the cathedral right off of the city's central park.
Settling In
One of the good aspects about being so awful at speaking Spanish and having to be in language school for so long is that it gives us a chance to settle in somewhere for a while. It seems like forever ago that we were living in our house in Douglasville. Since then, it’s been more than three months of packing-unpacking-packing again, going place to place, living out of a suitcase. So it’s good to know that we’ll be here in Antigua with a place to call home for the rest of the year.
One of the aspects of leading such an unsettled lifestyle for several months is that it’s been difficult to have any kind of regular time/place to pray and make a habit of meeting with the Lord. I’m really thankful, though, that being here for a couple of weeks now has allowed us to find a good spot to do that. There aren’t many students in our school in the afternoons, and the roof has a great view of the ci
ty and the volcanoes that surround Antigua. It’s nice to be able to settle in and have a place to pray with my eyes open and pay attention to God’s presence in this city. (The pictures are of the view from the school’s roof.)
Here's a picture of me with my spanish teacher, Harvey.
One of the aspects of leading such an unsettled lifestyle for several months is that it’s been difficult to have any kind of regular time/place to pray and make a habit of meeting with the Lord. I’m really thankful, though, that being here for a couple of weeks now has allowed us to find a good spot to do that. There aren’t many students in our school in the afternoons, and the roof has a great view of the ci
ty and the volcanoes that surround Antigua. It’s nice to be able to settle in and have a place to pray with my eyes open and pay attention to God’s presence in this city. (The pictures are of the view from the school’s roof.)
Here's a picture of me with my spanish teacher, Harvey.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
A Familiar Face in Guatemala
Our host family provides three meals a day, six days a week. We eat on our own on Sundays. Never in my life have I been so excited to find and eat at a McDonald's! It was finally a familiar place and familiar food. I was glad to find that it even tasted the same! It may become a Sunday ritual while we are in Antigua.
Making the Most of Storage Space
Storage space is limited in our room, so we are using some other places to put our things. We really overpacked! We realize now that we can get by with so much less. Why did I pack so many shoes?!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Pictures!!
The front of our house. The medical clinic is on the right, the front door is on the left.
Our desks for studying lots of Spanish!
The view of our bedroom from the door. We have two twin beds pushed together. Daniel is very glad that there is no footboard!
Our bathroom
Hopefully, we will be able to post more pictures tomorrow!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Our Host Family & Home
I am very frustrated that we cannot post pictures on the blog for some reason! If anyone is familiar with blogs and knows what we can do to fix this problem, please let us know!
Telling you about where we are staying would be so much better with pictures, but words will have to suffice for now. We are staying with a couple -- Roberto and Sandra who have been married for 23 years and have four sons: David (21), Roberto (18), Samuel (15), and Miguel (11). Roberto works in Guatemala City in some form of business administration. Sandra hosts students for extra income and is studying on weekends to become a lawyer. They are a very sweet Christian family and have been very welcoming to us. However, it will be so much better when we can actually communicate with them! Right now, it is rather lonely in the home and awkward at meal times.
It is common in Guatemala for extended family to live together. Our home is divided into small apartments. Sandra's mother, brother & his family, sister & her family, and nephew and his family live on the lower level. There is also a small medical clinic that the family operates on the lower level. Sandra's father was a OB/GYN, her brother is a pediatrician and her niece is a dentist. On the upper level, other family members have apartments and then Sandra and her family have an apartment. When you climb the stairs, you enter into the living room/kitchen. There are three bedrooms off of this main room -- one for two boys, one for the other two boys, and one for Sandra and Roberto. Past the kitchen is a small open-air patio. Our bedroom is off of this room and we have our own small private bathroom.
We have a large window, which looks out onto the patio area, and runs the length of our bedroom. It does not close so it seems like we can hear everything in the house! The patio area is a popular place for doing laundry and playing soccer, so we certainly do not have a lot of quiet time in the room. I also find myself whispering all the time because I think they can hear us. Of course, they probably wouldn't understand what I was saying anyway!
We really like our family and the location of their home is very convenient. It is only 4 blocks from our school and 1 block from the central park. Last night, we went for a walk in the park after dinner and people-watched from a bench for a long time. After complaining to Daniel about how frustrating it is not to understand what is going on around me, a group of English-speaking college students sat down next to us and taught me a valuable lesson. As they discussed in extremely inappropriate language their drugs, drinking, and upcoming parties, I was reminded that not being able to understand the conversations around me is not always a bad thing! Possibly it is a blessing!
Telling you about where we are staying would be so much better with pictures, but words will have to suffice for now. We are staying with a couple -- Roberto and Sandra who have been married for 23 years and have four sons: David (21), Roberto (18), Samuel (15), and Miguel (11). Roberto works in Guatemala City in some form of business administration. Sandra hosts students for extra income and is studying on weekends to become a lawyer. They are a very sweet Christian family and have been very welcoming to us. However, it will be so much better when we can actually communicate with them! Right now, it is rather lonely in the home and awkward at meal times.
It is common in Guatemala for extended family to live together. Our home is divided into small apartments. Sandra's mother, brother & his family, sister & her family, and nephew and his family live on the lower level. There is also a small medical clinic that the family operates on the lower level. Sandra's father was a OB/GYN, her brother is a pediatrician and her niece is a dentist. On the upper level, other family members have apartments and then Sandra and her family have an apartment. When you climb the stairs, you enter into the living room/kitchen. There are three bedrooms off of this main room -- one for two boys, one for the other two boys, and one for Sandra and Roberto. Past the kitchen is a small open-air patio. Our bedroom is off of this room and we have our own small private bathroom.
We have a large window, which looks out onto the patio area, and runs the length of our bedroom. It does not close so it seems like we can hear everything in the house! The patio area is a popular place for doing laundry and playing soccer, so we certainly do not have a lot of quiet time in the room. I also find myself whispering all the time because I think they can hear us. Of course, they probably wouldn't understand what I was saying anyway!
We really like our family and the location of their home is very convenient. It is only 4 blocks from our school and 1 block from the central park. Last night, we went for a walk in the park after dinner and people-watched from a bench for a long time. After complaining to Daniel about how frustrating it is not to understand what is going on around me, a group of English-speaking college students sat down next to us and taught me a valuable lesson. As they discussed in extremely inappropriate language their drugs, drinking, and upcoming parties, I was reminded that not being able to understand the conversations around me is not always a bad thing! Possibly it is a blessing!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
You'll have to wait for the pictures...
Hmmm... We're here with pictures ready to post, but it's not working for some reason. We'll keep trying to get them up the next time that we get back to Pollo Campero.
It's a little frustrating to try this and it not work, but it's okay because while we've been here, we've discovered the deal of the century. Campero has ice cream cones (big ones) for just 3 quetzales each- or about 40 cents! Antigua just keeps getting better!
It's a little frustrating to try this and it not work, but it's okay because while we've been here, we've discovered the deal of the century. Campero has ice cream cones (big ones) for just 3 quetzales each- or about 40 cents! Antigua just keeps getting better!
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