Weekend in Monterrico

This last weekend we decided to get out of Antigua for a bit and see the coastline so we headed down to Monterrico, a beach town on the Pacific. The town had been recommended by both my sister and people I have met over the past week. The trip was about two hours by shuttle and presented some great views of the three volcanoes surrounding Antigua as we headed south.

When we pulled into Monterrico it looked much like most of the villages in Guatemala though it was geared more toward tourism with a ton of street vendors and rows of restaurants. The temperature had risen by at least ten degrees during our decent from the higher elevation of Antigua and it was much more humid. The beaches were volcanic sand and were nearly black. We were immediately approached by a fellow named Sender. Turns out he had been born in Guatemala, raised in LA and had returned to Guatemala a few years back to start a little tourism business. Through at first we assumed he was just another schister he turned out to be a great guide and someone we spent much of our time there with. During our first day we got a little sun and then helped release 500 baby turtles into the ocean as part of a yearly effort to boster their population (and provide entertainment for tourists).That evening we scoped the local bar scene but retreated early due to the massive amounts of mosquitoes that swarmed out once the sun went down (probably got bit around 1 million times during the trip).

The next morning we got up at 5AM to go on a boat tour through the mangroves and watch the sun rise. As we approached the water the sound of all the birds and animals waking up was almost deafening. The mangroves were alive with many species of birds, fish and reptiles as we passed through them. Fishermen were already out casting their nets for shrimp and catfish.

We spent the afternoon lounging, something we hadnt done since we arrived in Guatemala and were invited by Sender, along with a couple other americans, to eat dinner at his friends familys house that evening. The other americans turned out to be from Antigua as well and were a good group. Dinner consisted of various types of seasoned fried fish, which they had caught that morning, salad and beans (which is basically what I ate for lunch and dinner every day because the fish there was amazing). It was probably the best fish I have ever had. The family consisted of the mother, eight sisters and one brother. All were very friendly and it was a great chance to practice spanish.

After dinner we went out with Sender, his friends and the Americans to a dance club filled with Guatemalans visiting from the capital. It was an interesting scene as the ages ranged from 14 to 70+ (got some pretty sewwt videos). After a couple drinks we hit the dance floor with the rest of them which was a blast though very crowded.

The next day we sat in the sun then headed back to Antigua. That night we went out with the other americans we had met in Monterrico and watched the Oscars in spanish at a local bar which was kinda funny. This week its back to the grind with classes and afternoon activities.

Week one in Antigua

Hello all. Things are going well in Antigua. Olga and I have been enrolled in Spanish classes from 8am to noon M-F and they are great. One on one lessons for around $5 an hour. Not a bad deal. We are staying in the student apartments which is making it easy to meet lots of people. The housing is $14 a day or so and includes all meals and the food has been great. I am still trying to shrug off the cold I came here with and stomach issues seem to be ever present but I guess that is to be expected with wussie american stomachs. Finally got our bags on Wednesday which was awesome. We have done a lot of after class activites and have been exploring the town and surrounding areas. This weekend we are going to Monterrico, a coastal town that is supposed to be beautiful, to lounge for a couple days. More to come later...

The trip begins

Hello all. This will be my first post for the trip. Hopefully the first of many. The trip started out a little rocky. Its kinda funny but the only issues have been dealing with americans and American Airlines. We, Olga and I, hit our first roadbump when we were chcking in at SFO. Turns out countries dont like you flying in without a visa or proof that you will be leaving the country within 90 days. It took us a while but we finally convinced the ticket agent to check our luggage all the way to Guatemala as we didnt have time to collect our luggage in Chicago and check itwith Taca (which we didnt have time for because our flight out of SFO was delayed almost 2 hours). Unfortunatly, right before we got on the Taca flight we were told that our baggage didnt make it over anyway. Currently our bags are still in Chicago and will, hopefully, be here on Thursday at which point we have to go all the way back to Guatemala City from Antigua to pick them up.

Anyway, outside of that whole mess things have been great. Despite the fact that when we arrived we hadnt slept in over 24 hours we managed to check out a lot of Antigua our first day as well as set up language classes and meet some cool travelers. After grabbing some dinner we hit the hay at 7PM and slept for over 13 hours....

We had our first one on one classes today and I thought it very helpful (well worth the $5.40 we pay an hour). We plan on doing two weeks of classes and traveling on the weekends and our third week in the country. Class is from 8 to noon which leaves the afternoons free to explore. The school also offers daily activities with the students, who are all ages from all over the world, such as hikes to the top of the active volcano right outsie of the town, bike tours of the area, salsa classes, etc. Seems to be a great way to see the area and meet lots of other travelors at the same time.

I have posted a couple picts from the trip so far and will set up a Shutterfly account soon to post more.