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category: Uncategorized
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So the other night I met up with Rodalfo´s friend Carlos.  He was with 2 guys from France who have been couch-surfing across Central America for 3 months.   They had been staying with him for a few days and he wanted to show them Antigua. 

We basically just hung out at their hostel and spoke bastardized Spanish (everybody except Carlos).   Spanish was the only language that all 4 of us knew.  The other two could speak pretty well, but it was a bit hard to understand since they were speaking with a serious accent.  We ate jail food (pasta, stale cookies, and artificial fruit punch).

The two French kids (whose names I don´t remember) started talking about a recently invented language called Esperanto.  According to them, it is supposed to be the up and coming international language since it so easy to learn by design.  Carlos then started talking about a “language” that he called “pirate language” which is basically like the pig-latin of spanish except it´s more complex.   He could speak it perfectly… and it sounds crazy. 

Jail food and artificial fruit punch

Jail food and artificial fruit punch

So I went back to Guatemala City for the weekend. Marti and Carlos took me to market.

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Its for the pineapples (the knife)

Its for the pineapples (the knife)

Marti in the process of haggling

Marti in the process of haggling

An inevitably successful negotiation. Marti is no slouch when it comes to beating down the price.

An inevitably successful negotiation. Marti is no slouch when it comes to beating down the price.

Check the “Photos de Antigua” page for more market photos… (even though the market was in Guatemala city)

So the partying did not end with the wedding.  On Sunday, Marti, Carlos and I, along with the majority (it seems, but I have a feeling this is not the case) of Otto´s family went to Marti´s sisters house for a party.  This included massive amounts of food, fireworks, and alot of questions for the gringo… 

Marti lighting the cake.  She is a pro, note her gameface

Marti lighting the cake. She is a pro at this kind of thing, note her gameface

Milton is the one with the camera

Milton is the one with the camera and Olga is the woman to the left of him. She is hilarious.

category: Family Life
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The family I am staying with is awesome.  There are 6 of us in one house.  The mother and father are Stella and Neri and the 2 daughters are Clara and Faviola.  They are all really cool.  Yesterday I spent the majority of the day (and night) talking to Stella and Karla.  I basically talked to them until it was late and my head hurt.  After hours of Spanish, I at one point asked Carla how her English was (in English) and for the first 2 or 3 sentences proceded to fumble the words of my own native language.  I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing…  Karla is an interior design student and an English teacher at a local school, so hopefully soon we will be able to jump into architectural powertalk.   

I am also staying with 2 other gringos.  The first is Henry, a Canadian guy who owns a greenhouse business about an hour outside of  New York state.  He is taking spanish so that he can communicate better with some of the Mexican help he has in the greenhouse.    The second is Jaime, a man of about 75 who has been living with the family for more than 10 years.   Jaime is a bit elusive but I will try my best to get a photo of him…

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Nery, Stella, and Henry

Karla and Huesito

Karla and Huesito. Huesito es stilo con sus camisas para niños

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdjYugIG1L8[/youtube]

Stella egging on Huesito

 

Oh ya, and the food is amazing…

Tostadas - it is impossible to exhibit any form of self control around these things

Tostadas - it is impossible to exhibit any form of self control around these things

Pollo, guacamole, y arroz

Pollo, guacamole, y arroz

category: School
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So Spanish school is going well.  I have 4 hours a day of one on one Spanish with Clariza.  She is really cool, and half of the time, we basically just hang out and chat it up (en espanol). 

Yesterday we watched Obama get sworn in (to the  sound of motorcycles and tuc tucs – picture and description to come) .

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I wanted to get a portrait shot of her but she suggested that, for effect, she write on the whiteboard (even though we never use it).  The picture is blurry but I think it represents her pretty well.  Note that she is “writing” on the whiteboard with a ballpoint pen.

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Here is one of the many activities at the school.  Today we had to buy 3 different kinds of “Dulces Tipicos” (typical Guatemalan sweets), research them, present what we learned about them in Spanish, and then eat them.  The two kids were all about this one…

categories: Fiestas, School, Travel
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Otto´s uncle Rodolfo and his friend Christian drove Otto and I to Antigua two nights in a row in order to scope out the different Spanish schools. 

I think that looking for spanish schools seemed like a good excuse for Rodolfo and Christian to show us around Antigua.  By this I mean eating massive amounts of food, spending most of the night in a bar, and then heading to a discoteca.  This was basically how it went on both days.  And of course, going to a discoteca isn´t any fun if there isn´t a street fight (about 8  people) to cap the night off.   No need to worry, we were at a safe viewing distance…

All of the bars in Antigua need to close after 1:00, but its common that there is an “afterparty” after this certain discoteca closes.  As soon as you walk out the door, people are handing out flyers.  Rodalfo explained that everybody is in on the afterparty.  Apparently this is true, because after driving for 5 minutes, we had to ask a random guard for directions and he knew exactly what we were talking about.  5 minutes later, we asked a kid who was probably 14, and he not only showed us where the party was, but helped us park…   

Christian, Roldalfo, and a bucket of Gallo

Christian, Roldalfo, and a bucket of Gallo

Despite how they may sound, these two days were definitly productive.  On the afternoon of the 2nd day, after looking at a few other schools, we found one that seemed to be the one.  The school is called ¨Probigua¨ and is a non-profit spanish school.  It includes activities (movies, salsa lessons, field trips, etc) and also offers the ability to volunteer in a small school that is close to Antigua.