Life in Antigua: Part II

Here is installment number two of the series, "Life in Antigua." I'm not sure what's going on with the formatting today, but the blog is thinking in terms of individual letters instead of words, making for quite an annoying reading experience. The words are splitting up at the end of each line instead of moving the word to the next line. I'm trying to figure it out, but for now, you'll just have to make do. Sorry!

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Hi friends and family!

I had been sitting here happily typing away, spinning the most compelling stories about my experiences here when all of a sudden... nothing. My screen went white. I don't know what exactly happened, but I lost about 30 minutes of creative genious. I regret to say that the second take of this e-mail will probably not be quite as exciting (or, rather, written with quite as much excitement).

UGH! Where was I? I first off told you about my new "housemate," Jan. Jan is a single 40-something dietician from Ft. Collins, Colorado. She's got the gear, the clothes (including the Eddie Bauer skirt, Trinidad ladies!), the outdoorsy demeanor, everything! She arrived on Saturday very, very early in the morning and will be here for a total of two weeks. I heard her loud American voice clumsily fumbling around in Spanish attempting to talk to the Senora about sleeping arrangements, so I got up to greet her. "Hi! Wecome. My name is..." Before I could even tell her my name, she put her hand in front of my face and nearly shouted in her ghastly gringa accent,"POR FAVOR! Solamente Espanol! (PLEASE! Only Spanish!)"

"Okay..." I thought. "This should be interesting." Sure enough... her Spanish is worse than mine, and I've discovered that I have less patience than I've claimed to have had. I often find myself thinking, "T-t-today Junior!" when she's trying to spit something out. However, it's getting better with time. Her face is never farther than two inches away from her English-Spanish dictionary, and she's entertaining at least. For those of you who love my impressions, we'll sit down sometime and I'll tell Jen stories. She's only been here five days, and I already have a vault full.

Hours after Jan's arrival, the family and Jan and I went to a wedding in a small town not far away called La Ciudad Vieja. Juanita, the bride,worked at "our" house cooking and cleaning for four years. Now, her sister Paula has her job. Actually, Saturday's wedding was the second for the same young coulple in one weekend. The first was a civil ceremony the day before, but just the Senora and I went because the boys had work or homework. The reception afterward was at the bride's small house where there was only one table to feed about 150 people. So, we took turns. The Senora and I were among the first round. I, oddly enough, sat directly across from the groom, who looked like he could have been just as happy standing in line at the DMV. The next day, however, he managed a smile or two for the camera.

The second reception, held at the "town hall," just a big open space, had many more people and much more food. To my knowledge, we were the first ones out of about 300 to leave, and we left after three and a half hours. These people sure do know how to party. It was yet another interesting cross-cultural experience.

Sunday was Rodrigo's birthday. He turned 11. My family and I (Jen hiked up a volcano on Sunday) went to another neighboring town called Jocotelango to Juan Sr.'s ("dad") sister's house. She is moving to Miami next week, and we had kind of a going away/birthday party. There were innumerable aunts, uncles, and cousins laughing, crying, talking, playing, drinking (glasses, not shots, of vodka), attending mid-day mass, etc. There was not a moment of silence for the eight hours I was there. I didn't speak a word of English all day. Lot's of fun, but my brain was very tired when we left at 8:30 at night.

For those of you wondering what the heck I do with my time besides when I am in school from 8-12, I'll tell ya! After school I rest and then eat lunch. After that, I usually either come to the internet cafe or go on a field trip with the school (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Then, I do my homework with the boys at the dinner table. They're an immense help with my Spanish, and I manage to help them with their English homework. Then, reading, dinner, writing, etc. until bed. I'm usually asleep by 9:30 or 10. I'm such an old lady!

Okay... I'm afraid that I will lose this e-mail again if I don't send it right away. My love to you all!

Nicole
Editor's note: not the actual wedding or couple. :) Photo credit here.