Day 7

This is a view from the Volcano Pacaya.  The closest one to us is Volcano
Auga  which is inactive.  The one to the left is Volcano Fuego which is
very much active.  You can see it fuming.  You can also hear it rumbling
at certain times during the day and night from Antigua.

No breakfast this morning for me.  I had to catch the tour van to the volcano, Pacaya, at 6am so I just grabbed a piece of bread from the bread basket that had been left out after dinner from the night before as I ran out the door.  I was late to the pick-up spot, but luckily the van was also late.  It then picked up several other tourists and was filled to the brim for the hour and a half drive to the Pacaya protected area.

The hike up to the volcano was great exercise and I met several other travelers not enrolled in language programs in addition to the 2 other students, Richard (New Zealand) and Leo (Germany), I signed up for the tour with.  Our guide was great, and funny.  She had us roast marshmallows from a spot on the volcano.  Altogether, a very enjoyable experience!

When I arrived back to the house Sonny and two new students were seated at the table already eating lunch; rice, chicken, and an amazing cooked veggie concoction (eggplant, celery, onions, etc).  After everyone else left, I had seconds and sat speaking with Ordelia.  Maybe the hike did my brain some good as Ordelia noted that I was talking a lot more (yea! Spanish)!  She said that the two new students were vegetarian, maybe that's why I got such a varied vegetable dish.

After a short rest I had plans to meet up with the guys again at Fernandos at 2pm.  I'd also run into another student, Natalie (Switzerland) on my way home from the van drop off and invited her to meet up as well.  Natalie, Richard, and I had a coffee and hung out for a little while at Fernandos.  I discussed with them how to tell my house mom that I was switching houses.  Leo didn't show up so Richard and I decided to go to the market without him (Natalie went home to rest).  We ended up running into Leo in the street.

At the Mayan market I bought a scarf though I should have argued the price down much more than I did.  Richard and I went on to the local market without Leo.  It was less packed than I expected but still an interesting scene.  We then made plans to go out that evening after our respective dinners at our home stays.

I decided to try Richard's tip shortly after I got home.  He told me that if I just put the water at a trickle, the strange contraption (pictured right) in the shower would be able to heat the water.  Hurray for a warm shower even if it was just a trickle!  (After my first cold shower, I'd asked Ordelia about it.  She said she would have someone fix it the next morning.  I went and tried it again after class the next day and it was still cold.  After a second cold shower I'd resigned to just going around smelling until I switched houses.  The combo of sweating and having volcanic ash all over me after the hike though was making me have second thoughts.)

 For dinner we had tamales (my first time actually, I always thought from the name that they were spicy and had never ordered one back home)!  Bien!  It was amazing!  When I told Ordelia at dinner that I would be switching homes the next day she seemed sad.  But I felt it was for the best since with the new students (Sweden) there was a lot more English being spoken at the meal.  She pulled me aside afterward and offered me a space in her house with the family next door!  Yeah for continuing eating Ordelia's amazing and varied cooking!

Leo, Lisa (Japanese American from New York), and I met at Richard's at 8pm.  It was fun to wander around the city together and observe the exciting night life of Antigua at Christmastime.  It was awesome to have people to wander with rather than being out on my own.  We had a beer and a shot of tequila at two different bars and tried to meet up with my Guatemalan friend (from 10 years prior when I had been an au pair in Germany) who was in Antigua for the weekend.

When we were finally ready to call it a night, we first walked Richard home.  We had to say goodbye to him there as he would be leaving on a 5am shuttle to Xela the next day.  I'm feeling sad about seeing him go and even thought about going with him, but it was too late notice for me as I'd already told my teacher I would stay on at least another week.  He has been a nice companion especially after spending most the entire day with him today.  Maybe he'll still be in Xela whenever it is that I make it there.

Leo and Lisa were awesome and walked me back to my house even though they were complaining about how far away it is from everything (I don't think I mind too much, at least that way I'm sure to get my exercise in).