Oh Antigua - a place that will forever be romanticized in my mind as the start of this epic trip. I wrote about my very first day here in what is probably my favorite post so far:
"After weeks of reading up on and scrolling through google images of Antigua, I was finally seeing it with my own eyes. Right in the middle of the park is the iconic "Fuente de los Sirenas" built in 1738. As the gentle splash of the fountian came within earshot, the sirens drew me in. As I drew closer, everything around me seemed to slow down, and then there I was. It was no longer a picture of a place far away, an idea, or an image in my imagination. Nope. I was standing right in front of it. And that was the moment it truly hit me - I was really doing this. I had arrived."
Haha, I was excited alright. And rightfully so! With its well preserved colonial architecture, cobblestone streets, and unique blend of culture - not to mention all the hip cafes and vibrant nightlife, Antigua is great place to post up for a couple weeks. But what brought me to Antigua was the absolutely thriving spanish school scene. If I was going to be traveling through Latin America for 6 months, I figured I had better invest some time up front in learning the language, and from what I read online prior to my trip Antigua was the place to do so. Apparently within the couple mile radius of town, there are an upwards of 400 spanish schools! So naturally, I chose the top ranked school on Tripadvisor: http://www.antiguaplaza.com/
When I think back to my time in Antigua, the one word that comes to mind is BUSY. As I alluded to in my video blog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsnfaAN3le8, I had not completely unwound from the rigors of working 16 hour days with the firm at this point, and constantly felt like I needed to be doing something productive. I needed to stay busy because in those quiet moments a bit of anxiety crept in as if there were something out there that Needed to get done. Some phantom deadline that was approaching. Completely irrational but hey, these are the things that public accounting downloaded into my subconscious, and were probably necessary in order for me to have success there, as strange as that sounds.
So busy I stayed! And it wasnt necessarily a bad thing that I was still in get-shit-done mode, as it allowed me to pack in as much activity into my days as possible - hitting the spanish classes hard, taking multiple salsa lessons per day, going out almost every night, all with machine-like stamina.
So with that, I invite you to click on the video below and come along with me as I take you through one of my typical days in Antigua. And it just so happens to be Thursday, which is fieldtrip day with the school where you'll get to check out one of my favorite spots in town - el mercado. Listo amigo?? Vamos!
Whew...I get tired just watching that! And what the video doesn't really capture are the distances between everything - from home to school, school to the market, market to dance lesson, etc., etc. I was easily walking 5 miles per day, if not more.
What I love most about creating and watching these videos is reliving all the fun moments with the wonderful people and close friends I made there. Now that you'll be be able to put a face with the name, let me introduce you to a few of them:
Violeta and Rafael - Violeta and Rafael were the mother and father of the host family that I stayed with. Incredibly warm and hospitable and made us all feel like part of their family. And having been hosting students in their home for almost 2 decades, in a sense we really were. We ate dinners together, praying before every meal, and sharing our day, like a nice little family should. The food was always excellent, prepared by Violeta and her son Fernando. Violeta stayed home running the household while Rafael was a decorated local officer, often seen patrolling the central park area. However while off duty, Rafael was a total jokester who kept us all laughing with an endless supply of jokes and funny stories. Rafael was one of those people that while talking with him, you were on the verge of laughter at all times, like a balloon waiting to pop. I spent as much time as I could bantering with Rafael, and as you can imagine, dinners were just not the same without him!
Mauro and Lesvia - Hands down Mauro, my first spanish teacher of the day, is one of my favorite people I've met so far on my trip. I remember being all nervous and serious in my first class until a few jokes came flying out of left field. From that point on, going to class just felt like hanging out with a buddy, the beauty of it was that I was practicing my spanish while doing so. While we did some formal textbook learning each day, the majority of class was spent laughing and bullshitting about random topics. It was perfect because it really helped out my spanish, in a more informal but very practical way. It was a shame I could only squeeze in a few minutes of banter with Mauro in this video as I literally have almost an hours worth of hilarious content. I am thinking about creating a whole other video, just with snippets of our often very crude conversations, with English subtitles. If you found those clips entertaining, let me know and I'll def go forward with it, as I'm not sure if it's only me that finds them hilarious. Lesvia lead a more structured class with a lot more textbook oriented learning but we as well went off on long tangents which I really enjoyed. Lesvia was one of the sweetest people you could meet and was a real pleasure to spend time with. If you are interested in taking classes with either one, let me know as they offer online learning through Skype. Would be great for someone who is planning a trip to Central America and wants to get a quick foundation prior to doing so. And don't be fooled by the informal nature of the clips of Mauro and I - he's been teaching for over 20 years and is one of the most respected teachers in Antigua.
Oscar and Nancy - Oscar and Nancy were my two salsa instructors. Having the combination of the two was great as Oscar was more like a buddy while Nancy was a bit of a Drill Sargent, busting my balls for an hour every day as you can see from the vid haha. Both were fantastic instructors and I learned so much in my two weeks with them.
I hope you enjoyed meeting this fabulous cast of characters!
Normally I'd wrap it up here but not today as I've got some VERY SPECIAL BONUS FOOTAGE for you! The day I did this documentary just so happened to coincide with El Dia de Corpus Christi, which is a holiday celebrated in the Catholic religion and especially throughout Latin America. The celebration is highlighted by a huge procession through the streets, which of course we joined in on. I originally included this footage with the above video but decided to create a separate one as I wanted the original video to really reflect a "typical day". What a treat this was to experience and be a part of - check it out!
Pretty cool huh!?
I really hope you enjoyed the videos! It was a really special time for me and I think my enthusiasm and excitement for being out and about in the world really shines through in them. Let me know what you thought as well as any comments / criticisms / suggestions as this whole video creation thing is still pretty new to me. I'm really enjoying it though and am already working on the next one which I hope to share early next week. Also, I promise my spanish and salsa are better now that what you saw here in only my second week of travel! Es verdad! :)
Chow amigos!
Ross
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