Antigua
Before I start on Antigua I will give my opinion on the difference between a traveler & a tourist. When two people meet at any given place on the planet they automatically have some thing in common, they chose that particular place to visit.
Now if all one is interested in is when the bus leaves for the next site to take a picture & mark his map with I’ve been here, that’s a tourist.
On the other hand if the two people engage in conservation & learn a bit about each other, where they have been, are headed & their thoughts, they are travellers. Simple & I bet not what you expected.
Antigua is a bit of an enigma, I bet if you ask six people their impression you would get six different answers & they would all be correct. Was only going to stop here 2 or 3 days because the posters on Bootsnall said it was a must see, if I had done that I would have missed out on some thing really special.
While wandering about town I figured maybe should check on the cost of Spanish lessons as I had been travelling fairly fast & it wasn’t doing my budget any good. Well the price was great so I decided to take a weeks lessons. That same morning Antigua held thier once a year waiter race which has around 100 waiters running around the Parque Central carrying on their fingers of one hand a tray containing a bottle of cervaza, a glass filled with water, can of pop, all this on the cobblestone street around the square. This race was televised & apparently is quite a tradition, my luck I didn’t have my camera with me.
One of the many things I was to discover about the city is that Americans use it as place for cheap dental work the same as I will be doing in Havana. Antigua is also a mecca for people the world over to study Spanish & it’s schools are reputed to be the best, also the cheapest & they set you up with home stays with local families which is a must do experience. Last night at supper we were watching news coverage of the world economic conference in Washington. There is nothing like watching the coverage on a station in Spain with a Guatemalan family to give one a whole new perspective on things, I can guarantee that.
Just had a young French (from France) student move into the casa today, he speaks a bit of Spanish already but no English so I shall now have a chance to brush up on my French as well as being immersed in Spanish. COOL!!
Finally met 2 more Canadians, two Toronto girls taking a gap year between high school & university, they are taking lessons with an older lady from Seattle, a 20 some thing guy from Colorado & a 50 some thing Brit gentleman who are on a 6 mo help trip covering Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador & Peru, what a great experience that will be.
During the Tikal tour I met a couple from Oslo, the wife was studying in Antigua & the husband came over for a week to see her & turned out he had done the Trans Siberian train trip last year so that’s definitely a must now.
There are all kinds of interesting travellers to meet here, also getting all kinds of info on local life from my teacher & host family. Saturday there was a motorcycle rally at the parque & a bit of a local festival. Yesterday witnessed a funeral procession straight from the movies, must have been around 300 people filling the street with the coffin being carried by the pall bearers who were walking behind the hearse, different!
I am sure there will be more to report as I have signed up for another week of lessons & will be staying here until Dec 1st when I must continue on my trip going to Copan (I think).
Tags: Travel
busman7
COOL!!!!!!!! i’ve gotta do this trip and soon…..Antigua is a must see now for me….
I’m envious, sounds like an interesting experience. We finally got our snow…light dusting, 3″ maybe…but more on the way. I’m not ready for snow!!
The only Antigua I had heard off previously to this trip of Dave’s was the beautiful caribbean island of the same name which I have visited twice. You sure are meeting a great cross section of people. A week today I’ll be in the air on my way to Cuba so I’ll have a lot of catching up to do my return.
Any one looking for a unique travel experience Antigua is a must for your bucket list, not only is the town in an exotic setting the travellers you meet are great.
Hola Busman
Love the definition of the tourist and traveler …
Guess I’ve never been much of a tourist then … even in Cabada.
Glad things are going good for you.
My nephew did the Mexico tthru Cenral America trip about ayear ago before he went to India and Nepal for almost a year.
Take tons of pic … want to see thmeall one day …I still watch Manfred’s videos he gave me … like living somone else’s vacay.
Might just have to set adate with Pina on this one ..LOL
Cheers and keep safe
Mardi
If you & pina get a date set let me know so I can meet you here or might settle here, any thing is possible LOL
Hola busman,
Thanks for sharing your blog. I studied Spanish in Antigua years ago and stayed with a family as well – it was an incredible month long experience that sparked my love of Latin America. The Spanish classes were every morning, and every afternoon there was an ‘activity’ such as scrabble or cross-word puzzles in Spanish. On each Friday afternoon we would go to the pub, and whoever sang a song in Spanish got a free beer. Each week we also hiked up one of the volcanos – the views are impressive.
Take care and enjoy the incredible opportunity you have given yourself! I’ll follow vicariously through your blog!
Ciao,
Sounds like you are having an amazing time!
madrugada54 incredible is the only way to describe Antigua & a month is the least time to spend here so I guess will have to return as I have to leave Monday.
macdon it’s a blast!
I am just so excited reading your blogs!!! You describe things so well, I feel that I’m there! My friend Linda is going to go insane when I tell her about the Spanish lessons in Antigua! She was in Cuba for one month to immerse in the language and although she loves Cuba, she is always looking for NEW adventures, NEW places and this might do it for her! Dave, being that she is single and attractive, would she have to worry about being there alone? Any more/less than here? I am going to send her your blog site as soon as I finish here. Have fun!
Hasta pronto!
Jan
Hola Jan well your single attractive friend will feel right at home here with all the attractive girls here from 18 yr old students taking a gap year to 70 yr olds. I am not particullary outgoing, tend to sit back & watch the world go buy, but that is impossible in Antigua as it’s full of travelers from the whole world who are super friendly & I guarantee that she will make at least 2 friends by the end of the first break in lessons the first day.
As to safety as long as she uses her head it’s just as safe as home.
I am really enjoying your blog busman. As someone said it’s like having the opportunity to experience a bit of someone else’s adventure. Reading about your travels makes me itchy to explore LOL. You have a way of expressing yourself. The last travel reading I did before yours was through the eyes of Michael Palin. Thanks for sharing!!! I am looking forward to reading more.
Stay safe and have a blast while we all make snow angels back here.
Take Care !!