Intensive was the word, as we covered six tenses, reflexive verbs, pronouns and a number of other grammatical issues as well as adding enormously to my vocabulary. It was tough-going. For the first week I was in bed asleep by nine every evening, exhausted from the mental effort. Words and phrases were spinning round and round in my head. But, wow! How much I learnt in the two weeks! I'm still having to think carefully about my verb endings but now I can actually speak to people!
Of course the challenge now that I am back home is to keep up the momentum. Today was not a good start, what with a mountain of washing to do (not just the clothes I wore in Guatemala but also the ones here that had grown a layer of mould during my absence), food to buy, and also with an abortive trip to the homewares store (I went for a kettle and a soap dish and somehow came home with a salad bowl and some picture hooks) - not to mention watching the final set of Wimbledon - I have not used a single Spanish word today. Although I now know that "cuarenta igual" is Spanish for 40-all. Tomorrow I have to start working on it again, to reinforce what I learnt and hopefully start adding more.
I did have some fun in Antigua too. It was cold and wet most of the time and so not really conducive to sightseeing, but still the beauty of the town showed through - a grid of cobbled streets with colourfully-painted colonial houses around a pretty central square, in a valley surrounded by volcanic peaks, albeit that the peaks were usually shrouded in clouds. This photo was taken at just about the only moment when blue sky was visible.
I found time for a tour of a coffee plantation, and to visit the amazing Santo Domingo Casa hotel. This latter is built in and around a ruined monastery, and includes a complex of six different museums within the hotel grounds as well as a free shuttle bus up to a look-out point near the town. I think you're expected to buy a meal or at least some souvenirs whilst up there, but there seemed nothing to stop me wandering around with my binoculars instead looking at the Steller's jays and the band-backed wrens...
One really excellent aspect of Antigua is the food. I had opted for a homestay and so had to eat what I was given in the house for six days a week, with only the middle Sunday to choose something from the enormous variety of restaurants in the town. A garlicky cheese fondue, something I haven't had for some seven years, won out above the sushi and the Argentinian steak, and on other days I treated myself to local drinks in the cafes whilst I went through my homework (a Mayan recipe hot chocolate - with honey and chilli added to the mix - was one highlight!). In the house we ate a lot of beans, cheese, chicken, tortillas and avocados, all of which I was pretty happy with. On my final morning I visited the market, and was astonished at the fruit available - apricots, plums, cherries and strawberries from the cool highlands, and mangoes, pineapples and papayas from the hot coastal lowlands. Orange and avocado trees in the town were dripping with not-yet-ripe fruit. & (apparently, as I'm no expert) the coffee grown in the region is some of the world's best. It tasted pretty good to me and I brought some back with me so now just have to add a coffee machine to the list of things to buy for the flat.
