On Sunday nights at 5:30 women gather on the corner of 6th and 6th in Antigua to dine together and talk about careers, NGOs and anything else that may come up during the hour or two gathering. Deet is one of the women who began this gathering six years ago and has continued it every Sunday since, rain or shine. The group can be as little as three or four women to as many as 20. Many of the women are from the US. Some I’ve met were from Canada and one I’ve become friends with is from Finland. All have interesting histories and some are still working while others are retired.
This Sunday night I sat next to Geri from New Jersey who is in Antigua learning Spanish at one of the Spanish schools. She has written one children’s book and is working on her second. Several other women were in the Spanish classes and also doing volunteer work. Adrianna, my friend from Finland, attends Spanish classes and volunteers at the school associated with Casa Jackson, where I volunteer. It was at one of these dinners where I met Adrianna and found out about Casa Jackson.
After dinner, I met up with Bruce and we went looking for the sawdust and floral carpets that line the streets on the processional routes on Sundays during Lent. The processional can last 12 hours or more and it still needed to pass near the restaurant I just ate at with the ladies. I was so happy when two blocks away we came upon the first carpet. Several people were busy adding the finishing touches.
We didn’t stay for the processional since I needed to be up an alert for Spanish classes the next day.
Antigua is known for their Spanish schools and people travel from around the globe to attend one of the reasonably priced, usually one-on-one classes. We began our classes taught by Carmen, in the convenience of our apartment. Our first class was Monday morning and it was slightly challenging although the two hours went rather quickly.
Bruce and I had a little bit of homework which we did while I cooked dinner. After dinner we had coffee with friends and then to bed so we would be perky for our morning class.
Carmen came at 10 and we worked on conjugating verbs after she gave us a little test to see if we did our homework. Tonight we need to fill out flash cards and memorize many words. Yikes!
Bruce and I went to Cafe Escalonia for lunch and to rest our weary brains. We had soup and bread which was delicious.
Tonight I met Adrianna for coffee at Cafe Condessa. I’m feeling like this is home because I always run into people I know. Deet happened to be in the cafe and she stopped by to chat for a minute or two. Deet’s a big part of the ex-pat community and she has a big heart. She is very welcoming and brings that warmth to all she meets. A very active woman, she offers massages at very reasonable rates and also does tours at Caoba Farms on Saturday mornings. In fact, I’ve had a massage by Deet and a tour by Deet. Both terrific!
This evening more homework because Carmen will probably test us tomorrow! Isn’t this fun!
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