Our Last Saturday In Antigua

It was a very busy week taking Spanish lessons every day and several days we had two hours of homework.  Carmen was an excellent teacher and I think our Spanish improved greatly.  It was challenging and most days we were pretty tired.

On Wednesday we went for a walk, and had lunch at Senor Pepian.  I had a vegetarian platter which was 30 quetzales, roughly $4 and Bruce had pepian, a traditional Guatemalan dish.  We ordered green iced tea.  The entire meal was less than $15 for the two of us.

On Thursday we did our homework our session with Carmen and then we went to Healing Hands for a massage.  Later we met some friends for coffee.  In the evening we had dinner with our friend Mark, and a woman named Julie who has returned to Antigua after being gone a year.  We ate at Michu’s and Bruce has tuna carpaccio which he had their when we first came to Antigua.  I had fried shrimp.  Julie had fish and Mark had a burger because he said they have the best ones in Antigua.

Friday was our last day of Spanish class.  Yea, no more homework.  Bruce and I went to the supermarket for a few things.  We certainly didn’t want any chickens or bunnies.

It really was sad today thinking this was our last Saturday in Antigua.  We went to Caoba Farms this morning for some veggies.  We met our new neighbors and told them about the organic farm.  Bruce and I had breakfast there and ordered the pancakes with macadamia nuts and bananas.  Very delicious.  After our breakfast we checked out the vendors.  Unfortunately, the ugly tomatoes are now out of season so we had to get some romas.  They are not as good but still pretty tasty.  We saw Deet and a few other people we know.  This is definitely a ex-pat hangout on Saturday morning.

It was a really warm, humid day today and for some reason I was finding my energy level down.  The crowds are becoming quite overwhelming and I am glad we will not be here for Holy Week.  They estimate a million people come to Antigua during this time.  Not good for me since I do have an aversion to crowds.  So walking is slower and crossing streets feels a little more dangerous.  We have to be vigilant of the chaotic traffic and people not being the best of drivers.  I have heard from people who lived here for many years that 20 years ago you rarely saw cars on the streets.

Bruce and I headed to Central Park and when we arrived, we stopped at Cafe Barista for a smoothie and to download some books onto our nooks.  The cafe usually has good wifi.  We spent some time recouping energy before heading out into the crowds.  Walking along Five Avenida, musicians were playing and vendors were setting up.  The road is closed off every Saturday but to me this felt different than other Saturdays.  Carmen, our Spanish teacher told us that the processional tomorrow is supposed to be one of the biggest.  In fact, she told us they will start closing streets tonight so they can make the carpets.

Ruth had asked me to take some picture of her weavings at the market so we worked our way up there.  It’s such a vibrant place.  The weavings are so beautiful and she had so many things to sell.  I did restrain myself today but there were several items that were lovely.  She has lovely pocketbooks, scarves, table runners and jewelry.  I told her I should set up a shop in the US.  Ruth would love that.  She is quite a business woman.  But competition is steep and sometimes people sell so cheap just to feed their families.

 

Bruce and I trekked all over Antigua today taking in the vibe of this fascinating community.  We ultimately ended up in Central Park where we spent some time people watching.  One of the Maya woman and her little daughter, Alexandra, stopped by to chat.  We had met her yesterday with her two sons, Willy and Jefferson, ages 3 and 4 but they were not with her today.  Again, the park was alive with color and activity.  We are going to miss the walks to the park, the socializing with people we meet and of course, all the wonderful food we have consumed during the past two months.  I needed to do all the walking or I would have been as big as a house.  Speaking of which we were ready to move on for afternoon cafe.

Cafe Boheme is one of my favorite cafes and I rated their strawberry tart the number one pastry in Antigua.  We ventured over there for an afternoon cappuccino and pastry.  It’s a lovely little place to hang out.  It sort of reminds me of places I went to in Greenwich Village in the late 60s.  It’s comfortable, the cappuccino is good, the service is great and it’s not a tourist place.

After Cafe Boheme, we wandered along and came across another temporary market by one of the ruins with lively music.  We stopped by to look at some of the handmade goods.  I did find a lovely little basket that I couldn’t resist.

All done browsing it was time to head home.  We stopped in at San Martin for another small Italian Bread.  This evening it’s home and blogging and eating avocado and tomato salad, bread, and pasta.  Life could not be any better.