Decisions, decisions

This isn't a post about changing my mind again - it's about having made it up (with a slight modification from my previous idea)! I can't believe all of a sudden I'm all set, but I am. Using a travel agency listed on the Ecuador Spanish school's website, I found a great airfare that allows me to stop in Guatemala on the way down to Ecuador. I'd tossed around that idea in my head earlier, but it had seemed prohibitively expensive. It's on the way in the sense that Guatemala is south of New York and north of Ecuador, but my plane wouldn't otherwise be stopping there. So the fare I got is really reasonable, plus it's a student fare with a rock-bottom change fee, in case I fall in love with Guatemala (or in Guatemala) and want to stay longer. Or need to change my final flight home.

The town in Guatemala I'll head to first is Antigua, known for its Spanish language schools, which means I'll be there for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Antigua, a "charming" (I'll make my own judgment when I get there) Colonial city 45 minutes from Guatemala City (which I will not be going to at all), is known for its Semana Santa festival. In fact, Sevilla is too, and the only big regret I had yesterday about deciding to just go to Ecuador is that I'd miss out on the big Easter celebrations. I'm sure there would have been something in Cuenca, as Ecuador is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but in all my Google-searching I couldn't find any evidence it was particularly special there (unlike Christmas celebrations in Cuenca, which are supposed to be fabulous). So I'm really excited that I will still be able to see a well-known celebration. It may not be Carnivale, but I'm not sure that's exactly my scene anyway. I was in Catania, Sicily for Easter and walked the streets a little bit (not that way, you know what I mean), but this time I'll be more aware of what is going on (hopefully. And not alone - also hopefully).

So I've booked my ticket for three weeks in Guatemala, and hopefully that won't be a week too many. If I'm done with Antigua after 2 weeks, I can move to another city, Quetzaltenango (known as Xela), which also has a lot of schools but sounds like an easier place to immerse yourself in Spanish and avoid English speakers. After only 2 weeks of studying, though, I won't be disappointed in myself if I'm not willing to let go of that social safety net.

Booking the flights, however, was a bit of a touch-and-go "Did I do it in time?" experience. I submitted the payment about 3 minutes after the reservation was supposed to expire (the guy I made it with on the phone was pretty incredulous that I wasn't willing to book on the spot, the fare was so good. He also gave me a tiny Spanish lesson - he said my 3-plane, 4-stop flight home was known as something, but of course I can't remember the word he used in Spanish for the life of me. In English, it might have had something to do with a bell, but I'm not sure). I was hesitant about booking because I didn't have confirmation from the school in Antigua that they still had space for me. About 15 minutes after booking the ticket (or not), the director of the Guatemala school emailed me (either tersely, or he's not an email kind of guy, or there was something lost in translation) that they did have space. Really, I can look at my email and see that his email came about 17 minutes later than I would have wanted. And about 55 minutes after booking (or not), I said to my mom "I'm not sure if I booked the tickets in time to get that fare. I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out." And then maybe 30 seconds later I had a new email informing me that my e-ticket had been booked! Set! And an hour later, an email from the school in Ecuador that they did have space for me in a week - the week I'd just decided to be in Guatemala instead. Anyway, I quickly skype'd the person who emailed me from Ecuador to ask for my arrival to be delayed 3 weeks. She was so nice and it sounds so easy (the U.S. dollar is the official currency in Ecuador) that I do feel slightly regretful that I won't be going to Ecuador right away, because even though I'm nervous, I am very excited and the sooner I get there, the sooner I'll get settled in an know whether it was the right decision to go to Cuenca. I really want to like Cuenca and stay there for a while, rather than bopping around from place to place. I'd also emailed the Ecuador school's volunteer branch yesterday to inquire about volunteering at the jail, and they wrote back this morning to say they were just starting up that association and the director is looking forward to having volunteers. That email made me feel even better about heading to Cuenca.

So I'm really excited, and actually going. I leave March 25! I'm glad that what I said in the last post about probably not leaving by next weekend didn't turn out to be true. I come back August 3, which is a really long time to be gone, but I think this experience will be fabulous and the best use of my time until law school.