First day

On this computer, and maybe all the ones in Central America, you get the @ sign by pressing alt and then the numbers 64. Who knew? I cant figure out the apostrophe right now. I also have had trouble getting the @ sign in other countries.

One thing I forgot to mention about the day I arrived. I didn{t really see nay of the procession that was causing mucho traffic, but I did see people who must have been part of the procession - they were wearing bright purple, Williams-colored robes, sort of what friars wear (or friars as they are represented on Sex and the City - remember Friar F-ck?). Anyway, I{m sure Ill see more of them on coming Sundays.

So on the first day of classes, I woke up early because I{d gone to bed early, and there was also noise around the house. Maybe one day I{ll break out the earplugs I brought since some of the U Mich girls seem to swear by them. I got a ride to the school because my family owns a travel agency a few doors away. It is actually quite cool here in the mornings and evenings - cool compared to how warm it can be in the middle of the day, I should say. So I was wearing new Columbia capri pants (this will be important later). I waited in the travel agency for a few minutes because it was early and school wasnt yet open, but when I got up to go to the school, luckily I brushed off my butt in case there was any dirt on it - because my hand hit something else. Id done the same thing I did the last time I wore new columbia pants - they{re good for travelling, if you arent familiar. Columbia pants are always sold with about a 10 inch by 1 inch transparent sticker that has the size on it. And it is put on the back of the leg. And I always forget to take it off. I walked around Bangkok for a whole day with that sticker on another pair of pants - I wonder how many people noticed - but luckily I found my mistake early on yesterday.

So the school. There are two stories and every student has their own teacher. Mine is named Marina and we sit on the roof terrace under a big umbrella. It is a little quieter up there because there are only 3 or 4 students on the roof, compared with the main level where there are about 10 in a not-so-big space. But I will write more about the school another day when I don{t have much else to say.

After school I stopped by the travel agency to find out that lunch isnt until 12:30 or 1 pm, so I had some time. I wandered down to the parque central, the main part of town. It is quite picturesque, but I will also save a more complete description of Antigua for another day. So it was time for lunch and I was hungry because a) I am me and b) I had eaten breakfast before 7 am. I wasnt sure I was going to find home, to be honest, because I hadnt paid as much attention as I usually do when I came from home to school, and I didnt have the street name on a map. But I didnt know the street name anyway, so I suppose that was not an issue. Happily, I did find home but unhappily, my key wasnt working to open the side door. Im often bad at keys and was willing to attribute the problem to user error, or perhaps actually being at the wrong house, but the key did go in and I felt it turn the lock, so either everyone in Antigua has the same lock or I was at the right house. After giving up on the key I paced a little bit on the street wondering what to do before doing the natural thing and knocking on the door of the house - which is like a big metal garage door with a little window about 6 inches by 12 inches that swings open. Anyway, one of the ladies came to let me in and I dont think she cared that I was using the door, because when I tried to say later that the key wasnt working, she indicated that coming in the front was fine. Lunch was with the grandmother and a lady that I thought was like an aunt but now am wondering if she is a housekeeper, because she serves breakfast and lunch and seems to clean the dishes at dinner, plus she does laundry. But maybe she just does that stuff because she doesnt work.

After lunch I lay down a little and then went back to school for the excursion - there are about 3 afternoon activities a week. I didnt know where we were going but I also didnt care. Only 4 people went, which surprised me, and we followed the guide about a 15 minute walk to wait for a bus. The bus took a while to arrive - many passed, but they had different routes than the one we wanted. The buses are all old American school buses painted bright colors, named, and given new diesel engines. And either they put in new seats that are longer than the ones we usually have on a bus, or I was much much smaller last time I was on a school bus (not likely) and never realized how tiny the aisles are. 2 of the people who went are Americans who have been traveling for 22 months. Now I like to travel, I think more than most, but that does not sound fun to me. AT ALL. Anyway, until we got off the bus (following the guide) I had thought we were going to a church, because someone at the school had thought that was what it was, but it turns out we went to a macademia farm. We did the tour in Spanish because the others knew more than me, and the truth was I wasnt fascinated enough to learn all about macadamia nut production. After taking the bus back I wandered around town, to get some quetzals (local money) and explore a little, before going back to the house around 5:45 for some studying before (and then after) dinner. So it was somewhat eventful as I did an activity and explored town, but nothing monumental.

Today is an afternoon excursion to the cemetary. Ill report in more detail on various things later. And for now all I can say is that 4 hours of Spanish classes gets kind of exhausting!