Antigua 🇬🇹

Hello dear ones, I finally have some time to review the first adventures and put them into writing. As mentioned before, Tino and I started in Antigua Guatemala.

We chose this place because clear Spanish is spoken in Guatemala, so we wanted to begin our journey here with a two-week language course.

Antigua is a colonial small town with a population of about 35,000, which is about the same as Buxtehude. It is surrounded by active volcanoes. The three most famous ones are Volcan de Aqua, Fuego, and Acatenango. Antigua is also characterized by a viewpoint with a large cross, a local market, and charming colorful streets.

We quickly settled into the city due to its manageable size and our daily routine. Our great hostel (Hostal Morenos) also helped us, as we always had a great breakfast here in the mornings. There was something different every weekday. We also had to get used to the fact that firecrackers were fired in honor of a holiday at any time of the day. This happened every single day.

Language Course

We started our lessons promptly at 8:00 am on weekdays. Okay, sometimes we made Magdalena wait for 3 to 5 minutes. However, this did not bother her at all, as she could acclimate herself to her phone for a few minutes. We stayed here until noon. Tino and I were lucky that no one else booked a language course through our agency, so we had the teacher all to ourselves. She was able to focus on us better. Here, we learned the three most important tenses: present, simple future, and past, as well as many vocabulary words. We also studied for an additional 2 hours in the early afternoon to reinforce our learning. The verbs were and still are the most difficult for me. After two weeks, we had the tools to communicate simply. Now we have to keep at it, deepen our vocabulary, and try to speak a lot of Spanish. The school was located in a monastery, which was particularly noteworthy due to the many plants and beautiful architecture. It was filled with small gardens. Since it was an active monastery, Tino and I were initially very surprised. Approximately 30 aspiring priests from the USA also attended Spanish classes here to be able to preach in their native language to the Hispanos in their community. Everyone was very friendly and we learned a lot about their calling.

Cerro del la Cruz

On one side of Antigua, the Aqua volcano dominated the city with its mighty silhouette. On the other side, a large cross stood on a viewpoint. In the first week, we climbed up to the cross in good weather. We were advised to take the right path, as there were more frequent robberies on the left path. We reached the cross safely and were rewarded with a view over the city and the volcanic landscape behind it. It was up here that we met our first travel friends: Becki and Nat. The following days, we had frequent family dinners at their hostel, as the kitchen there was very well equipped. We could cook to our heart's content. We also practiced our English there instead of Spanish, as Nat is from Canada 🇨🇦. In the hostel, we also met their friends Gabi and Andrea, who are from Switzerland and the USA, respectively.

City Market

In the western part of the city, there was the large city market. It can be compared to a shopping center. Here, you could find everything you need, whether it's electronics, food, household items, or delicious street food. Tino and I bought our groceries for the next few weeks here.