Day 6 (Tourists in Antigua) and Day 7 (Lots o´ Rain)

Name: Maura Kelly Date: Jun 16

Today we took our first trip to Antigua. We spent most of our time en el mercado and got our first taste of bartering. I think we all realized that we were terrible at it and I believe that we paid about twice the price of any good barterer. Haha! But it was still really fun to immerse ourselves in the culture of Guatemala, even if the shop owners were blatantly ripping us off. For lunch we had the best chicken quesadillas I have ever eaten! Son deliciosos! I have to say though that at times I felt really awkward because the natives would stare at us wherever we went and we heard a few ,”Hey pretty ladies!” and ,”Gringas! Gringas! Gringas!” But you cant really blame them, we totally looked like tourists in our backpacks, sunglasses, friendship bracelets, and tennis shoes, wandering aimlessly around a city we were totally unfamiliar with. I think we all ended up buying way more stuff than we needed. From bracelets to backpacks, and pirated music to colorful purses, we definitely did our part to stimulate the local Antiguan economy. Guzman said that we would visit Antigua later on this week and I know we are all excited to return and get scammed out of all our quetzals. J Adios! Y se amo a mi familia!


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: 6-17-09

Today, we jumped on a bus and headed over to Antigua. When, we got there we immediately exchanged our dollars for quetzals. Then a few of us headed off to the market. We went to the outdoor market. This was really upsetting because everything was Americanized. Then we headed back to the bank and jumped on a bus to take a hike up a mountain. It was so pretty. We climbed to a lookout that looked over all of Antigua. We took thousands of pictures. It felt like prom. Then we went back to the shopping area. Natalie, Maria, Melissa, Mariah, Kathleen, Kelsey H, and I went out to lunch at a very cute café. We got quesadillas. They were really good. Then we hit the indoor market!!!! And Oh my god, it was so so so so so cool!!! They had a million things. Pretty sure I bought the entire marketJ All of us girls had so much fun and came back with a lot. Then Devon, Brittni, Natalie, Kathleen, Maria and I went to some of the kid’s casas. We bonded with them. It was fun! We finshed the day with all of us girls watching a movie. Before bed, Erin and I did a rigorous ab workout. All in all, today in Antigua was so much fun!!!! J

Name: Erin Date: 6/17/09

I think we’ve been getting pretty lucky with the weather here so far. Yesterday was beautiful in Antigua until we got home and Guatemala started to show what their “rainy season” was really like. Antigua was the epitome of what I had pictured before coming to Guatemala for the first time. It was filled with bright colors, hundreds of small shops and Iglesias (churches), stone roads, lots of traffic but a lot of fun. It was hard not to buy and eat everything…which was almost the case! Bartering was a lot harder than I remembered and pretty sure we got ripped off a few times, but I expected that. After all, we were tourists! Today, after a small project of sanding down lockers for the babies rooms in preparation for paint, the rain came once again and is still going. Perfect day for some siestas and time to ease any minor illnesses and exhaustion a few of us have acquired. Can’t wait to see and play with the pequenos once again tomorrow…feels like forever since we’ve been able to see them. Asterid is my new mejor amiga (BFF) and she painted my nails with almost too much delight :]. Even with the dreary weather, it manages to stay beautiful. Buenas Noches!


Name: Alicia Vertin Date: 6/17/09
Today we got up and the weather was rainy and cloudy but everything was green and lovely outside. I am having a lot of fun today I really don’t know how to explain everything I want to tell you guys but just to sum it up even though it was rainy I still had fun =). Talk to you tomorrow.