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Fin de Semana!!!!!

I am reaching a point of exhaustion that I haven’t felt in a long time. It has been very cold here, which is not normal, so we have been very cold at night. I have on two shirts, a pullover and a sweater. There are four blankets on my bed and I bet I still feel cold tonight. Last night the power went out at 4:30am and stayed off until 10:30. It has been going on and off all day, probably because of the high winds. When the power goes out the water goes out too so it has been an interesting day.

Yesterday the kids and I and our teachers went to a coffee farm near Antigua. The town is called Jocotenango. It was fantastic. It also had a museum of musical instruments and traditional clothes, but was set up in a very interesting way. We now know the process of how coffee is made and it is fascinating. Tate has taken a liking to coffee now and I’m not sure that is such a good thing. The really great thing was the green grass there. We have been missing that in the city. The kids played on a small playground and I sat in the sun. Very relaxing.

In the afternoon our school arranged a walk up a tall hill in Antigua that has a mirador, or view of the city. I love getting a birds eye views of places. It helps me put things in perspective. It was very interesting and we got to meet more of the people who are studying in the school. Lots of Americans.Today our school arranged for us to go to another coffee farm, but this one was not very interesting at all. Too industrial, not at all like the farm from yesterday. We did ride a chicken bus to get there, so that was an adventure.

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the week and I know everyone is looking forward to the weekend. I do enjoy classes, but they are difficult and I am up to my old trick of getting the teacher off on a discussion instead of toiling away at sentence structure. Is that good or bad? I don’t know. The whole reason I am studying Spanish is to be able to converse, not write novels, so I guess it is good that I get a lot of practice in speaking.

When I think back to how far I have come in the last year, I am amazed. I still have a long way to go to really understand and be understood, but I must say, I am no longer afraid of asking for things, how much something is, where to find a place, etc. That is a huge difference from last year. When I really need to be understood, I can make it happen. What a morale booster!

Remind me tomorrow to tell you about the housekeeper here whom, I am pretty sure, hates my guts! Ha Ha!

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