Antigua, Guatemala - What a great place!

 Two Beauties - Nancy and Antiuga, Guatemala

    Well, here we are in beautiful Antigua, Guatemala and having a wonderful time! We organizationally planned to stay 2 weeks learning Spanish and living with a Guatemalan family to become "immersed" in the culture and language. As it turns out, we are living with my Spanish teacher, Patty, and her family. We are having such a great time we have extended our Spanish classes for a 3rd week! I know, I can´t believe it either, even I am learning Spanish! Wow!
    We have great respect for my teacher,Patty, and Nancy´s teacher, Juan, for their patience and teaching skills.  We have our lessons in Patty´s home at 8am, while Juan, (Nancy´s teacher) comes every morning for Nancy´s lessons.

This is the McDonalds in Antigua!! Yes, really!

This was a 300 year old church and now a 5 star hotel!

   
    We are very fortunate to be in Antigua at this particular time. Easter in Antigua is celebrated with people from around the world who come here to see these special processions found only here in Antigua and Spain!
    Nancy and I have already seen three separate processions (a children´s, women´s, and men´s processions with floats) who carry these large and heavy  floats for miles! The women´s float was carried by 50 women, and the HUGE men´s float was carried by 90 men! It was AMAZING!!
    One procession begins at 6am in a nearby town and ends at 2 am in Antigua! Last weekend we watched what we thought was the largest of the processions, including a Saturday night procession that was filled with lights and excitement and 7,000 people IN the procession...BUT, the largest will happen this week with nearly 10,000 (men only) IN the largest procession of all! Antigua´s population is about 45,000 but swells to unmeasurable amounts during the Lent / Easter weeks.  We are lucky Patty has room for us!
    Believe me, it´s unreal to see in person, and we can´t wait for this weekend´s procession to begin. The people, the atmosphere, the vivid colors, and the excitement are beyond description! Oh, and the food(s)....delicious beyond words! Oh my!
    We´ve gained new levels of food appreciation since coming to Antigua and Patty has spoiled us with her wonderful and traditional Antigua and Guatemalan dishes. Nancy is busy copying recipes till her fingers bleed! In return, Nancy has given Patty´s family a few new dishes enjoyed as well...especially Nancy´s famous Mango Salsa! Wow! And, Nancy is makeing her famous Chili for them this weekend!

We took our immersion "family" to dinner. My Spanish teacher, Patty, is in the Red.

This is a sample of a beautiful Alformras that line the streets of Antigua for the procession. Some are made of painted sawdust (pictured),  while others are of beautiful flowers laid in intricate detail then walked upon only by the procession! (Yes, that´s all painted sawdust they are working on)

    We´ve explored 300 year old churches, picked fresh coffee beans from a plantation, tasted chocolate coated macadamea nuts right from the farms where Nancy also received a macadamea oil facial - Which she highly recommends!
    We´ve explored Casa Santo Domingo, a famous 300 year old church and now a 5 star hotel where even Bill Clinton stayed last year. Check it out at https://www.casasantodomingo.com.gt/  to look at the amazing pictures!
    We really like shopping at the central market, using our Spanish, where you can find amazing bargains as well as the freshest veggies and fruits (Bananas, Mangoes, Papillas, tomatoes, melons, even blackberries and apples) right from the farms. Did you know there are 15 varieties of mangoes? Our favorite is the "pina" (pineapple) mango that is small in size but so sweet! And best of all, we get these (pina mangoes) free for the picking on the island where Windfall is at anchor! How nice!!

Nancy with her teacher, Juan.  Muy Bueno, Nancy!

    We are anxious to return to El Salvador where Windfall is at anchor, and to try out our new Spanish language! But there are still so many exciting thing still do do here in Antigua! It´s a good thing we´ve got another week here!
    Antigua is truly an amazing place that should be on everyone´s "bucket list".
 
       Well, it´s time for us to head back to the casa...We´ve got homework to do and I´m anxious to see what new tasty dish Patty has waiting for us!