Antigua, Guatemala Week 1

I arrived in Antigua on Sunday afternnon to start language school on Monday. I am living with a family and am studying at the Christian Spanish Academy. On Sunday I pretty much spent the day wandering around the city and taking it all in. Sunday night I experienced by first processional, and was it ever a sight to behold! On Monday moring I started my Spanish classes. My one-on-one classes start at 8 am and end at noon. My teacher's name is Lucia and she has been doing a great job helping me learn. The family that I live with feeds me all my meals and I spend a lot of time practicing Spanish with them, too.

Antigua is a beautiful Spanish colonial city full of history. They have more monasteries and cathedrals than I can count, and plenty of beautiful ruins as well! Though they tell me that Antigua is usually a calm, relaxed city, I have a hard time believing them because Sunday marks the start of Holy Week and the city is full of visitors from all over the world! They have these elaborate processions sponsored by various Catholic churches in the city. The start first by making detailed alfombras or "carpets" in the street. Then the procession comes down the street and walks across the carpets. The processions are like religious parades and involve these huge floats. The floats in Antigua are not like our floats in the US. The floats here do not have wheels and are actually carried by 50 volunteers! It is absolutely amazing!

I have included some pictures of Antigua. The first is the cathedral that sits in front of the city park. The second is a view of a monastery through an archway. The third is an alfombra made of pine needles and flowers. The fourth is an alfombra made of painted sawdust.