Español, La Camioneta, Cafés y Chocolates

During the last hour of class, Sara, my Spanish maestra does a very good job of hiding her yawns. She yawns closed mouthed and makes it as quick as possible, probably so that I don’t detect it! The rest of the time, she pokes fun at me and is trying hard to convince me to marry a 15 year indigenous Mayan girl. 4 hours of Spanish classes per day is a lot to digest, but I speak casi todo el tiempo in Español in Antigua which is great practice for me.

One of the first things I wanted to do over here was to get on a local bus. The bright colorful semi truck/semi school bus looking Camioneta is way too big for the small streets of Antigua. I got a chance to go on the bus when I visited the small village of San Juan. The bus can get overcrowded, but if you need to get off, you have to keep saying "con permiso" to every person until you get off it. So much politeness!
Look at them! Aren’t they too freaking cool?

At the village of San Juan, I was introduced to my first Guatemalan chocolate. The church in the village produces its own chocolate. And then, later, in town, I was introduced to “Fernando’s”. If I loved the chocolate at San Juan, the chocolate at Fernando’s took me to paradise. It’s almost like pure cacao. Fernando’s is one of my two favourite cafés in town. As you enter, the bearded Fernando greets you and if you’re with Sara, she’ll help herself and offer you some free chocolates that are laid on the bar. She’ll make you taste the chilly chocolate and wait for your reaction. Lo siento Sara, not chilly enough! After the bar, you enter a room and a small corridor, and are in a courtyard, with a fountain, plants, flowers and tables. And that just describes most restaurants and cafés in La Antigua. My other favourite place is Café Condolesa, similar to Fernando's except that when you enter Café Condolesa, you first pass through a bookstore. :)

Cafés in La Antigua! They have a café called Kafka where his face is drawn outside and in the menu. And they have quotes of him in the menu. I had to have my first beer there.

“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” – Kafka

Need I say more?