Week 2 at Spanish School & el fin de semana (the weekend)

John – The second week of school was fairly similar to the first. I did a variety of activities each day to practice my speaking, reading, and listening skills. My reading time has consisted of reading articles from newspapers and then trying to explain to my teacher what I have read. The difference this week was that instead of the local newspaper she had me reading articles about animals out of a Spanish National Geographic magazine. Needless to say some of these technical articles took a ridiculous amount of time. While I don’t think I’ll be discussing the unique characteristics of the cortex of the dolphin brain with anyone in Chile, (or ever) it was interesting nonetheless and did give me some new vocabulary that has already come in handy (Como se dice “dorsal fin” en Espanol?). Overall I feel a little more comfortable each day speaking and listening, though at times I don’t have a clue what my teacher has just said, as she typically talks real fast. Friday was very interesting because my teacher, Evelyn, wasn’t feeling well and left during the break. She had another instructor named Hector come and work with me for the rest of the day. Hector asked me why I was studying in Antigua, so I explained what Amanda and I were doing here and eventually in Chile. This led to a long conversation about my faith and upbringing and my beliefs. We talked some about the Bible and Hector shared some with me about his faith and when it “became real to him” as he put it. He informed me that he is Catholic but also very open to the practices of other denominations. When our time was up, I told him I’d like to talk with him more at some point, and he said he would like to too. It was a really encouraging conversation for me, and I hope we’ll have the opportunity to talk some again we head for Chile.

Amanda – For me, my second week was better than the first. It was less of an adjustment and more of a routine. The Spanish seemed to be a little more familiar to me. I could see the most improvement in understanding what my teacher, Manuel, was saying or asking me. As for speaking, it is still a little slow and broken, but definitely better than the week before. We have continued to review parts of grammar and verbs every couple of days. One concept that has been working for me is that we will study grammar and build vocabulary at the same time. After learning a verb tense, Manuel and I will play a memory game with vocabulary words. Manuel will use the new verb tense in a question, and I will (try to) respond correctly, while I am building vocabulary through the memory game. One day, I was able to talk about something I had read in the news with Manuel. Talking about news or reading the newspaper brings in so many new vocabulary words, and the memory games help me learn fruits and vegetables, animals, occupations, etc. Similar to John, everyday is a little more comfortable than the day before. I am still being challenged everyday! As soon it seems a little easier, I learn something new that challenges me even more. Love, Amanda.

This past Saturday, the 29th, we decided to rent bikes and ride to some of the small towns around Antigua. Fernando (guide who took us up the volcano) agreed to go with us, and showed us several places just a few kilometers from Antigua. He also found an awesome place in San Juan for us to have lunch. While this sounds somewhat more leisurely than hiking 6000 feet up a volcano, the thing you have to remember about Antigua is that the streets are all cobblestone, so it was a bit rough on the backside when riding through town. The roads that took us to the other towns were well paved and much more comfortable. The last town we visited was Pastores, which is about a 15-20 ride outside of Antigua. Pastores is famous in Guatemala for making Cowboy boots, but recently the attention has focused on the damage they received during Hurricane Stan. A river runs parallel to part of the main road through town. During the torrential rains the river rose several feet and dumped mud into the homes of people that lived along the river, in addition to knocking out most of the 4 foot wall on either side of the bridge. Much of the debris has already been cleared, but the effects of the overflow are still evident in the mud-stained sides of buildings along the main road. Several pictures below were taken from a bridge across the river, which is only about 50 yards from the main road in Pastores. After taking a few pictures in Pastores we headed back to Antigua, where we rested a bit and then went out for some authentic Mexican food at a local restaurant. Our trip was again beneficial because we were able to spend the better part of the day working on our Spanish with Fernando as we rode.
Sunday evening the 30th, we were able to go to an English Bible study at the coffee shop where we always check email. It was very encouraging to be around other Christians and have some fellowship time. We hope to make it again next Sunday, as it will be our last Sunday in Guatemala! Thanks again for checking out our page, and we ask that you continue to pray that we will be able to improve our Spanish skills daily, as we will arrive in Santiago in less than 2 weeks. Love y’all and God Bless.

Us in a garden of one of the churches in San Felipe, a town we visited on our bike ride.

Outside of the church in San Juan, with El Vulcan de Agua behind us.

Amanda on the bridge in Pastores, the village that incurred significant damage from Stan. Here, the wall had been knocked out by the overflow of the river. To the right, a bulldozer was digging out mud from the river and piling it on the banks.

Damage to the entrance of a residence area. Note the mud line is about 3-4 feet high. The main road through town is at the left with the bus. What remains from the flood waters is the large amount of dirt/mud.

Found this store on the way home..."La Tienda de Amanda."