Off to Antigua

June 13, 2021

Woke up and packed for my next move. Nervous stomach, as usual, but had some yogurt and a Coca Cola sin azucar. My clothes didn't dry at all (it might have also rained...not sure), so I had to pack them in plastic bags to get stuff in my suitcase. Planes literally fly right over my building, lol. By 9am I'm waiting outside my building again for the transfer (car) that is taking me the 30-40 minutes to Antigua (realized I've now also seen Papa John's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Chuck E Cheese, Payless Shoes, Office Depot and WalMart here).

My driver is VERY quiet so it is a long boring drive to my new Airbnb. Took awhile to find it, but it is a good one. There is a massive window in my room, and Volcan Agua fills it. If I walk out onto the terrace I can see Fuego (deadly eruption back in 2018 and still very active) and Acatenango as well. Amazing. There is also the sweetest doggy named Charlie (a girl) who never gets tired of playing fetch on my terrace. She is so smart, if you throw it over the side, she will go down and find it and bring it back up. I'm in love. There is also a large garden with orange, avocado and banana trees. The owner, Carleigh, lives there with a friend, after discovering Guatemala courtesy of another friend who was living here. She decided to stay. Not sure what she does for a living, but this place is huge!

Volcan Agua

Volcan Fuego and Acatenango

I got unpacked and set up, then Ubered into the city for lunch at the Antigua Brewing Company. They have a terrace on their roof where you can sit and watch the volcanos while you drink. I ordered a blonde ale and some chicken stew with curry over risotto which was really good. It came with some bread that was also good--I think it had rosemary in it. I finished up while it rained, then headed out to look around.

Volcan Fuego farts while I'm watching

Feeling a lot more normal, I headed out to walk the streets. I walked over to the Capuchinas Convent ruins to look around. Antigua was founded back in 1524, and was destroyed in 1773 by a volcano explosion. Interestingly, Taiwan helped with the restoration of the buildings here. The three archangels Michael (the warrior), Gabriel (the carrier of important news) and Raphael (the curer) are everywhere here. There is also a basement with a crazy echo!

the streets are in crazy bad shape here

my first look at the Catalina arch

By then it was time for my chocolate making workshop at the Choco Museo which is right on the main square in Antigua. I was 30 min early, but they had already started another, longer one, so they just added me in and I missed the beginning. We learned about the history of cacao (cocoa), where it came from and how it is turned into chocolate--originally the Mayans just drank it instead of eating it. Then we got the chance to make our own bar--I used chili powder, sea salt, and cinnamon...then added Oreos at one end and cardamom at the other to see how it would turn out.

While I was waiting for my chocolate to set, I walked around and found Nim'Pot which is a souvenir type place, but there is no hard sell or haggling--you buy from the actual craftsmen, not from a factory. I got a few trinkets, then called my Uber back to the Airbnb. There, I ordered from Door to Door (like GrubHub)--they deliver from restaurants and anything else you need. I got some black bean soup, some waters and some Coke Zeros for the week. A long, but good day...and finally heard firecrackers tonight about 9pm--some even were regular fireworks.

At 930pm I heard some scratching at my door and it is Charlie. I invite her to sit in bed with me for a bit--so cute! She just needed some snuggles. After about 30 minutes, I heard Carleigh and her boyfriend calling Charlie...so I called down to let them know she was with me and they should come up. She wouldn't leave :-) She finally got out of bed, but then came back and leaned against me and licked my face.