What was I thinking!?

My Instruction in Spanish has begun. I am becoming aware that it has been a very long time since I have been in a class room, although I am not actually in a class room. I am in a large open area with many small tables and each table has one instructor and one student (estudiante). So there is no escaping or sitting in the back row. Every seat is a front row seat. Our program options were 4 hours a day, 5 hours a day, 6 hours a day, 7 hours a day, or 8 hours a day. I chose the 6 hour a day option. After the choice was made and the money paid, I was advised by others smarter than myself, that I really should consider the 4 hour a day option and rest and practice during the afternoon. Too late, I went for the big 6.

Whew! After six hours into my first session, I was convinced I knew Less Spanish at the end of hour 6 then than I knew at the beginning of hour one. It was exhausting and my old brain had not worked this hard in a long time. And I had not set down in one place for six hours for more than two years. At the end of the session my instructor asked me if I would like homework. Of course, I said, "yes". She asked, "facil or dificil?" (easy or hard), and of course, I want my moneys worth, so I responded, "dificil". So she gave me what I thought was 5 pages of exercises. This morning I found out she gave me six pages and I missed a page. Oh well, they have my money and they are not going to kick me out of school.

But enough about school, and a bit about Antigua. It is a very pretty and charming place with numerous old ruins. People from all over Central America come here for vacation. I hope I am successful with posting some photographs that I was able to shoot this week end. I am "roughing" it from a technical perspective. I am carrying a small point and shoot and I do not have my usual editing software. Roughing it, like I said. Between my classes, my meals and my homework, I spend my time walking around Antigua. It is not a large city at all. My walks usually end up at the central plaza where I find an empty bench and sit down and people watch. I already told the story of my visionary friend that wanted my money on Saturday. Sunday was a little more enjoyable. A young girl that was learning English was in the park with her parents. I must have looked trustworthy because her mother told her, "If you are trying to learn English go talk to that man." She was very nervous about rejection, but she finally came over to me and said, "Can I speak with you?" I put a big smile on my face and said, "No". After her face fell, I said I was only teasing and I helped her with her English for about two hours. She talked about her school and I showed her pictures of Dennie and the family, and told her about my mission and why I was in Antigua. It was a good deed, and her English was pretty good, 100 times better than my Spanish.

Then yesterday, Monday, I was blessed by a visit from one of my San Miguel Chicaj friends, Hector Hernandez. It was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise. We had a cup of coffee at Café Contessa and did some visiting and planning for our upcoming mission in San Miguel and the surrounding villages. It was just superb to spend time with him, really, really blessed.