Sights/Vistas

Antigua is a very pretty place. The streets are cobblestone because the people here wanted to keep Antigua as it was. This includes cobblestone streets and colonial style houses. A lot of the street signs...if you can find them... are old and sometimes hard to read. The churches are different colors of yellow, orange, white and more just like the houses. You can see women andgirls dresed i the traditional mayan dress. The houses I have been in so far have a courtyard in the middle with every door facing it. There are mountains on every side. Guatemala has 38 volcanes!!! Only 8 are active. You can see many dogs in the streets. The market (mercado) isa very crowded place. Deanna and I went on Saturday with her host mom Elsa. If we did not watch out we could easily get lost! The weather is cool in the morning and evenings. My classes are outside so I wear a sweater almost every morning. It is not quite as warm as I had imagined.
I went on a tour of the city on Monday. It was fun. It was really funny because Deanna and I walked all over Antigua on Sunday and we saw the same places on Monday with the group.
Yesteday I went on a bus tour to see the surounding pueblos (towns). I saw a few churches and convents while learning about Guatemalan history. Did you know that Antigua was the third place the capital was located? Ihad a choice to walk up te Volcano Pacaya today but I will save that trip for another week. I have plenty of time!
Today, I am justrelaxing and enjoying the weather. I borrowed a house mates laptop so I could access the iternet for free a school. There are 4 other students in my house. One 18 year old from Quebec who also spent some time in Peru. He speaks English very well as well as Spanish. We converse on the way to school in Spanish most mornings. Margie is an older lady who is a retired pastor from MN. She is learning Spanish so I can't talk with her in Spanish very well. Helena (25)leave in a week and sheis from London. She speaks some but prefers to speak in English. The other girl, Katie, just arrived. She is doing some social project so oes not come to a Union. I also have not seen much of her. Well, I better get some other things done on here. Hopefully, get pictures up on my other site now. Hasta luego! (otro dia voy a escribr en espanol)