Day 75 – Antigua, GU
Day 75 – Antigua, GU 11/4/10 Mileage: 0
To make up for the lack of pictures yesterday, I made an effort to take lots of pictures today. Here are some overdue pictures of my $18 room.
My room at the Black Cat...
Plush, no....but it is only $18 and I didn't come to Antigua to sit in the room all day!
Looking into my room from the center courtyard...
The breakfast is great and included with the room!
The Black Cat's little bar/restaurant...
The Black Cat's co-owner, Alejandra...
Over breakfast (which is included!) I had a nice conversation with Alejandra, the Black Cat’s co-owner, who gave me some good travel info and recommendations.
On the way to school...
After my delicious breakfast, it was off to school to torture Christina for another 4 hours.
Me maestro, Christina...
Today we took a field trip to the local produce market, which is like a farmer’s market at home but 10 times the size.
On the way to the market...
It was awesome…the market was huge and the amount and quality of the produce was unbelievable! There were fruits, vegetables and other produce ranging from the familiar to the truly bizarre.
The market in Antigua...
El mercado mas grande!
Holy frijoles!
Every kind of farm produce was there...
Meat, it's what's for dinner...
Christina was giving me a lesson in local produce as well as spanish and it was a lot of fun. We purchased bananitos (a type of small banana) and granadillas (which almost defy description) for a fruit show and tell at the school tomorrow.
The inside of a granadilla. Kind of looks like and has the texture of fish guts...but it does taste good.
Fresh pollo.....
After class I went to get a haircut at the Vegas barber shop which I had noticed yesterday. The owner’s name is Nester and he just opened two weeks ago. It turns out he cut hair in Las Vegas for 3 years, hence the name of his barber shop.
The Elegante Vegas barber shop...
Nester and his Vegas barber shop...
I have to say that it was one of the best haircuts I ever got! Nester is as fast with the scissors as he is smooth with the straight razor. If you ever find yourself in Antigua Guatemala and need a haircut, Nester is the man to see! Back at the hotel I made myself a peanut butter and Nutella tortilla while I studied and worked on the blog.
My quick and cheap lunch...
After that I went out to join some fellow travelers in the hotel bar where liter bottles of Gallo were $3 for happy hour.
This local fellow must have hit happy hour a bit too hard...
I had a funny conversation with another American, Charley, who lives in Mexico and is passing through on his way to see his daughter in southeast Guatemala.
Me and Charley...
Me and Alejandra..
Hanging at the Black Cat...
He’s very, ummm, boisterous and speaks what was described as redneck spanish. You might also say he’s kind of a verbal bull in a china shop, but he certainly means no harm. Well, with that said we walked out to find some dinner and sat down in one of Antigua’s finest steak houses. The stage, as you might now imagine, was set for some drama. No sooner did we sit down before Charley started in on the waiter. I’m sure Charley was truly joking, but for some reason the humor of a boisterous half drunk American speaking redneck spanish seemed to be lost on our Guatemalan waiter. It could also be that Charley wanted the waiters beret hat in addition to a steak or maybe it was the fat joke…I’m not sure. What I am sure of is I never tasted a steak, we were shown the door and nobody (including Guatemalan waiters) likes being the butt of a fat joke (pardon the pun). So with that strike out it was back to the Black Cat where our inebriation was welcome, the nachos tasty and the walk to my room just a short stumble.
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From Deadhorse Down 
THE ROOM LOOKS REALLY NICE(I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED) AND THE FACT THAT IT INCLUDES A NICE BREAKFAST IS A REAL BARGAIN. THE FARMERS MARKET LOOKED REALLY FRESH AND INTERESTING. LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE IN A GOOD LOCATION.
HOPE CHARLEY LEFT……SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE ENJOYING THE AREA AND MEETING LOTS OF ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLE……… AND GLAD TO BE OFF THE BIKE FOR AWHILE.
TAKE CARE AND GOOD LUCK WITH THE SPANISH. LOVE YA, MOM
Yeah, it’s by no means plush but it suites me just fine. The spanish is coming slow, but I’ll get there eventually!
watch out for the idiots, there everywhere
Yo John! Como esta mi amigo? Yeah, idiots are everywhere, I’m proof of that!