Day 81 – Antigua, GU

Day  81 – Antigua, GU     11/10/10     Mileage: 0

There’s nothing to write home about today really…the usual day of school, studying and a little walk around the park. At night I had a light “Lenny” dinner of hummus, warm pita and a beer at a great restaurant/bar/book store called the Rainbow Café. It was open mic night and one young guy did an excellent job with some acoustic folk songs.

Inside the Rainbow Cafe...

The center of the bar is open to the sky and they had a little fire going…a really cool scene to break the monotony of studying for an hour. Alas, it was time to head back to the room for more Spanish and to research my next move…

Day 79-80 – Antigua, GU

Day 79-80 – Antigua, GU     11/8-9/10     Mileage: 0

 It was back to school today for more Spanish lessons with Christina. The Fuego Volcano put on quite a show which we could see right from the school patio! That’s definitely something you don’t see every day in New Jersey, but here you do!

The Fuego Volcano spewing ash....wow!

After school I was off to meet up with Chris and Dave from the local motorcycle touring company. ..Moto Café.

The Moto Cafe...

Chris was going to take me over to a local welder to get my right side engine guard repaired and assist with the language barrier.

The KLR at the welder, waiting for a bit of surgery...

After arriving at the welder, Chris explained to him what I wanted which was a big help, because there was no way I was going to be able to discuss the finer points of metal welding with my limited pigeon spanish.

The before shot. The weld at the junction split all the way around, so I needed the welder to run two beads around the joint to re-join it.

The KLR under the knife so to speak...

Day 77-78 – Antigua, GU

Day 77-78 – Antigua, GU     11/6-7/10     Mileage: 0

 This morning I updated the blog and did some studying on the rooftop patio. Over breakfast I had a nice conversation with a Canadian couple traveling through Central America from Panama to Belize and back.

Susan and Tyler from Canada

We had a good laugh about doing the trip in a tuk-tuk, which sounds like an absolute blast…I love the premise. Later that morning two guys staying at the hotel returned from the market with a cow eyeball and a cooked iguana. I was not going to miss out on this spectacle and it did not disappoint.

Cow eyeball anyone....anyone?

Just in case you would like to know how the locals enjoy their cow eyeballs…take one raw cow eye, slice the cornea open and suck out the gelatinous fluid in the center. Bon appetite!

First you slice the cornea...

Then you suck out the jelly inside....he's enjoying it it seems! Not.

Mmmm, mmm good...

Well done!

They only had one cow eyeball, but there was some leftover iguana…so I had a go at it. Well, it does have the texture of chewy chicken, but tastes like bad fish. Palatable, but certainly not appetizing!

How do you like your iguana?

That night I went for an early dinner back to the Travelers Menu and had another great conversation with Jerome. If you find yourself in Antigua, The Travelers Menu is a great, inexpensive and cozy place for dinner and a drink.

The Traveler's Menu in Antigua....a cozy little spot for dinner and drinks...

Inside the Traveler's Menu...

After that it was back to the room for more studying before turning in. Sunday I spent most of the day studying. I did take a little walk in the afternoon to the central park to listen to some street musicians, but was right back to the hotel to try and shoehorn more Spanish into my unwilling brain.

Day 76 – Antigua, GU

Day 76 – Antigua, GU     11/05/10     Mileage: 0

After another great breakfast at the Black Cat, it was of to school to butcher more espanol.

Another great breakfast at the Black Cat...

This morning each student had to do a presentation about the fruit we purchased in the market yesterday. Oh joy, now I get to embarrass myself in front of not only Christina but the entire school.

Setting up for the fruit demonstration and sampling...

This is an ayote, and it, ummm, tastes about as good as it looks...

This is a chirimoya, and once you get past the seeds and how it looks it is quite good...

After my torturous oratory recital on fruit and a bit more studying, I was paroled for the weekend. In the afternoon I hiked up to the Cerro de la Cruz which is a small park overlooking Antigua and the Aqua Volcano.

They do like the bare breast fountain motif here...

View of Antigua and the Agua Volcano from Cerro de la Cruz...

Another view from Cerro de la Cruz...

The view from up there was great and well worth the effort. I grabbed a quick bite on the way back to the hotel where I settled in to study for a few hours. At night I went for a few drinks at Café No Se where I met Harold from Norway.

Harold and the local fire water...

He’s a really nice guy and chatted for a quite a while. He talked his company into letting him take a 6 month sabbatical, so he’s in town relaxing and learning some Spanish.

Quezalteca Especial.....ooooph...

We drank some of the local fire water called Quezalteca Especial, and I can assure you there is nothing (e)special about it!