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DIA OCHO
My second day at school was going to be the deciding factor of whether or not I was going to make it in the Spanish language educational system of Antigua!
Day two at my other school was when the frustration began to set in, so I was nervous for my class.
Although we began going over some of the irregular verbs, I felt like Patricia never got frustrated with my lack of understanding. It didn’t help that while we were going over my lessons that I received a text from my tour company informing me that my flights for my tour to Tikal could not be booked for Saturday. I was so distracted, trying to think of how to fix this problem, that I wasn’t really paying attention to my Spanish lesson and I think my teacher could see this. It was with great relief when class was finished. But don’t think this got me off the hook…Patricia gave me a great deal of homework!
After class, I ran over to the tour agency to speak with Claudia about the alternatives for my Tikal trip. I had already extended my stay at my Airbnb to accommodate this trip so there wasn’t an option to just not go. In the end, we settled on my tour to Tikal for Sunday. It is going to be a very long day with pick up around 3 AM and return to Antigua around 9 PM. Since I am leaving the next morning to go back to Guatemala City to catch my flight to the United States, I am sure that I’m going to be extremely exhausted, however, I feel as though I must absolutely visit this Mayan wonder!
That taken care of, I made note of the good weather and decided to finally go to my favorite ruins, Convento Santa Clara. I truly think this is one of the most beautiful in the city! Since it was a weekday, I found the place to be mostly empty and the best part was that there were no young lovers hiding in dark corners!
After my visit to the convent, I decided to go to the Artisans market. It was a bit tough finding what I really wanted and negotiating in Spanish, but I found a few gifts that worked. Once done, I was making my way back to my apartment, passing under Santa Catalina Arch, when I noticed a store on my right just past one of my favorite restaurants, Frida’s. This store, Nim Po’t, was like the Artisan’s Superstore. Almost everything that I had just seen at the Artisan’s Market was in this store…plus some! (And they take credit cards!). I made mental notes on everything I wanted to purchase and when I arrived at my apartment, I wrote out my shopping list so that when I returned, I wouldn’t forget anything.
So, as I was making this shopping list, I was realizing that I was doing everything possible, to avoid my homework…thinking about going to eat out…thinking about editing pictures…thinking about calling home…you name it…I thought about doing it. Finally, I pulled out my work and took a look. It was much tougher than I thought. So, what does one do when you don’t understand your Spanish homework? You send a copy of it to your Spanish-speaking friends and have them do it for you! Well not really do it for you…but tell you some of the answers so you could see if you got them correct.
You know, everyone needs a helping hand or two every now and then!
What I learned today: the Spanish verb, “mandar”, which means to send and “a tiempo” which means on time. Next time I send my passport information to the tour agency in a timelier manner.
Photo of the day: Convento Santa Clara
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Convento Santa Clara
- Address: Sur at 6 Calle Oriente 2, Antigua, GT 03001
- Hours: 0900-1700, daily
- Admission: Q40
Nim Po’t
- https://www.nimpotexport.com/
- Address: 5ta. Avenida Norte 29, Antigua Guatemala
- Hours: Monday through Thursday, 1000-1900, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 0900-2000.