Buenas dias! Buenas tardes! Buenas noches! Depending on where you are and when you read this. You see, my Spanish is improving.

In the past few days we've seen and discovered many new things, including that our house has wifi. (yes, it took us five days to figure that out.) And that means, lucky you, more blogging.

It's hard to believe we've been here for a week! It feels like less time, and yet more time too. It's fun to start recognizing landmarks here in Antigua after being here for a bit.  We're able to communicate with our host family a little better, and they're still incredibly patient. We've learned a little conversation, which means they talk, we wave our hands around. We're getting better- my dad tried to say the bread was sweet, (dulce) but accidentally said it was dirty. (Sucio.) And today at lunch we even managed a conversation about the expensive price of braces.

On the subject of meals, we were surprised at the selection of food. Naturally we thought we'd be eating rice, beans, tortillas, avocado... for dinner our first night we were served ham sandwiches, and tonight we ate hot dogs and noodles. (A tricky spot for my mom and I, who eat neither ham nor hot dogs...) However, we did have tamales one night, and fried plaintain, a bit more what we had anticipated.

We were curious to see where our food came from, so on Saturday, market day, we visited the local market. One word: chaotic.  Picture a street six feet wide, teeming with people shouting their wares, carrying cotton candy and trays of loose toothbrushes, or in vendors with cornflakes piled on top of paper towels stacked in between piles of precariously balanced fruit with blankets hanging above. Then, in the already beyond hectic street, a car drives between the stalls, scattering people left and right.

Outside the market, we have yet to find a grocery store. Instead are tiny tiendas, practically holes in the walls, selling a wide variety of snacks and drinks. Clothing can be bought either fron the market (we even passed an... underwear... booth) or small boutiques full of various name-brand clothing.

On the streets Maya women sell weavings on practically every block. The weavings and embroidery are gorgeous, and everyone selling says 'for you, special price.' If you act reluctant, they'll eventually cut their price almost in half. In Antigua's Central Park, people of all ages are selling things. My dad can't resist these friendly Guatemalan women selling textiles for their lunch money... I don't know what we'll do with so many cloths.

Also on the streets are people picnicking. Last night on a street corner were at least five people cooking on a barbeque, next to their car. Get hungry, pull over, I guess, while zipping by are motorcycles carrying families of four.

Oh, and remember the colorful buses I mentioned in the last post? Well we learned what happens to old American school buses... they get sent to Guatemala to be painted and used for the public.

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Today, upon exploring the east side of the city, where we hadn't been yet, we spontaneously visited a jade factory and museum, where we learned about history of Mayan's using jade, and how it develops in a subduction zone between two tectonic plates. Jadeite, a type of jade found mainly in Guatemala and Burma develops in the Motagua river of Guatemala. The only place in Mesoamerica that develops jade, it was extremely important to the Maya in burial, trade, and protection.

Also in the jade museum we learned about December 21st, 2012, the supposed date of the end of the world, a wide-spread rumor that the mayans predicted an apocalypse on that date. What they actually stated, out tour guide told us, was the end of about a 5,000 year era. Every 5,000 or so years, the dark part of the Milky Way and our Solar System align, giving the appearance that the Milky Way (or Alligator, as the Mayans called it) was swallowing the Solar Sytem. Don't ask me what that has to do with jade, but I find it fascinating still.

On a completely different train of thought, also interesting is that in Guatemala it is summer, or verano. I always thought all Nothern Hemisphere countries were in the same season, but no. It's summer here in Guatemala. 'Summer vacation' is in November and December.

Now for your very enjoyment- pictures. All over are Spanish ruins and colonial churches, pictures provided by me for you to admire. :)

Santa Catalina Arch

Part of an old Spanish building

Me, at the textile market

A textile market stall

One of those amazing churches

Antigua City Hall

One of the many Tiendas

Church de Merced, which we walk by every day on the way to school

Merced detail

Some old Spanish ruins, now turned into a hotel.

~Anda