June 1, 2002- Antigua, Guatemala
Antigua- Land of eternal spring… The city as a whole exudes enchantment, but sometimes there is a rather uncomfortable sensation of a civilization which is dead and gone. Shells of once grand cathedrals are abundant, as are modern buildings painted all sorts of wild colors. There is a real relaxed atmosphere here and Dave and I find ourselves spending hours sipping coffee, sitting around, and talking nonsense.
June 5, 2002- My Guatemalan Family
The family I am staying with are characters each and every one of them. First you have Padre. Not only is he the head of the house, but he wears train conductor overalls (blue and white stripped) everyday and has not a single tooth in his head. He is extremely nice and very interested in watching ‘futbol’ as much as possible. And then there is Madre who has tremendous amounts of energy a likes to walk around the table in the morning while we eat breakfast killing flies all the while saying “flies, flies…so many flies.” She talks a mile a minute and I often have a hard time understanding her Spanish. They have seven grown children, one of which still lives at home and is a 38 year-old bachelor named “Negro” who has braces and a mustache that is as thick as shag carpet. There is also a stuffed (once alive) cat displayed proudly on the living room table named “Tigre.”
June 12, 2002- Anna- my Translator/ Spanish instructor
Ana is a gem. The first day of instruction she made sure that I knew all the different names for the human anatomy along with some choice phrases just in case I felt like insulting somebody. She has a tremendous spirit and a sick sense of humor; hence, I like her enormously.
July 6, 2002- Costa Rica
Now in Costa Rica after weeks of surfing. First stop -Tamarindo where the waves are mellow and come in sets of twos and threes- all sand and shallow. Second stop- Puerto Viejo which is on the Caribbean side and has the biggest reported waves in Costa Rica (9’-11’) and relentless rip tides. Puerto Viejo is lush, chopped full of vibrant colors, and has tons of butterflies. Third stop, Jaco, back on the Pacific side. Here the surf was a bit unruly and unpredictable at times. A 3’ would come in and then right behind it would be an 8’. The shoreline is shallow and covered in small rocks. I got knocked over by a huge wave and thrown into the washing machine and got scraped up pretty bad. Glad I didn’t see any sharks.
Antigua- Land of eternal spring… The city as a whole exudes enchantment, but sometimes there is a rather uncomfortable sensation of a civilization which is dead and gone. Shells of once grand cathedrals are abundant, as are modern buildings painted all sorts of wild colors. There is a real relaxed atmosphere here and Dave and I find ourselves spending hours sipping coffee, sitting around, and talking nonsense.
June 5, 2002- My Guatemalan Family
The family I am staying with are characters each and every one of them. First you have Padre. Not only is he the head of the house, but he wears train conductor overalls (blue and white stripped) everyday and has not a single tooth in his head. He is extremely nice and very interested in watching ‘futbol’ as much as possible. And then there is Madre who has tremendous amounts of energy a likes to walk around the table in the morning while we eat breakfast killing flies all the while saying “flies, flies…so many flies.” She talks a mile a minute and I often have a hard time understanding her Spanish. They have seven grown children, one of which still lives at home and is a 38 year-old bachelor named “Negro” who has braces and a mustache that is as thick as shag carpet. There is also a stuffed (once alive) cat displayed proudly on the living room table named “Tigre.”
June 12, 2002- Anna- my Translator/ Spanish instructor
Ana is a gem. The first day of instruction she made sure that I knew all the different names for the human anatomy along with some choice phrases just in case I felt like insulting somebody. She has a tremendous spirit and a sick sense of humor; hence, I like her enormously.
July 6, 2002- Costa Rica
Now in Costa Rica after weeks of surfing. First stop -Tamarindo where the waves are mellow and come in sets of twos and threes- all sand and shallow. Second stop- Puerto Viejo which is on the Caribbean side and has the biggest reported waves in Costa Rica (9’-11’) and relentless rip tides. Puerto Viejo is lush, chopped full of vibrant colors, and has tons of butterflies. Third stop, Jaco, back on the Pacific side. Here the surf was a bit unruly and unpredictable at times. A 3’ would come in and then right behind it would be an 8’. The shoreline is shallow and covered in small rocks. I got knocked over by a huge wave and thrown into the washing machine and got scraped up pretty bad. Glad I didn’t see any sharks.
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