Day Five, Antigua (Continued)

On the fifth day in Antigua, as well as going to classes at the Casa and at PLFM, Gloria and I went to a painting gallery she had seen when walking around with another student two days before. At the gallery we met one of the painters who rents time there to work and we looked at all the paintings in the gallery. Antigua has a few distinct styles of painting that seem to cater to tourists interested in the "colonial" Antigua. The gallery has a majority of paintings that emphasis colonial styles of oil painting but they also have more modern techniques and styles the artists are exploring. While we were looking at the gallery, the artist there was teaching two others some painting techniques. Curious I asked Gloria how to ask the artist if they do painting classes in the gallery. I asked the artist "Usted da clase de pintura?" Luckily, for both myself and Gloria, he said yes, they do do lessons on painting techniques. For a hundred quetzales each (about $13 US) we get a two hour lesson in Antigua painting techniques. We jumped at the opportunity, and made plans to meet with the artist the next day (Thursday) to purchase painting supplies (much cheaper here than in the states) and to get our first lesson.

As well as signing up for painting lessons, I have been working in my studio and have already finished a new portrait in The Boston Codex. My studio space is rather small, but it is not a shared space, unlike the other three spaces that are being set up for the six studio artists on the trip. Not all of us will use the spaces, so I may be able to take over another spot and create a larger space to work in. I am in my studio space at least once a day, working either on this blog of my codex. At this time, the angle my portfolio for this semester is taking focuses more on the painting techniques of Antigua and the continuation of my codex. It may change in the near future, so I will continue updating on the progression of my portfolio.

Day Five, Antigua

The first of September was the first day of classes for all of the students at Casa Herrera. The beginning of this semester, Sept 1st-Oct 13th, we have only two of the four classes we are taking. From 9:00-10:30am we have History of Guatemala, and from 1:00-2:30pm we have Religion of Guatemala. The first homework we had for the classes was a reading called "Place and People in a Transnational Borderzone City" by Little. This article explores the concept of Antigua as a "heterotopia": a space that juxtaposes "in a single real place several spaces, several sites that are themselves incompatible" (Foucault 1986); the city is both authentic and inauthentic, Ladino and Maya. The article also "...looks at how Guatemalans and tourists use Antigua and the types of contradictions that arise from that use" (p65). The chapter is broken up into scenarios which explore the different concepts of "heterotopia." The first scenario explores the concept of tourist using maps and lookout spots to separate themselves from the reality of the city and city life. The "tourist gaze" not only effects the tourists interaction with the city (an illusion of distance from the real) but it also effects the Guatemalans who know they are being watched and censor their actions based off of that knowledge. The second scenario explores the creation of the "modern-colonial" city. The city is both a modern, functioning place where people live now, and a recreation of what the city was in colonial times. Tourist want to experience the "colonial-city" while Guatemalans want to live and thrive in their home. The Guatemalans did, however, reconstruct themselves to fit into the concept of the "colonial-city" in an attempt to profit from the tourists who are looking for that experience. The third scenario is a typical Tuesday for the author who is an anthropologist working and learning in Antigua. It is interesting to read about the author moving through Antigua on a typical day when I myself am moving through it and recognizing where and what the author is discussing.    
In class we discussed the article and the concepts/issues it raises about our place and expected actions in Antigua as turistas (tourists). We also discussed what the expectations of the class are for this semester. We have three main projects for the history class this semester: a map project, a journal, and a paper all due at the end of our mini-semester in October. We were also told to come up with two questions for every reading to help start discussions. The same information was laid out in our second class, religion, with the exception that instead of a map project and paper, we have a paper and accompanying presentation at the end of the mini-semester.
In religion class we went over the important terms we will need to use in the class and some of the more important people in the development of the scientific study of religion; including Rudolf Otto, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Clifford Geertz. I have never taken a class on religion before, so I am very excited about what we will learn about the Maya and Ladinos of Guatemala.

Spanish Class in Antigua at PLFM

At 3pm we had our first Spanish class of the full semester. Our class is entirely in Spanish, and the four of us students take notes from what our teacher writes on the white boards as well as verbally repeat and respond to questions in Spanish. As a visual learner, and having never taken much Spanish in the past, I can say with some certainty that I was not doing as well or catching on to the language as quickly as my classmates. Despite my discomfort, the design of the class works very well, and I have managed to retain much more information than I originally expected.
We learned the Spanish alphabet, the conjegations of Estar and Ser, some adjectives which go with these irregular verbs, and Llamarse, Poder, Tener, and Gustar. Practice was difficult and my hands started sweating whenever I realized she was going to ask me questions I had to respond to. Overall the class was very good and I learned a very important sentence to use when I got back to my home stay, "Yo estoy tratando de habla Espanol" ( I am trying to speak Spanish). From this day on I am "banned" from speaking English at the dining room table, which is a great way for me to learn and practice more Spanish.

Day Four, Antigua

Volcano Agua from the streets of Antigua

On the fourth day in Antigua, Tuesday the 30th, we have the day off before classes start on the 1st of September. Gloria and I had discussed going to the gym in the morning then perhaps going to a local relaxing spot before we start digging in to classwork. However, our alarm was set for PM instead of AM, so we woke up just in time for breakfast, and, unfortunately, I also woke up sick. I do not have a stomach bug, which would have been concerning considering bacteria in the water here in Guatemala, but I was congested, headache-y, and I had a day long runny nose.
Gloria and I took it easy in the morning by hanging out in our room getting better acquainted, getting a good amount of the reading due on the 1st done, and we made plans to go to the gym after stopping by the Casa when it opened at 8:30am. Unfortunately, in an attempt to feel better, I took a small amount of cold medicine and by the time we arrived at the Casa I as too drowsy to feel comfortable at the gym. When I got to the Casa I set up my studio space in a back room in the Casa and worked a little on e-mailing and blogging (we have to pay for internet at our home stay so we are doing all internet related things at the Casa). After a while Gloria went to the gym alone (it was daylight so we were comfortable with that) and I took a nap to try to sleep off the drowsiness in the student's lounge. When I woke up I worked on my art piece; The Boston Codex, which I will be working on periodically throughout the semester. I also did more of the reading, which I finished before going to bed.
Later that afternoon Gloria, three other students and I went to a cafe near the Casa to practice Spanish and also get some coffee and tea. Practicing Spanish at meal times is very helpful to learning the language. Conversation is light and there is time to think and formulate replies and question in an unhurried manner. At restaurants in particular, you practice with the waitress what the names of foods are and you can eavesdrop on some conversations at other table to learn to listen and interpret as well as taking part in the conversations at your own table.
On the way back to our home stay for dinner I bought some Manzanilla Te (chamomile tea) in the hopes that I could ward off the cold by the next day; the first day of classes.     

Day Three, Antigua

Casa Herrera Students, Milady, and Dr. David Stuart at Casa Herrera

On Monday Gloria and I had our first breakfast with our host family. We had eggs and black beans, with warm bread and a bowl of fruit. At breakfast we talked with Cesar and Rosa about ourselves and our plans here in Antigua. Our hosts are very nice and very patient with me in particular; Gloria is fluent in Spanish and I need a lot of work.
After breakfast we had a meeting at Casa Herrera at 9am, so Gloria and I walk over together. The meeting was an orientation to help us get settled with the way things were going to go this semester, particularly with regards to field trips. A lot of the information was the same that we got at the orientations back in the states, but  going over the information again when we can reference what we are being told with what we are actually seeing going on around us was very helpful. We have several free weekends this semester to plan individual and group trips so it was important to go over safety issues with regards to travel and places.
After the meeting Gloria and I went back to our host family for lunch at 12:30. Lunch was a beef broth with potatoes and rice on the side, we also had tortillas, the staple food of Guatemala. During lunch we continued talking to our hosts and got to know them better.
After lunch Gloria and I went in search of the Antigua Gym. We wandered and looked at the city as we walked and eventually found the gym. The gym is a lovely little house with the strangest entry way I have seen thus far in Antigua. The walls are painted with male torsos in Andy Warhol style design and colors. the inside of the gym (we got to look around when we got there) is a large courtyard with a dome cloth cover to block rain and several small rooms around the sides. Ringing the courtyard are exercise machines and in the rooms are more machines and spaces for stretching and yoga. The gym only costs $34 for a monthly membership which includes all the classes they offer. Gloria and I decided to go a head and sign up.
After we signed up at the gym for a monthly membership each, we started wandering around Antigua again. Our orientation to language school was at 3pm that day so we wandered around looking for a cafe I frequented while I was in Antigua back in March. It turns out it is right near the language school so Gloria and I stopped there for some snacks before class.
We meet the rest of the students at PLFM and watched a video in the schools lecture room. Once all the students arrived we were introduced to the staff at PLFM and then assigned to our language teachers. I am in a group with three other students: Anny, Casey, and Jon. Our teacher is Maria, and she is extremely nice. Our first day the teachers took us on a tour of some of the places in Antigua we may need or frequent. We went by several Farmacias (pharmacies) and the Mercado (food market) that comes to Antigua on Monday's, Thursday's, and Saturday's.   
During the tour the four f us talked to our teacher and practiced some of the Spanish we have learned so far. Our teacher made sure we understood where we were and what she was showing us. She also told us a little about herself. When we got back to PLFM we stood and talked some more, laughing and making jokes as well as telling our teacher more about ourselves. At 5pm we said good bye and Gloria and I walked back to our home stay for dinner.
After dinner Gloria and I went to the Antigua Gym for our first try at working there. The gym is in a nice area in Antigua about 15 minutes away from our home stay. We walked there even though it was already dark at 7 but we got a taxi back to our home stay when we left the gym because we were warned to not walk around Antigua alone or even in pairs after 8:30/9:00pm. We were given the numbers of certain taxi drivers who Milady recommended and trusts who also know who we are and why we are here. We called one of the numbers we had and got a taxi sent our way in under ten minutes. The experience prepared us for what our night excursions to the gym will be like and how we want to handle them in the future.

Day Two, Antigua

Artisan's Market, Antigua Guatemala

Our host family has breakfast for us at 7am, lunch at 12:30, and dinner at 6:30 every Monday-Saturday, but on Sunday we have to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for ourselves; so our first full day in Antigua we had to fend for ourselves. Gloria and I met with several of the other students at a Basketball court near our homes in the morning and we all headed out to exchange money and get some breakfast. 

I had exchanged money already in Boston, so I didn't need to get anymore that morning, but I tagged along to help locate the bank recommended to us. In Antigua, to get quetzales, Guatemalan currency, you can either take it directly from your checking account at an ATM or you can exchange dollars directly for quetzales. If you exchange dollars for quetzales you have to bring your passport with you to the bank to prove you are an international traveler whereas at an ATM you only need your debit card. Sunday morning the students who needed to exchange money forgot to bring with them their passports for the bank, so when we got there we couldn’t do anything. After we left the bank we decided to go back to the Casa and drop off some of our stuff into the locker they are providing. At 11am the Casa was providing coffee and snack for the host families we were all staying with so that they could meet the directors and get a tour of the school we were all attending. We all were able to grab some of the snacks and drinks they provided. For a little bit we all hung out at the Casa, talked, and got to know each other.

After a while several of the students wanted to go to the market to get some hangers. Since I had been here before I had suggested a clothing market we called the Pacca (?) while we were here back in March. After hanging out at the Casa several of us walked over to the market of Antigua and started looking around. Instead of going to the Pacca, everyone was interested in the artisan market so we made a detour from the vendors market into the building that houses the artisan market. For a while we all wandered around and looked at the wares. We ended up all getting lost at some point and we had to call each other to figure out where to go to meet up with the rest of the group. It also started to rain a little bit and we all got a sense of what the rain here was going to be like. After a while some of the group moved off into smaller groups and some people joined the main group.

After we left the artisan market we headed to the supermarket to look around for some things we needed for classes in a couple of days. We all managed to get lost and found again, but we all got a sense of what was offered at the supermarket. We then started talking about what we all wanted to do for dinner. I suggested a place that I had gone to with my group from March called Monoloco (crazy monkey). The owner is from the states and the restaurant incorporates some USA sports bar attributes. We met up with more students in the Central Plaza and everyone decided to let me take them to Monoloco. I wasn’t sure where the restaurant was, so we headed to the Casa to ask Milady for directions and also to see if any of the other students there wanted to join us for dinner. Several more students we at the Casa so we got directions, called the rest of the students, all met up at the Casa, then headed out to Monoloco for dinner.

We were a fairly large group at this point; we were missing only two students from the whole group, so we all sat at two different tables right next to each other. At one table everyone got their own meal and separate checks. At the other table they ordered large nachos for the entire table and split the bill at the end. Both methods worked just fine and everyone seemed to be happy with their dinner. One thing that was very obvious was that almost everyone felt that the place was too expensive. What they had trouble with was the exchange rate; everything was in quetzales which is a 7.7 to 1 exchange rate with the US dollar (one US dollar equals 7.7 quetzales). All of the dinners were Q55, or Q66, etc. which is actually less than ten dollars ($10=Q77). And on top of that the meals are really big, so you are getting a lot of food for every few dollars.

At dinner most of the students spoke to each other in Spanish to practice. As someone at the very beginning of learning Spanish, I mostly listened and tried to understand what they were saying using context clues. We also spoke in English and got to know each other even more. I spoke to one student, Nancy, about my reasoning for coming to the program and told her a little bit about what I know about the teachers and Antigua. We all got along really well and enjoyed getting to know each other better over a meal.

After we left Monoloco, we all walked to the Casa as a reference point for all of us to find our ways home. Gloria and I walked with two other students who live near us in the northern part of Antigua. When we got back to our home stay and I dumped out my bag I realized I had lost my phone. We were all provided with Guatemalan phones by the program and if we lost them we had to buy new ones so I was upset that I had already lost my phone in under a day. Gloria and I ended up walking all the way back to Monoloco and stopping at the Casa to see if I had simply left it somewhere. Unfortunately we didn’t find it, and so I went home empty handed.    

Day One, Antigua

Casa Herrera, Antigua. The inner courtyard.

When we arrived in Antigua each of us was dropped off at our home stays. I was the last of the three of us to be dropped off but all of us were nervous. My host family lives on a lovely residential road in northern Antigua. When the driver rang the doorbell an older gentleman opened the door and helped carry in my luggage. His name is Cesar and his wife is Rosa. Both were very nice and Cesar even helped me by carrying my suitcase up the stone steps to the second floor, where my room is. The house is lovely; you walk into an open air courtyard where the couple has potted plants and their two cars. On the left side is a covered hallway with doors to individual rooms. They have a library/office, their bedroom, a guest room, and the dining room on the left of the hallway, and a bathroom and the kitchen on the right side past the courtyard. On the right side of the courtyard is a stone staircase leading to the upstairs where there are two bedrooms, one full bathroom, and a lovely deck area with a table and chairs. When I arrived at the house Cesar had me in one of the two bedrooms upstairs with a twin bed, dresser, and desk. Gloria was downstairs in a larger room with a full size bed, dresser, side table, and desk. Cesar offered us a second choice as well; the second bedroom on the second floor was the largest of the three rooms and had two beds and two dressers for two people to share. Gloria and I decided to take the double and share a room for our stay, that way we were more like roommates and we would share a bathroom so that Gloria wasn’t sharing the downstairs bathroom with the host couple. We moved in fairly quickly. I took the twin bed and a really cool dresser which is fake grand piano lifted up on the wall. Gloria took the full size and the standing dresser which is closer to the door to the room. We only have one desk so we are going to switch off or one of us will use the desk in the smaller room upstairs. We also used the smaller room to store our suitcases, but we will be able to move them back into our room if the family ends up hosting some other tourists during our stay.

After we got settled in our room the driver came to pick us up for our tour of the Casa and dinner. After we picked up everyone we met Milady at the Casa along with Prof. David Stuart and his son. The first thing we did was get a tour of the Casa and an explanation of who we are going to use the rooms. One of the rooms is a conference room, another is a classroom, and we have our own lounge. Another room is fairly empty but has copies of the San Bartolo murals on the walls. There is another room that we are going to be able to use as a studio space to continue our practice during this semester. There is a kitchen, an outer garden, and a lovely roof deck with a view of Antigua. After our tour we got a packet from Milady with a magazine about Antigua, two maps, and the syllabi for the first two classes of the semester.  

We left the Casa and went to dinner at a beautiful restaurant called “Angie, Angie.” We had ordered our dinners on Friday to make sure that the restaurant would be able to handle our large group. We all sat around a large table and chatted while we were given drinks, appetizers, and then our dinners and desserts. I got the chicken dinner and the strawberries for dessert. Being able to talk to the other students was really helpful to get to know them and get a feel for the dynamics of the group. Dinner took a very long time. In Guatemala time is much slower; meals come in an hour or more, meals last longer, people aren’t regularly on time, etc. Our meals took quite a long time to get to us. Some of the students seemed uncomfortable and some seemed a little upset. I have been here before so I was expecting for meals to take a long time, but for the first dinner I was still rather taken aback about how long it took for the food to show. The appetizers were helpful to tide us over at least.

After dinner we all got rides back to our home stays and Gloria and I were dropped off first. We went up to our room and started discussing shower time and sleeping habits. We both are quite comfortable sharing a room and our shower schedules are perfect; Gloria showers at night and I shower in the morning.

The first night was a little rough on me; it took me a long time to fall asleep and I woke up a lot during the night. Every time I woke up I had to shift around on the bed. At one point I was too hot and threw the covers off and at another I was too cold and pulled them back up on the bed. I also woke up really early in the morning, 6am, and I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself. I tried to go back to sleep and did get up at 9am and took a shower before Gloria got up. Gloria says she slept perfectly fine, so I think I am just too use to sleeping in a busy part of Boston where it is really loud all through the night. Here is very quiet and very dark all through the night. I hope to get use to it soon.  

I've arrived in Guatemala

Yesterday at 1:18pm I landed in Guatemala City, Guatemala. My day had been rather long, I had gotten up at 3am to grab an early flight to Houston from Boston at 5:15am. My original flight was at 7:30, but I was concerned about hurricane Irene delaying my flight and my layover in Houston was only an hour. I changed to the earlier flight out and got to the airport at 3:45am. The line to check bags was very long, but I printed my ticket from the kiosk and was able to go straight to the front to check my bags. I checked two bags, which cost money for the second, and because my suitcase was over 50lbs (it was 62lbs) I was going to be charged $230. I was able to move some of my stuff from my suitcase to my second bag, and ended up only paying the $30 for the second bag.
By the time I got to security it was 4:40am, and I was a little panicky. For the future: I suggest that eTickets be printed at home rather than the airport so that waiting in line becomes less of a problem.
Security wasn't too bad. The line was not too long and when I got up to the machines I was able to just go right through. My gate was right next to security too, so though I got through security later than I wanted to, I got to my gate a minute later at 4:50am.
However, my flight got delayed. Not because of weather, but because the computer systems went on the fritz. Everything that the pilots had to do had to be done manually. In the end we took off at 7:30am, the same time I would have left anyways.
I landed in Houston at 10:20 and I had to rush to my gate which was about 20mins from the gate I landed at. My flight to Guatemala City took off at 11:35 so I had to really book it to be able to get to the gate in time to get a snack as well (on the first flight I slept through snacks and drinks).
Two of the other students from the program were also on my plane and because of our coordination in t-shirts (they wore UT Austin shirts and I wore a MassArt shirt) we were able to meet up before we boarded the plane. We chatted a bit and talked about our morning flights. When we boarded we got on together, and got to our seats. There were not that many people on the flight, and at first I though about moving so we could all sit together and talk on the way there. I decided not to because we all had window seats and one of the best parts of flying into Guatemala is looking out the window as you land.
At 1:18 we landed in Guatemala City and taxied to the terminal. The flight was wonderful and calm. We filled out our paperwork for getting into the country and for our baggage and together the three of us went through the process of getting through customs. I had done it before in Guatemala City so I had an idea f what was going to happen and also where we needed to go.
None of us had any trouble getting through customs and we walked out of the airport together. Milady was waiting for us to the left of the exit and as the last group to arrive we got into a bus with Milady to head back to Antigua!