(beyond chronology, this has little semblance to anything
constituting order…sorry)
This was not my first day in Antigua…but it was pretty much
my first day in Antigua. I woke up at 5 (I don’t know why…don’t worry about
it). I showered. No. I didn’t. The water in the hotel shower wouldn’t ever heat
up. I stuck my head under the sink and washed my hair and called it good.
I can’t really say that I know exactly what I did to kill
the time between then and about 8:30 when I left to look for…well anything
really. There was some breakfast in there somewhere. But then I went to look
for anything. I just started walking. I walked past the Plaza Mayor and took a right.
Why not? When you are looking for anything how can you make a wrong turn? I
found an organic grocery story, an organic café, a book store and a market. All
on one street in a matter of a few blocks. Neat. I bought dental floss and cue
tips. Cool huh?
It was still a little early to check out of the hotel and go
to my new home so I pulled the whole sitting in a park, people-watching stunt. Cliché,
I know, but give me a break. It was almost, kind of not my first day in
Antigua. It’s a pretty park. People are watchable. I actually didn’t get much
silent contemplation in before a nice man came up and started trying to
convince me his Spanish school was the best. It might be. I got 30 minutes of
solid practice right there, for free, without even asking for it. I also got
the inside scoop on the futbol game at 11. Cool. Something to do!
….passage of time here where a nice man lugs my
nearly 50 pound duffle bag about four blocks to my new home and then up 3
flights of stairs to my rooftop room (and I was just going to call a taxi)…
Futbol! I bought my ticket, and found a seat all by myself! I
felt a little left out of the general camaraderie but it was fun to watch. Then
I heard it! English! And right behind me nonetheless. Great success! I then
asked the question any lone English speaker asks when they hear their native
tongue in a foreign land: “You speak English?” Sometimes it’s the obvious
things that make the best ice breakers really. Why yes, that is a purple
elephant in the corner. How nice of you to notice…anyway…I know very little
about futbol except to clap and yell when everyone else does, and that the team
with the most numbers at the end won. WE WON! Woo! (No I’m not really that clueless but I have no details for
you)
My new friends were Swedish and Norwegian (Mark, Mike and
Mateo)! Neato! I called Augusta (who also lives on the third floor with me) and
we all wandered aimlessly in search of food. We found, we ate, we struggled
over the ticked but successfully paid and we left.
The next two or three hours involved walking, taking
pictures, walking, pointing, walking, oohing and aahing, walking, and saying
good-bye, good night, maybe we’ll run into you guys again sometime.
So now I’m ‘home’. My bags are unpacked nicely into a
dresser. The sounds of the city are floating in through my window on a cool
evening breeze. I am happily in my pajamas, sitting on a real mattress that won’t
deflate in the night, in a room with four walls and decent internet. I am ‘home’
for at least two weeks here in a city of unpaved, stone streets and buildings
the colors of the rainbow; nestled beneath a few protective volcanoes (we’ll
call them protective for my own personal comfort). I have a home and I have
friends. What more could you ask for? (Well, having my old friends here in my
new surroundings would be the ideal world but you can’t win them all). So here’s
to talking to strangers, playing with volcanoes and singing in the catacombs.
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