In Antigua, Guatemala!

We`ve spent the last few days hanging out in beautiful, colonial Antigua. Our trip here was exhausting, but we found our hostel quite easily. We´re staying at La Posada Ruiz, a small and cheap hostel ($5 a night for both of us!), though it lacks certain amenities. We have a shared bathroom and showers, which stangely have locks on both sides. Fortunately, no one has been locked in yet.

On the first day, we explored the town, saw some old ruins the central park (they have a giant fountain with naked women that have water leaking from their nipples), and took a nap before going out to El Gato Negro for a few drinks with some fellow travelers. We retired early, as we had never really recovered from our36 hour journey from Los Gatos.

On Saturday, we woke early and got breakfast at a random restaurant near the local market. We split the lunch special in order to save money. Unfortunately the vegetables came doused in mayonnaise, thereby undermining their freshness and healthiness. Tori refused to eat them. Stew was hungry. Later, we saw an exhibit of a Guatemalan photographer Julio Zadik in an old convent, went on a hike to the top of the hill overlooking Antigua that sports a giant cross, saw more ruined cathedrals, visited the local market and purchased ingredients for mojitos. In one of the cathedrals, there was a really interesting cross adorned with various instruments of labor: liberation theology, perhaps? Another had a small set of stairs leading down to a subterranean alter where people had burned cigars and candles for various reasons (ward off spirits, bring good luck, prevent disease, etc), but the smoke had caused the crucifix and the rest of the room to become coated in a thick black soot. Outside of one park (there are many, mostly in disrepair with beautiful old fountains, destroyed buildings, and lots of flowers), the fountain had one side dedicated to small kiosk like areas for people to wash their clothes in public. We might take advantage of that.

Last night we made mojitos with our neighbors in the hostel, including Marissa (a UVa Alum) and Petr (from the Czech Republic), The night before we had met another UVa student (kind of), as well as a friend of ours today who just graduated from UVa. Strange coincidences. Last night we dined at a fancy restaurant because all of the other restaurants were closed by the time we left the hostel. This week is a giant party in anticipation of Independence Day on Tuesday, so most of the inexpensive places close so their owners can go party.

Overall, Antigua is a really cool city with old cobblestone streets, cathedrals, fountains, and a palace. Most of it was destroyed in the earthquake of 1673 and subsequent earthquakes (the town gets destroyed about every 50 years) and it has never been fully rebuilt. Thus, most of it still lies in ruins and it is unlikely it will ever return to its former glory as the capital of Central America. It is mostly a tourist town now, though this week many Guatemalans have flooded into the town for the Independence day celebrations. It is crazy to see more Guatemalan tourists than gringos, as this is not usually the case. Tomorrow we head off for Lago de Atitlan, a lake in the mountains with various small towns dotted around its shores.