First Day of Guatemala - A Korean Experience

My first day was a culture dynamic like I had never seen. I live with one other guy right now, who is from Korea and hardly speaks any spanish or english. His friends are here too, and my first night they and two of the teachers of the language school came over and they cooked food and had drinks. The food - phenomenal. I have no idea what it was...some kind of meat with cabbage rolled into a leaf with this amazing saracha sauce. Anyway, the craziest thing was that the teachers speak spanish and they speak korean, so there was a lot of misunderstanding each other and communicating with gestures and pictures. It was the quietest "party" I had ever seen, but as the night went on we all got more comfortable and spoke mainly spanish. My favorite moments were the ones where Spanish and Korean languages were mixed together, and we still understood what was being said. I guess since I'm a communication student it was fascinating to me at least..haha

So far, Antigua has been an amazing experience, and it's only been 3 days! I don't want to leave, it is so much fun and I am learning so much. I went to the macadamia plantation and the jade factory which were both surprisingly more interesting than I expected. What I love about Antigua the most are the PEOPLE. They are so friendly, the bartenders and most people around the city are more than happy to educate you on their culture and history, and tell you all the things you need to know about Antigua. I was afraid that they may not enjoy tourists, but all the Antiguans I have talked to are so happy to share their city. I talked to a woman behind the bar of a coffee shop for over an hour and she explained all the traditions of mayan culture. It was fascinating! They also love to help you with your spanish :)

I have some free time before I start volunteering and taking classes. However I am at the school almost everyday for the free wi-fi and the free tea/coffee. And Guatemalan coffee - WOW. so so so good. I think I drink it twice a day at least. The school also offers activities every day and I've met a lot of people through the school. Last night I met a group of students who all traveled here alone, and it was a great time. We went salsa dancing and to a local bar. I think I'm going to be a salsa expert by the time I leave here :)

Tonight we are going to go try ilegal mezcal, a tequila native of Oaxaca, and is only in one bar in Antigua. Supposedly it is the purest agave you can get...But I've heard it tastes like gasoline..I guess we'll see! haha and tomorrow I'm having lunch with a local then picking my mom up from the airport! I plan on getting her some bird of paradise flowers from the market to greet her with..i know...soooo cuuuute. She is really excited and I am planning some excursions and adventures we can take while she is here. The first thing we want to do is visit Tikal, which is the largest ancient Mayan civilization.

In short, I love it here, and am so incredibly excited for the rest of my time in Central America!

Hasta Luego,
Haley