Erupting Volan Fuego!

Just reporting another first for me. Two nights ago I heard the strangest noise in the middle of the night. It was a cross between heavy snoring, rumbling thunder and a motorbike. I got up to go outside and listen closer and realised it was 'el volcan Fuego' erupting. I looked up and saw the top of the volcano glowing a beautiful red against the star lit sky and puffing out smoke and lava. It's a safe distance away from Antigua and the lava flows down the opposite side. It was so exciting as I've never been near volacnoes before, let alone see an active one waking up. Yesterday it smoked all day but there were no more eruptions last night so it may have gone back to sleep again now. Apparently it's quite a common thing here but an amazing site all the same.

P.S. I hear that there's quite a bit of snow in the UK. No chance of that here as it's unusually hot here today and is a pleasant 28 degrees.

Christmas in Antigua

Hope you all had a fun festive time at the weekend. There was certainly a party atmosphere here in Antigua with loads of processions, fireworks, eating and drinking. Christmas Eve is when the Guatemalan mainly celebrate. The final procession to the churches takes place about 7.30 pm then mass until midnight. Then the sky is filled with fireworks from all around - an amazing sight. Nine of us from the guest house went out for a Christmas dinner on Christmas eve and then joined in the celebrations in the streets afterwards.

Yesterday we cooked up a feast at the house and set off our own fireworks in the evening. We even got a Father Christmas pinata full of sweets to break after the meal (you'll see what I mean when I put the photo's on the page). All good fun.

Unfortunately they don't have a day off for Boxing day so it was back to school for me today. It's my final week of study this week so I want to consolidate as much of my Spanish as possible. Then I need to practice speaking more (in Spanish!!).

Enjoy the rest of your celebrations this week, Hannah xx

Montericco Beach

Hooray, finally made it to the beach ( I was supposed to go two weeks ago but was ill). It was so lovely to be in the proper heat again (32 degrees instead of 23/24 here in Antigua). The beach is only 2 hours from Antigua (however the driver managed to stop quite a few times on the way which turned it into a 3 hour journey) and so is perfect for a weekend break. It's on the pacific coast so quite a lot of waves which is good for surf watching again (although not the same level as in Puerto Escondido). Really, all there is to do is sleep in your hammock, catch some rays, drink some margharitas and eat lots of fresh fish. I did manage to drag myself out of my hammock to enter the turtle race at sunset. It's run by the turtle reserve which hatches the turtle eggs and then releases the baby Olive Ridleys back into the sea every Saturday. You pay Q10 (about 70 pence) to have your own turtle to enter into the race. I managed to get a pretty dopey one which first got stuck in the sand then set off in the wrong direction!!

Even though it was hot and very sunny at the beach there still managed to be a slight christmassy feel to the place with lots of decorations in all the bars. It gets really busy there over christmas with a real party atmosphere.

Now back in Antigua and getting ready for this weekend. I've been receiving Christmas cards daily in the post which is great, so thanks to all who sent one. They are now only taking about a week to reach me instead of the 4 weeks the parcel from my mum took!! There will be about 14 of us atthe guest house on christmas day for a bit of a fiesta (but no turkey, which doesn't bother me being veggie). We've now decorated the place and it is very festive. I'm going to make some mulled wine on Christmas eve before we go out for a meal. The Guatemalans celebrate more on 24th than on 25th.

Every night since 15th December there havebeen processions in the streets from 8 pm where they carry the 'Nacimiento' (crib) from house to house and stop there to drink and eat. A few of followed one of the processions on the first night and got invited into the house where the Nacimiento first went. We got given a local punch after they blessed the crib with Joseph and Mary. Another Guatemlan tradition - there seem to be so many in December. Last week (12th December) was Virgin Guadelupe's Day with yet another big procession through the streets of Antigua. This is a bigger celebration in Mexico, but it is still celebrated here.

I may not get another chance to update this site before Christmas, so I hope you all enjoy the festive season. I'm off to do my homework now,
Lots of love
Hannah
xxx

Lake Atitlan

Finally got around to writing something about the visit to the lake!! Sorry for the lack of contact again, but I really have been studying hard which leaves no time to sit and write much on the computer. Yesterday I had 6 hours homework to complete!!

The weekend at Lake Atitlan was very relaxed, although the sun didn't come out until the Sunday. Watched a great sunrise (top photo) early in the morning. The lake is beautiful although still a little churned up from hurricane Stan in October. There was quite a bit of destruction in one of the villages around the lake called Santiago Atitlan, aswell as in some of the villages around Antigua. There are lots of reconstruction projects going on and the guy in the photo above (Mark) is volunteering with a Dutch organisation building houses for families who lost their homes in the hurricane.

We all stayed in a place called San Pedro which is so relaxed that we actually fell asleep in the restaurant on the Saturday night after our yummy asian food. The seats were big cushions and it was just too tempting not to lie back and have a quick nap!!

I will definitely go back to spend more time at the lake before I leave Guatemala, maybe on the otherside so that I can watch the sunset over the lake. Also there are some volcanoes here that need climbing so that will be on the next agenda.

Christmas preparations in Antigua

It's been another busy week here and things are really getting Christmassy. Last Saturday evening there was a fantastic free concert in the central park. The National Symphony orchestra from Guatemala City were performing as well as a choir singing Christmas carols in Spanish. There were loads of people in the park enjoying the atmosphere and singing along. Afterwards a few of us went to listen to a harpist playing in one of the winebars near the park. A very musical evening which made up for the fact that I missed the trip to the beach through a slight illness. I'm feeling better now though and am off to Lago Atitlan tomorrow which is supposed to be a beautiful place to chill out. There's a small group of us going early in the morning for the weekend to escape Antigua for a night.
I've just finished my fourth week of Spanish lessons (that's 80 hours in total) and it's going well, although I still get frustrated at times as I want to be able to converse more quickly with people. I just have to be patient and practice speaking as much as possible (something that I don't normally have a problem with!!). After 3 weeks more I hope to have got to a good level and then I plan to travel around Guatemala and really use what I've learned.
On Monday I started the day with a huge smile on my face as my first Christmas card finally arrived along with a parcel from my mum (she posted it 4 weeks before!!). Then my teacher and I spent the week decorating our desk at school with Christmas decorations. It looks great now but I'm sure we'll continue to add bits during the next few weeks.
Wednesday was Dia del Diablo or Day of the Devil and a group of us visited Ciudad Vieja, which is just outside Antigua where they celebrate the day with a big festival. There was a big street parade of about 20 carnival floats which were the best I have ever seen anywhere else before (that's whatthese photo's are of). My favorites were a Jurassic Park themed one and another with a load of men dressed up as various TV, film and fairytale characters (quite a lot of men in dresses actually!!) salsa dancing on the back of the float. Quite a sight!!
Thursday was a musical day as I visited an open day at El Buen Samaritano project. This project helps children from very poor or socially difficult backgrounds and provides education and health care for them. The children were performing various activities, including a small musical concert. Then in the evening a group of us went to see Handel's Messiah at the Casa Santa Domingo which is the 5* hotel here in Antigua. It was a beautiful evening with thousands of lights throughout the hotel grounds.
All in all a busy but very interesting week.