bonita Antigua

Hola!! Estoy en Antigua Guatemala! I am spending the first two weeks of my project in the beautiful city of Antigua taking Spanish classes. This is my fourth time in Antigua and needless to say I have fallen in love with the city all over again. I am excited to give you a little glimpse into a day in my life 🙂

I am living with a host family in Antigua with five other students with Maximo Nivel (my Spanish immersion program). Since there are so many students there are less opportunities to get to know my host family than I expected. But I have really enjoyed getting to know my roommates! I have roommates from all around the world so it is fascinating to hear how everyone ended up in Guatemala.

My day starts with breakfast at 7:00 with my roommates. Eating intentional meals around a table with new friends has been really refreshing and good for my heart!

After breakfast I head to my Spanish class. My walk is only 15 minutes and the views are stunning! Antigua is full of vibrant colorful buildings and gorgeous views of the surrounding volcanos.

I was so excited to learn this stunning yellow church is on my route to class! And I have made it part of my routine to attend mass there before class. It is such a peaceful way to prepare my heart and mind for the day ahead.

I have Spanish class from 9:00-1:00 every day during the week. My teacher Fransisco is super funny and I am learning a ton. I only have high school Spanish knowledge so the class definitely challenges me but in a good way. It can be easy to get discouraged with my Spanish because of the overwhelming amount of material I still need to learn, but I am trying to be gentle with myself and take one day at a a time.

After class I typically meet up with my local friends from years past for lunch or coffee. The biggest joy of the week has been spending time with them! There are so so many coffee shops to explore in Antigua which is one reason I love the city. I’ve been trying a new coffee shop every day (I even have a list on my phone where I rate them haha).

I head back to my host family for dinner and spend the night chatting with my roommates, doing my Spanish hw, and calling with friends and family back home.

There are challenges like feeling overwhelmed with Spanish and adjusting to life without the little material comforts, but honestly I just feel such joy to get to live in a beautiful place and to spend time with new and old friends!! Hasta proxima Semana 🙂