The life of an art student

Studying Spanish is cool but frustrating. I feel like I’m 3 years old and trying to learn English. We stay with a family that only speaks Spanish, study Spanish with teachers that don’t speak English and do optional activities in the afternoon in only Spanish. 

Salsa Classes are available free twice a week and we made the most of them

There is so much to learn and I don’t know how we ever learnt English or how it rolls off the tongue so effortlessly.

Travelling in a group of five for a short time has been so much fun. It literally just feels like an awesome, relaxed version of uni but in Guatemala. We study, catch up for drinks and coffee, gossip, exercise, shop in the markets, frequently visit the chocolate shops and bakeries and go out to the cool bars for drinks. 

Having a fig cheesecake at La Ceniciente

I feel like I did when I moved to Broome. Staying for a month allows us to settle into life, really get to know Antigua and just enjoy being students.

Antigua rooftops

We love being art students-it is the life! Our sole purpose is to have fun while learning and there are no consequences for not doing well at school(other than not speaking Spanish well). Antigua is the perfect environment for our new lifestyle. In the morning, after having an amazingly healthy breakfast made by Dona Ana(our mother), we walk in to class at 8.

My desk

For 4 hours we have one on one lesson where only Spanish is spoken and taught. My maestra is Elsa, a tough teacher but a good one who frequently fries my brain with the 7 rules of how to use por vs. Para or the 12 exceptions to future tense of a verb. One month most definitely won’t be enough.

Our Maestros!

Zamora Academia

Afterward, Nic and I usually go to the gym we joined. This is like no gym I’ve ever been to. It is a building with a huge open patio on the inside with all the equipment set out and a huge tarp covering it. It has many plants and is beautiful. The music blaring is like the music blaring in all the supermarkets, buses, clubs and pubs-latin mixed with club music, all dance worthy. I went to a dance class once-I thought it would be zumba. There were the usual group of middle aged women and me, the only foreigner. The instructor was an incredibly manly, buff guy. Latin music started and all of a sudden it was like a zumba class on speed. They danced like professional salsa dancers and constantly yelled out at different times. The steps were crazy, the music crazy and the dancers crazy and it was a struggle to keep up. It was in the very centre of the open gym where everyone could watch and men and women would jump in at different times to shake it and go back to their sessions. It was so much fun! Best of all, the instructor was improvising-amazing! This gym is just better than others. It has TV’s everywhere with only Spanish subtitles(there is no access to TV in my house), it is a beautiful environment and no one is embarrassed.

After a very healthy lunch, Nic, Jade and I can be found at a cafe like La Cenicienta or Rainbow cafe(where we get free wifi) studying and drinking the famous Guatemalan coffee. A chocobanana or cake usually happens in this time also(1.50 for the most amazing cake you’ll ever have). If not, we can be found at the many activities; ziplining over a lake, exploring ruins and museums or visiting macadamia farms. 

Novios! Lovebirds cruising on the lake

We visited coffee and macadamia farms: amazing free samples!

One afternoon Jade and I travelled with her maestra Sara to a the church of San Hermano- a saint who brings luck and is partial to tobacco and quetzalteca rum. He is represented with a cigar, gun, hat and a bottle of spirits. 

The bus station: monster trucks

Afterwards we headed to a little village specialising in boot making and had the most fantastic time meeting bootmakers ad trying on shoes. For $30 I got a pair of handmade leather Guatemalan boots and I got to meet the maker! We looked damn good drinking our organic mojitos at Por Que No? (our favourite cute bar with a theme of bikes and really beautiful staff).

Por Que No? (Why not?)

Organic Mojitos at Por Que No

Once Annie and Bernie left we met our new housemates who loved to party. We spent nights at pub quizzes and salsa dances. One night we ended up at a Dutch party of the many Holland girls in our school. Everyone was dressed in orange and would occasionally wave their arms around manically singing. We ate bitterballen and listened to bad 80’s music. At the end there was a raffle that we each had a ticket for. It was the craziest raffle ever- over 20 prizes of amazing gifts it took about an hour. We were leaving at 9am the next day but I won 150Q of food at one of the tackiest, most expensive restaurants in town. We grabbed our friend Zana and ran to the place at 11:30 pm with 10 minutes of kitchen time left. We ordered almost every desert: cinnamon nachos, chocolate brownie sundaes, onion rings and fries. It was a crazy, unexpected and luxurious feast at midnight and a good way to finish our time here.

After way too many mojitos, all nighters and too much cake I was ready to hit the road again. One month is not enough to learn Spanish well but it is enough to have a decent chat with cute guys in various jungle and beach locations-what a motivation to practice.                  

Pinky: our resident pet