Big Lessons

We had an opportunity to take a great adventure the seven of us. Waking up bright and early on saturday morning we all met in a great spot to start our journey to Antigua.
We had quite an excursion. Our first bus got into a little fender bender with a small car infront, and after about 45 min to an hour we were all ushered off the bus and onto another one (suprisingly after gettting our money back!!!) where we all sat in the isles because it was totally full. On buckets. The trip in total was pretty long and we changed buses about 25 minutes outside of the city and that trip of course took much longer than we had anticipated as well. We were all exhausted after getting up super early and trying to figure out hiking a volcano or no....(yes another).
We had a very chill day, but it was soo much warmer than i was expecting or hoping! I love Xela, but I could definately use un poco màs sol! Too much rain and too much cold!
Antigua is amazing. I could spend hours wandering around. We went to Mass in the beautiful cathedral, and it was incredable. I could have spent hours in there. However, hunger pains are quite hard to ignore. We figured our way around the city slowly and found a really amazing restaruant, with an band who plays modern andean music. It was fabulous. The mix of the old sounds with the new was so wonderful and made me so happy! I could have stayed there forever. The autmosphere of the restaruant and the food was perfect. It was a little oasis away from all of the tiredness of language school and travelling. We all ate amazing and delicioso comida!
I also got my desire to wander around the city forever. Tom, Chris, Emily, and I took a walking tour of the city, and it was amazing. We got some history, some stories about daily life, and a lot of amazing photos. I could not be more thankful. Rita, Erica, and Kate wandered up an active volcano with real hot lava. Their photos are amazing. We had such a great time!
Yet with all of the wonderfulness of our journey, there are lessons to be learned. For example. Guard your money and your wallet with your life. Theives will cut into your purse and take your stuff while sitting next to you..and you being completely oblivious, have no clue until after you are off the bus...Bienvendios a Guate!! All happiness becuase I was safe and was able to cancel my credit card before it was used. Rita and Tom suffered the same fate as I. How fun no? lessons learned. vulnerablity acheived...interesting. Learning to live on a budget was another lesson this nurse had to learn as well. Good lesson though. Good many lessons. Ay. Que interestante...