Time is something most people have a lack of, or a perceived lack of, however in reality we have all the time in the world because time is relative. Time is something I have a lot of, so the hour has come to put my intentions towards serious study of the Spanish language, thus I’m heading North to Guatemala to study Spanish at the Academia de Español Antigüeña. The school is located in the old capital city of Antigua where there are a lot of ruins to explore because of the earthquakes that have devastated the city over the years, thus as you can see the reason it’s the old capital city because they moved the capital to Cuidad Guatemala.
I’ll be traveling from San Jose, CR, to Guatemala via the Tica Bus. The first leg of my journey will be from San Jose, CR, to San Salvador in the Executive class bus, which doesn’t stop except once in Manuaga. The second leg of the trip is on the Tourist class because the Executive class doesn’t go that far. I’ll be provided with a blanket, pillow, and food on the 19 hour bus ride, but it’s a much better deal than doing the Tourist class all the way, which takes four days and I would have to pay for a hotel every night. My bus departs San Jose, CR, at 3:00 am on Sunday morning, arriving in San Salvador between 9 and 10 pm the following day. I’ll stay in San Salvador over night and catch the bus to Cuidad Guatemala at 6 am and arrive around 11 am or Noon. I suppose I’ll stay at the bus terminal until the next bus instead of trying to get a room for a few hours.
After my arrival in Cuidad Guatemala I’ll have to obtain the local currency quetzal (1 US Dollar = 7.78486 Guatemalan Quetzal) for my use during my stay in Guatemala. Staying with a host family is an option while attending school, however, for my first week I want to stay in a local hotel – The Yellow House – and once I get a feel for the school and the local people, I may request a home stay because other people have said it really helped them learn Spanish. While I’m in Guatemala I won’t have easy access to the Internet, so emails may receive delayed responses, however, I will attempt to write in the Blog and upload it as I have access.
I’ll continue to stay here in San Jose, CR, until my bus departs early on Monday morning so I can recover from the head cold I caught in Panama. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying every day for the treasures it holds.
