Spanish, Volcanos, & Antibiotics in Antigua

All travelers in Guatemala spend at least a few days in Antigua because it is a town famous for brightly painted colonial buildings, gringo eateries, and Spanish schools, although our favorite find was the $2 gargantuan banana split. The ancient roads are cobblestone, the buildings old, and streets full of gringos...
We spent 2 weeks studying and living in a student boarding house which gave us a home base to make some friends. All spanish schools have similar design with one-on-one tutoring for 20 hours per week. The class is mainly unstructured without quality textbooks and is taught by young teachers lacking much experience. Most of the day is spent chatting about life and culture and the differences between the USA and Guatemala. My teacher was only 19 and was married until the second week of class when an American student became interested in a date; her spouse was then reduced to a mere boyfriend. It is a rare opportunity when a Guatemalan has a chance to leave the country for a better life, so many of the other teachers were encouraging her to "go for it". She was still thinking about it when I left...
Antigua holds the largest Semana Santa (Easter) celebration in Latin America, so preparations were in full force. The churches displayed offerings of flowers, fruits, and candles, most buildings were decorated with purple streamers, and a parade marched through the streets every Sunday night. When Scott and I heard the word "parade", we were thinking bands and candy... But, the parades for Semana Santa consist of hundreds of men dressed in satin purple robes followed by the single float of Jesus held by 40 men marching at the slowest pace possible through the streets. Not very exciting for us to watch, but the locals seemed very passionate and excited about the arrival of Easter.
Antigua is surrounded by 3 volcanoes, including 2 active ones. One of the big tourist events is to climb Volcan Pacaya to see the flowing lava rivers and steam vents. We decided to make the trek for my 32nd birthday. After a huffer through the forest, the view opened up to a land of dried lava fields that has doubled within the last 2 years. We climbed over sharp lava rocks following the painted white trail, feeling the heat and steam the closer we came to the glowing red lava. Once again, Guatemala did not disappoint us with that fine line of safety. Our guide proceeded to hike below the flowing lava and encouraged the group to approach for that killer picture. Okay, so I had to join too even though this picture doesn´t quite show how much my heart was pounding...
South of the US border, you do not drink the water unless treated or bottled. This is difficult to avoid when eating uncooked fruits and vegetables in restaurants, brushing your teeth, and when purified water cannot be found. But, down here diarrhea is a traveler´s rite of passage. As our second week commenced, Scott began to develop some serious stomach problems and was out for 4 days. So, for my birthday he gave me a bottle of poop to be examined for parasites by the local medical clinic. Luckily, bacteria were the culprit so the savior was a bottle of Cipro antibiotics I brought from the states. For those leaving the country for southern lands... don´t leave home without it! After recovering, we decided to travel to Lake Atitlan to study Spanish for another couple of weeks. More to come...