Today marks my last day here in Antigua and it has definitely flown by. Overall today I feel really content about going, not because I want to say goodbye to the wonderful people I have met here, but because it is definitely time for me to move on. I stayed here for an additional two weeks and I definitely feel ready for a change.
I will say that the school I attended here (Academia de Español Sevilla) was absolutely fantastic. And for anyone interested in traveling through Central America I highly recommend you take Spanish classes. Whether you take them at Sevilla or another of the many schools here, I guarantee you it will be one of the smartest things you could do. Beyond that the teachers, other students, and Gladys have all made Antigua a incredibly amazing experience.
Today I had my last conversation with my teacher, Lorena, which was really nice. Just summing up our experience and some extra practice of my recently acquired Spanish. But mostly I just found it incredibly difficult to talk about anything, because I knew it would be the last time I saw her. I also made the final trek to the tamale vendadora. She has made my past four weeks equally delightful with their delicious food.
After running some final errands I finally made my way back to the house to pack up. I managed to fit everything back into my big backpack and pack up what I thought I needed for my weekend travels to Rio Dulce, Livingston, Flores & Tikal. The tour operator we went through was Chisubin Travel (5a Avenida Norte #11) and so far they have some of the best prices I’ve seen. I think they are just far enough away from parque central that they offer legitimate prices. For instance, while most people could pay $230 US for the same trip, we paid $150. My bus for San Pedro La Laguna was being offered at 65 quetzales or $8, where as other travel agencies were asking for 105Q or $13 dollars. I understand that $5 isn’t a significant amount of change, but all things considered, if you are going to get the same service why not get it for a little less. All it takes is asking around.
After downing lunch back at the student house, Kristine and I made our way to Chusubin’s office just slightly late. However, we turned out to be incredibly early because we weren’t leaving until 2pm, rather than the 1pm we were first told. But otherwise, the trip went off with relative ease. We finally departed from Antigua bound for Rio Dulce. On our bus it was two friends I had met through Sevilla and a Quebecois couple (which we only discovered later). Mostly while the three of us chatted and slept in the back, they ignored us. I really don’t recall much of the trip to Rio Dulce, mostly because I slept most of the way there.
When we finally arrived, it seemed later than it was. We probably arrived around 8pm and we were all a little disoriented. Two buses arrived at the same time, the other one carrying another six people on a similar tour. They ushered us all into this massive dormitory and frankly it was hilarious to see the look on Jen’s face when she realized this was not a joke and also not what we had been promised. I laughed so hard I was snorting which probably didn’t help increase the bond with our potential new bunk mates.
Luckily Jen was on-the-ball and managed to discuss with our driver that she was under the impression we’d have a private room. Swiftly we were ushered out of the dorm (and it’s very odd bathrooms) and into our own room. Which I was very thankful for. Even though you could still hear everything that happened in that bathroom, the room was nice, the shower was hot (although potentially scalding) and I had a good nights rest. At least that is after we finished discussing veganism, cancer, documentaries and the independent learning high school I attended.
We also managed to eat some dinner at the restaurant located at the hostel, which I will admit made a damn fine yellow curry.
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