I have decided to start a new category called "Alphabet" in which I will go through the alphabet in order posting things that start with the letter of the week. I find it very interesting that my first city just so happens to start with an A 🙂
Antigua…
Antigua, Guatemala is a very beautiful place! It is full of life, love, and lots of color. Antigua is a rather large city; however, the population of the people who actually live here is a not very large. Antigua is a very popular place to set up a local business, take Spanish classes, visit the big market, and has lots of tourist attractions such as the churches and volcanoes. I am very glad that Antigua is the first city on my trip that I am able to stay in due to the fact that it is a very touristic place, it helps the weaning process from America. Here are several things I have been excited to see in Antigua…
Antigua is the home of a very large market. While most of the market is indoors there are lots of booths set up outside. The market does seem to have some organization in the sections such as fresh food, clothes, flowers, electronics, and tourist accessories. The market is a very busy place and can sometimes be a little overwhelming; however, if you visit on the right day at the right time it can be a wonderful place to be. My team has already seemed to pick "favorite" booths that we shop from; however, there are also sections in which I try to avoid such as the meat isle ( its so stinky! ) and the movie section ( I have already bought 10 movies and a TV season, but who can blame me they are so cheap!! )
I found the only store in all of Antigua that sells Dr. Pepper!!
Black refried beans with sour creama and bananas is so good. ( Who would have ever thought?! )
The third picture contains the movies I have bought so far. They are so cheap!
My favorite thing about Antigua is that the town is full of so much color and surround by nature. I love walking down the streets passing all the colorful buildings and seeing lots of flowers in bloom. In Antigua, all the colors come to life! The sky seems bluer, the flowers are more vivid, and the buildings are so bright.( it could be that maybe I'm so excited that when I walk down the street I don't see just plain ole white or tan houses as I do back in the states, I mean who honestly doesn't want to live in an orange or baby blue house?! ) But honestly, the best part of the city is probably that it is completely surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. I'm not really much of a nature person, but it's impossible to look around everyday and not thank God for all His beauty.
Below I have posted some pictures of things I have been glad to find in Antigua along with some pictures of everyday life items and how they are different from the States.
Antigua does have a McDonalds! Along with Burger King and a Subway.
The middle picture is the Guatemalan taxi.
Cream cheese! Its expensive, but so worth the money 🙂
