Back to school
This week, Jo and I have been rudely reminded just what it is like to be studying once more. As a family, we have been spending four hours each morning at Academia Antiguena trying to learn a little Spanish before we continue our adventure onward to south America. We are trying to avoid that complete feeling of helplessness that we had in China and perhaps we’ll even have more success in feeding ourselves, or at least have some idea of just what it is that we’re eating.
The setting is somewhat different from Hitchin Boys School. We take our classes in a large walled garden on the edge of Antigua. The garden has a couple of colonial style buildings and a large courtyard in addition to a variety of trees and even some lawn. Hidden amongst the shade are numerous pairs, student and teacher, engaged in the Spanish language. The garden hums with the sound of people discovering where each other live, what they had for breakfast and what they will do when they leave Antigua. Our table is in the furthest and now the noisiest corner. We decided that we would all learn together, reasoning that we would be just as distracted having Will in another class and worrying about him (or the teacher) as having him with us. We also thought it would be nice to all learn together and that has proved to be so.
Of course, it’s not easy. Neither Jo nor I are natural linguists. You only have to consider how little Welsh we (and especially I) have managed to acquire in ten years and with several lessons to fully appreciate just how hard it is for us old dogs to learn new tricks. It is Friday morning and despite the best efforts of Iliana our tutor, we are still in the present tense. Living in the now may be very Zen but it makes it very difficult to construct any sentences. Furthermore, even with that limitation, as we have grappled with conjugations of regular, irregular and special verbs, transcribed pages of vocabulary, altered prepositions and attempted idioms, we have felt our brains melt and dribble out of our ears.
It hasn’t all been school. We have had the afternoons to explore Antigua which is exceptionally pretty. The town used to be the capital of Guatemala and consists of simple plaster covered houses arranged along a grid of fairly narrow, cobbled streets. The houses are painted in primary colours and there are numerous ruins and churches to add to the mix. Whilst the buildings are relatively simple, there are fantastic details everywhere. Windows, doorways, roof tiles, chimneys and even road signs have surprising intricacies or designs. Each time we wander through the streets, there is a myriad of new features or some new interplay of the light and shadow against the colourful walls to catch the eye. All of this with the backdrop of three volcanoes.
There have been other learning opportunities too. We visited a coffee plantation and saw the berries growing, unlike our failed attempt at seeing tea in China. We’ve even toured a chocolate museum and although Ellie and Will swear that Uncle Chris’ better, I noticed that they went back for several samples just to check. Even in our homestay, we’ve been learning – not just by trying to speak a little Spanish (and I mean a little) with our host Janet – but also thanks to the skills of the new friends we have made amongst the other students in the homestay. Last night for example, Ellie learned some Salsa steps with Kate, a dance teacher from Philadelphia. Will discovered that cheating was the only way to win at arm wrestling with Finn and Haim learned that, when reading stories to Ellie and Will, it’s probably best not to let them ask too many questions.
Tomorrow is our last day here, we fly to Chile early on Sunday morning, and I think that yet again I’ll be leaving with regret. Guatemala was originally just a cheap place to spend a week learning Spanish en route to South America and we put little or no thought into the country itself. I think I should very much like to return.
