living la vida dulce

So apparently Santa Lucia has this grand rooster choir that has chosen 4:30am to be their morning rehearsal time... and it goes on for hours. I made the best of it by being the first one to the training center at 6:30am for some peace and quiet in the lounge. It's dark and cold when I walk to school, but my carpet yoga amongst the empty couches wakes me up.
I am inundated with Spanish more than I ever imagined, and while I know it's good for me, that doesn't make it any less draining. We have Spanish class all morning (and English is not allowed in our classroom), we head home for lunch and chat with the host family in Spanish (they don't speak any English), then it's back to the center for more Spanish class in the afternoon. During breaks we walk down the street to one of the two nearby panaderias for some pan dulce. After class we hide at the training center, avoiding more Spanish by playing knockout on the basketball court. We wander through town, catching various marching (they're actually dancing) band practices and stop to drink a Gallo under a thatch roofed patio. Eventually, we do have to head home, and it's more Spanish all night. But it's good.... we're learning.
Last night I walked the grandchildren home with my host mom. I saw the most spectacular light show- insansely low, rapid, and frequent flashes of lighting. It was nothing short of a finale on fourth of July and I was entranced. The family didn't seem impressed, and I couldn't express in Spanish how beautiful I found it to be. I just kept saying "We don't have lightening like that in the states..." I also noticed how clear the sky was, freckled with sparkling white stars. The 6 year old holding my hand as we crossed the street said to me (in Spanish) "You can't count the stars.... They're infinite." I caught my breath and was so thankful that I understood what he had told me.
* * * *

It's Sunday, but don't ask me the date. I've been on a trip to a land I call Indulgence. We escaped our little town of Santa Lucia last night- three of us went to Antigua. We found a hostel that set up back $50 quetzales a night, which is something around $8 U.S. Found the spot, The Rainbow Room, that served us amazing coffee the afternoon before (our spectacular Spanish teacher took his four students to Antigua for class instead of sitting in that little room.... que bueno!). We sat in a corner and journaled and read, sipping coffee and sharing a slice of raspberry pie. We meandered through the rocky streets of Antigua and found ourselves at Dona Luisas; I enjoyed a spectacular veggie burger and multiple-hour conversation about nature vs nurture while watching the lightning continually flash above the open air patio. Returned to The Rainbow Room for a little local live music while the rain poured and our table was adorned with various bottles and glasses. I had a coke with a Cuban rum that apparently you can't get in the states.... it was amazing. Crashed for the night, up at 6am the next morning to stumble upon the only cafe that opens before 7am and just happens to serve more delicious coffee and the best cinnamon roll I've ever enjoyed. Hopped on a bus headed back to where school awaited us.

Needless to say, we're going back to Antigua for the rest of the weekend.