life in Antigua

i don't remember exactly what i've said thus far, so i'll do short sentences to sum up what i've learned about life in Antigua.

noise is prevalent. there are no yards, so everyone hangs out in the street. there is no insulation in the houses, so closing a window does not help. music is important. meals are small. birthdays and holidays are major important. hot water is only in the shower. talking is very difficult. houses are right next to each other like apartments or townhouses, but much smaller, older, dirtier, and with flat & tin roofs.

streets are narrow, very narrow, and all of them are cobblestone. walking is tricky. riding in a car is very bumpy and loud and jarring. it's very humid here for being 5,000 feet. when the sun is shining brightly it's hot. but when the clouds are around it's pleasant and/or cool. when it rains, the streets get muddy and water flows like a stream down them. many puddles.

there are bars on all the windows. all of them. the doors are beautiful! i love doors, so these doors are way cool and some are very tall. made of very strong wood or metal. there is no carpet, only tile inside. a lot of houses, restaurants, etc. look horrible on the outside, but when you open the door there is a beautiful garden or fountain on the inside. it's like a whole other world in there!

money here is paper and coins. they have coins for one queztal and for 1/2 a queztal. the bills are in fives, tens, twenties, fifties, and hundreds. the bills are colorful and the coins are gold.

garages are inside the house. like a room. Adolfo's garage has parque flooring, plants, what should be a fountain, and the staircase to go upstairs. there is also a doorway going to the living room from the garage. it fits one car. one small car. there is also only a partial roof in that area, so yesterday when it rained the floor got really wet. very strange.

there are lots and lots of trees. everything is green.

when you finish the meal and everyone is done, you say "muchas gracias" and they say "buen provecho." that's like saying "bon appetite" but it's at the end of the meal.

patrick is leaving tomorrow. i haven't lost any weight yet. my muscles are very sore from all the walking. and just for the record, i didn't walk 35 blocks that one day, i walked more like 50. yesterday, however, i walked about 30. whew!

oh, roosters crow at 5:30 and wake me up every day. there are lots of different kinds of birds that chirp in the morning as well, and after the rooster wakes me up, he walks away and wakes other people up too, so between 5:30 and 6:30 i can still here him. ugh!

dogs walk the streets. lots of dogs.

ok. i have to go. it's lunchtime.