how did i end up here?

Superman? Is that you up here too?

On Saturday I went zip lining with two of my housemates. Wow. I was extremely nervous because, as you know, I’m a chicken when it comes to pretty much everything. But who knew peer pressure was so effective? Why yes, I would love to jump off a cliff with you, thanks so much for asking! It really wasn’t scary at all and was the most fun I’ve had in a while. There were two different zip line courses. The first course consisted of seven different lines and the second one had just two lines, but they were both very long and across a canyon. In order to get to the lines, we had to take this army looking truck up a very steep windy road. The scenery was amazing…the drive alone was worth the price of admission. The canopy tours were at a coffee farm, so it was row after row of coffee bean trees on the sides of the mountains. So cool.

Once we got to the first line, I was super nervous and I was selected to go first. I warned the instructors that I was liable to scream like a little girl, but they didn’t seem disturbed by this. However, as it turns out, they pushed me off the edge and it wasn’t scary at all! It was what I imagine Superman feels like when he’s out saving the world. It was so fun, and that was just the first, very short line. The lines just got better from there. And we even got to get a running start on one of the lines…I think that one was my favorite one, even though it wasn’t the longest and the scenery wasn’t the best. It was just such a rush to give the zip line a running start. The second course with the two long lines was incredible. The first line was over 1700 feet across a canyon…the ground was 500 feet below. What a rush. You could see the volcanoes, the trees, parts of Antigua. It was incredible and hard to describe in words. I was so glad I went. Sometimes peer pressure is for good.

The rest of the weekend didn’t consist of many amazingly interesting things. It was quite rainy all weekend, which required more indoor activities. We went to a few movies at the cinema. It’s a great little theatre that shows older American movies with Spanish subtitles. It’s a good way to see how certain phrases are used in context. Plus it’s free! You can’t really beat that on a dreary afternoon.

Spanish school is coming along. Not sure I’m learning enough to sustain many conversations. So I’m hoping to veer my lessons in the direction of common conversations and away from verb conjugations (which I’ll probably never learn properly). It went ok this morning…I’m learning how to haggle with the vendors in the Mercado and talk to bartenders about the game on tv, all important stuff.

The pictures in the blog today, are from some of the more recognizable places in Antigua. The two pictures of a big yellow church are of a church called La Merced. It is often referred to (at least in the guidebooks) as the wedding cake church because the detailing on the front is so ornate and looks like a wedding cake. There are also two pictures of the Arch. This is the most famous place in Antigua. It was built so that nuns could cross the street without being tainted by the outside world. And the last picture is of lil ole me at a lookout point above the city. Enjoy!

posted by taiautumn @ 7:02 PM