Settling In

This morning I moved (again) but this time to a great location across the road from the yoga school and 50 metres from the Spanish Language school.
It is in a gated compound called Rosaria and run by Dona Olga. I have a large room + bathroom and verandah out onto a delightful garden. For the $18 per day I also get 3 meals cooked by the lovely Francesca. I had a yummy chicken dish for lunch (the large meal of the day) and am expecting just soup & salad at 7pm tonight for dinner. Its called a home-stay and other gringos are staying here, mostly doing language lessons at the numerous language schools here in Antigua. At lunch today was a young  Aussie woman,  here to volunteer in an orphanage while she learns Spanish during her Uni break and a doctor from Kansas City here for a 2 week vacation and spanish lessons. It is so nice not having to go out and get food or sit in restaurants every night- much more like being at home, but someone cleans my room everyday and cooks all my food!
Last night I had dinner with a group of ladies from 5 different countries and almost all are here doing good work for various organisations - two assist in the local hospital's children's ward, another began the family planning NGO and was a diplomat here in Guatemala City in her previous life.. a fascinating group of women.

 This is my apartment on the left. 

 

This is San Jose Vielo Language School where I am doing my Spanish lessons. You can see the little classrooms with a white board , a table covered in butchers paper ( great idea for tutoring) 2 chairs, books pens etc

This is a view of my street which is 5th Avenido south. All the properties in Antigua are behind walls. I can always find my new house if I head for the volcano.

I went to my first yoga class on Sunday morning - great teacher from NZ and a fantastic class- will certainly go back regularly.

Today I had my first Spanish class with Gladys my professor. I have enrolled for 5 two hour lessons each afternoon and. I have one-on-one lessons in a little classroom within a beautiful garden.-there must have been about 20 lessons all going on at the same time. Today Gladys & I got to know each other - similar age, both divorced, grown up kids etc .It was great having all my family photos and videos on my I Phone so we could discuss it all in Spanish. Some people do 4 hours per day but 2 is heaps for this old brain at the moment.