Dia Oucho

My head hurts.

We started language school today and it was amazing how much doesn't 'just come back' like we hoped. I went in the morning and had a great teacher. We spent time talking so she could assess how amazing I am and how un-amazing my Spanish is. I was very pleased with her direction and instruction and look forward to going back tomorrow. I will be accompanied by the junior member of the expedition who decided today that he would like to learn Spanish which surprised and delighted us. We will see how it goes.

I met the other expedition members for lunch at Dona Luisa's which has been here ever since we first ventured here. Perfectly adequate if unexciting cuisine but it has always been a place where you knew you could eat the veggies which used to be much dicier in Antigua than it is now. Sat upstairs in a grand salon with wood floors overlooking 4a Calle Oriente with Volcan Agua in the distance. A pretty hard setting to beat. The other senior expedition member went to class in the afternoon while junior member accompanied me to restock provisions. That consisted of a trip to the market for veggies

 and candles (have to have atmosphere even in the casa) and then to the supermarket for meat and other consumables. Junior member met some kids who are staying in one of the other hovels in our complex. They are from South Africa and are traveling for 'a few years' according to their parents. They traveled through Africa before heading to Florida to visit the most precious cultural institution the United States has – yes, Disney World 

 – before heading to Guate to spend some time learning language. We also achieved another technical first for us by exploiting early 21^st /late 20th century technology by communicating via the internet with video. What will they think of next. 

 Learning can be so painful.