Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala. That happened after the first capital was compromised by divergent/convergent movements of techtonic plates (probably). Since Antigua was founded in 1524 (according to the infallible wikipedia site), it has seen its share of earthquakes including some biggies such as the Santa Marta Earthquake of 1773 which precipitated the movement of the capital from Antigua to present day Guatemala City (side note: we would much rather live in Antigua today than Guate).
Thankfully Antigua had a lot of amazing churches/cathedrals built before the big earthquakes and now you can see some amazing ruins.(note to readers: Antigua has a lot of old churches with amazing architecture and we will definitely feature them in a post)
I mention all of this (and intentionally tried to dissuade the cursory viewers of the blog - as if anyone needs a reason to quit reading this) because this morning we had a tremor. Not an earthquake, but a tremor. Now, we have had them back in the mountains of NC but they seem to happen at incredibly inconvenient times when I am asleep (like any time before 10 in the morning).
So imagine our delight when we were awake to 'feel' one. To be honest, there was one last week that we slept through - if that gives you any indication of how mild/strong these things are. I will recount my immediate reconstruction of today's tremor focusing on veracity in an attempt to convey the experience as opposed to the emotions.
Part one: around 8:00/8:15 in the morning. Like any sane person, I am just now escaping the sweet arms of Morpheus. I had already received the gentle encouragement of Senior Member (I quickly re-evaluated said encouragement and using advanced bio-kinetic inputs, re-engaged in deep thought processes). During aforementioned re-evaluation, I experienced a kinetic disturbance that could be commonly referred to as, I believe the common vernacular is, a 'nudge' in the bed. I responded in the pure language of Morpheus (which is often misinterpreted as babble/sleep talk/etc) and returned to my studies. A few minutes later, another interruption occurred. I deigned to acknowledge this interruption but understood the importance of rising and studying Spanish. Upon rising, and after the requisite eye drops (btw, still looking for B&L Sensitive Eyes Rewetting Drops - NOT the Daily Cleaner - you only make that mistake once!), I conversed with Senior Member and learned that no other expedition member had nudged me the second time. Further discussion revealed that Senior Member had felt said tremor also and noted the chandelier over the dining table swinging gently.
Through thoughtful discourse, we determined that we had just experienced a movement of the earth (yeah, trying not to put words that would make certain people extremely anxious).
As an expedition, it was a beautiful reminder of the home base and events that occur all the time.
On to more important things, this is where we often stop on the way to class for an empanada/donut/cinnamon roll
Yes, it is a shame we can't get fresh croissants with chocolate and have to settle for 'other' pastries.
Our new favorite fried chicken place (more on that later)
we bought fish for dinner - fresh dolphin
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