Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Another weekend en la playa.... :)

So Aneta came to Antigua last WED night and after she had locked herself out of her room Seb and I gave her a little sight-seeing tour of this beautiful city and then ended up in CAFE NO SE..... very fun evening and they had great Chocolate Chip Cookies there.... :)

then on THU Mariah, another CS friend, came to Antigua as well and she also moved into Victor´s place..... good for him that I´m getting him all those people here... should really ask him for a comission some time..... ;)

we went to Toreros that night and Aneta really enjoyed the Salsa and dancing there.... I did too .... :) (even though Selvin and I only got 2nd place in that little competition there) was a good evening with a fun After-Party at Adrian´s (Seb´s cousin) house.....just too bad the pool was soooo cold.....but Robert cooked some great pasta for us.....always good to know a chef... ;)

after hardly any sleep that night / morning we left Antigua on FRI midday to drive to MOTERRICO otra vez.... Aneta, Mariah, Seb, his cousins Adrian and Roberto y yo..... yaiiii.....back to la playa..... finally.... been missing the beach and pool a bit....
just too bad that the weather wasn´t so great this time..... a lot of rain.... :(
oh well, was still really nice there.....
swimming in the rain is fun too....!! and I got to drive Sebastian´s 4 x 4 Jeep over the dirtroads to parque / playa Hawaii where he had to work on this Seaturtle and research project.... and then back to Antigua on SUN as well.... really cool car to drive and it was actually lotsa fun..... and my first time driving in Guatemala and since I left Seattle in July.... yeah, I can still do it....!! :)

nice dinner in Rainbow Cafe on SUN night when we got back to Antigua and then CASBAH afterwards..... not mucho Salsa, but it was bastante bien.... and Aneta had a good time there too.....
CAFE FLOR ayer y hoy and then I have a few more days to enjoy Antigua before I´ll be on my way to CANCUN on SUNDAY....!!

For real...?? SSSIIIII...!!! Ahora si.....seguramente...!!! till I come back here.... ;)
xxxxxx hasta luego...

posted by Astrid @ 5:01 PM 0 comments

Friday, September 23, 2005

Puerto de San Jose..... y Volcano del Fuego....


posted by Astrid @ 8:46 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Guatemala´s Independence Day... or - the half-time of my travels....

So, the Guatemalan Independence Day last THU, 15th SEPT. marked the half-time of my 5 months trip.... 2 and 1/2 months ago I left Germany - and 2 and 1/2 more to go till I get back.... WOW - time is still flying by....as always...

and there are soooooooooooooooo many things I still wanna do, so many places I still wanna go to and see..... but at the same time I`m also still having a great time in Guatemala and really enjoying my life here in Antigua at the moment....

Also, this week - actually tonight - Aneta is supposed to come to Guate and meet me here in Antigua..... so we´ll probably stay here together for another few days, then go to Flores and Tikal before I finally, finally, finally make it to Mexico.... yeah yeah, I know - I´ve been saying that soooooo many times before..... But I am gonna get there....!! DEFINITIVAMENTE..!!

Anyway, Independence Day last week was lotsa fun....muchas fiestas, musica, dancing, steelband parades and competitions (desfiles), speeches y banderas de Guatemala como decoraciones everywhere..... super-nice...!!

went dancing in the capital on WED night at PAPARAZZI and LA CLAVE con Victor and some Dutch girls...was really good, at least at LA CLAVE and I also met some of my Salsa friends from Guate city there....
and then on THU fiestas y desfiles en Antigua.... y mas Salsa @ Toreros por la noche.... :)

On FRI is was Miguel´s Birthday.... one of my favorite dancers here in ANtigua and he had a really good Afterparty at his house / dance-studio after SIN VENTURA.... finally an Afterparty with some good music and dancing.... and not only drinking.....

then on SUN it was Marta Julia`s birthday.... yeah, all those birthdays en Septiembre.... well, it really was on Monday (yesterday) - same day as Camilla and Chenai - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you chicas as well...!!!
But she (Marta) had invited me to a birthday lunch with her family on SUN.....was really nice to meet all her siblings, kids and grandchildren....supre-lovely people, lotsa great Guatemalan food and drinks and a cake that was even bigger than my birthday cake...!! great afternoon....

Afterwards I played basketball with Rene, a friend from El Salvador, for a while and then went to CASBAH por la noche.....
good music until about 11.30pm, then a bit too much electronica and dance.... but still bastante bien....

yesterday I worked in CAFE FLOR and was hanging out with Seb, Alejandro y Alejandra and some other people at CAFE NO SE despues.... very nice and relaxing night - sin Salsa.... ; )

and another great week in Antigua went by super-quick....!!!

posted by Astrid @ 5:27 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 15, 2005

pics of Guatemala.... that my German student Manuel sent to me.... gracias...


Ruinas del Carmen

Paisaje Jocotan, Panorama de Chiquimula


Bosque Chicabal, Laguna Guija

posted by Astrid @ 8:35 PM 0 comments

Monday, September 12, 2005

A bit sad....but still fun here....

Another week in Antigua.... was all great until SAT morning when Sonja had to leave to go back to Germany.... :( not nice.... we had soooooooo much fun here together over the last 6 weeks - damn, I´ve really been here that long already..!!
we always went out together and did lotsa other fun stuff..... so it was really sad and even cost some tears when she had to leave on SAT....

MON we still had a really nice evening in RAINBOW CAFE....the place with the best Moccha in Antigua..... TUE - otra noche muy alegre en SIN VENTURA..... WED just hanging out after the 0 - 0 GUATEMALA - USA football game....
THU we had dinner and went dancing at LA CLAVE in the capital....super fun...!!

FRI - we had a Goodbye cake for Sonja with Carlos and Selvin and everyone else at their salsa academy.... and then one more last Salsa night for her in SIN VENTURA.... we ended up at a very fun after-party in CAFESITO until the policia got there at about 2.30am to finish it.... hhmmm.....once again..... those after-parties..... ;)

SAT morning after I had one more last breakfast with Sonja at Marta´s house I had a lesson with my 2 German students from the capital from 9.00 - 11.00am.... they´re doing really well and learning and improving mucho.....really fun to work with them....

then I went up to CERRO de la CRUZ once again with Greg - nice guy from Boston who came to eat in CAFE FLOR the night before.... he works in a hospital in San Juan de Sac., but was in Antigua for the weekend.... then we walked around Antigua for a bit and had a nice lunch in CAFE FERNANDO..... yeah Sonja, I finally made it there..... nice place by the way....

was working in CAFE FLOR during the evening and ended up in SIN VENTURA afterwards with Ines, Jose, Fernando, Hugo, Carolina, Carlos, Selvin, Alvaro and lotsa other nice people....

on SUN we never really made it to the beach, but were just relaxing and hanging out in Antigua.... was fun too.... lotsa decorations and banderas are being put up for the Independence Day here on THU already....

went to JARDIN BAVARIA - yes, a German beergarden / restaurant here in Antigua !! - for lunch..... then I looked at some photo exhibitions in the Spanish Embassy and Cultural Centre here and later met Ines and her baby and Hilda later in Parque Central..... really nice weather and pretty hot all day long....

later I took a little nap from 7.30 till almost 10.00pm when Sabine and Stefanie came over to my house to pick me up for KASBAH.... Ojala (Thank God) they woke me up...!!! Otherwise I would have missed a really fun night with good music and many nice people there....

posted by Astrid @ 5:26 PM 0 comments

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Sonja y yo en ANTIGUA


posted by Astrid @ 5:21 PM 0 comments

Monday, September 05, 2005

My birthday weekend in Guatemala....



was super- great and fun...!!! with lots of nice people here.... parties, dancing, etc. etc.

had a very nice Italian dinner with Jose - my boss at CAFE FLOR here - on FRI night....then went dancing with Sonja, Alberto and some other friends at SIN VENTURA afterwards....really good night.....

on SAT - my birthday - Martha had invited me to have lunch at her house and she had even got me a little birthday-present....a really nice top.....how sweet....

Sonja had bought a huge caramel cake for my birthday that said FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS ASTRID...!! aaahhhh - she´s just the best.....really gonna miss her when she´s going back to Germany on SAT... :( we had so much fun here together.... oh well, 5 more days....

After lunch and cake we - Sonja and I - were just hanging out in Antigua in the afternoon. met lots of our Guatemalan friends and some other people and finally arranged to go to some party at EL JARDIN in ESCUINTLA (another city, about 40mins drive from Antigua, on the way from here to the beach) with Miguel, Hugo, Nina. Fernando, Susanna, Carlos, Mario, etc. etc. that night.....

the place was alright, just way to many people there and hot, hot, hot.... music was mixed, but not much space to dance anyway.... oh well....it was "una noche muy alegre" as Miguel said and we had a good time there ..... really funny though, how everyone seemed to do whatever Sonia and I wanted to do....they almost chaged their whole plan just because of us in the end.... even though they really didn´t have to.... so we got back to Antigua super-tired some time around 3.00am after a really fnu night....

on SUN I worked the lunch and dinner shift in CAFE FLOR, which was pretty fun, and I had enough time in my 3-hours break during the 2 shifts to go to the fiesta and steel band competition that was going on at the PARQUE CENTRAL here yesterday.... huge party in the streets and the park....really fun as well....

Later that night Sonia, Hugo, Carlos, Fernando, Susanna and Miriam all came to have dinner at CAFE FLOR and then we went to KASBAH after I finished..... another bar / club in ANTIGUA that I had never been to before..... but it was actually pretty good, we had a really nice time there and they even played some salsa..... and Miguel and Alberto were there too with some other friends, so I had some people to dance with as well.... :)

so yes - super-great Birthday weekend in Guatemala...!! I´m glad I spent here with some good friends and nice people and I´m just gonna celebrate again once I finally get to Cancun....!!

Also - thanks muchas to everyone for your lovely emails and birthday greetings....!!! soooooo good to know that you´re all out there thinking of me..... love you mucho....xxxxxxx

and yes - I´m still having a really nice time here in ANTIGUA..... but, as above, I know it´s not gonna be as much fun anymore when Sonja leaves on SAT to go back to Germany..... and I also know that the longer I stay here, the harder it´ll be to say Goodbye to everyone here again.... so sometime within the next 2 weeks I´ll definitely be on my way to Mexico.... and then I can always stop in GUATE and ANTIGUA again on my way back and down South to Costa Rica....

so that´s it for today.... hugs and kisses from Guatemala....xxxx

posted by Astrid @ 6:18 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 01, 2005

"Floating cars" and pashtes on the way to MONTERRICO...!!


posted by Astrid @ 5:35 PM 0 comments