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Alyece says:
Hola! It's time for another blog. We left you last in Rio Dulce where we lounged river-side for a few days and mingled with the yatchies.




(The restaurant at our dockside hotel)

With the last minute decision to return to Antigua and do a few more Spanish lessons, Erin and I left Rio Dulce last Saturday on what was the most credible/legitimate bus transportation we have experienced yet. The busdriver and other employees were actually distinguishable from the rest of the random people on the bus, there appeared to be a transport code of safety posted at the front of the bus, and they only assigned one person to one seat. We arrived back in Antigua and set up camp at this funky little hotel in town (for $5/night) called "El Chillout" where we have been staying for the past week. And yes, it IS as hilarious as the name suggests. It's run by this rad man still living in his tree-hugging, free-loving hippie days. He sits at the little bar all day smoking weed, encouraging everyone to just "chill out," and playing a mixture of psychedelic music, 80's classics, and Spanish hits (the Spanish numbers are my favourite 'cause him and his buddies break out the moroccas for these).

The best part about this place is our hotel room is nothing short of part of the bar. Open the bedroom door and you are standing at the bar counter (as shown in the picture above, that black door on the right side is ours. Oh and yes, those ARE gaps in the roof). And these guys sure know how to party. They'll have the moroccas going until the wee hours of the morning, which makes a funny situation when you get up to pee in the middle of the night and have to excuse yourself through a crowd of people in your pajamas and are offered 3 beers before you can make it to the bathroom. And I still can't figure out the purpose of their breakfast menu because his cook often doesn't wake up until the PM, and this morning I was the only thing moving at 9 am and was answering their front door of the hotel for them. Pretty comical experience I must say.

Over the past week we've been hanging out a lot with our Guatemalan buddies. On the first night back in Antigua, Jose white-washed the bar counter at Saul's to create a blank canvas for a crazy night of arts and crafts. Things got a little messy, especially when the paint wars progressed from water to oil based paints...

(A beautiful starfish and maple leaf by Alyece, accompanied by a very artisitic heart by Erin)

I've also spent a few afternoons helping Jose with the massive mural he is currently painting for the children at a little elementary school in town. I feel my artistic abilities of 'staying in the lines' were put to good use. It's been an interesting and fun side project for when I'm not busy studying Espanol.

(Jose hard at work) Last Tuesday, the only day Saul closes the restaurant/bar, we had the joint to ourselves and Saul and Jose made a MASSIVE dinner for us - veggies, eggs, beans, stuffed tomatoes, cucumber cheese boats - followed by an excessive amount of chocolate covered bananas, strawberries, grapes, and ice cream.

Again, I out-ate everyone, and of course ended up with food all over my shirt, which offers a reasonable explanation as to why I'm wearing a table cloth in the photo below...

but unfortunately after this night of glorious food, the next morning Erin was so sick she couldn't even make it out of bed... and she is only just recovering now, 5 days later. We had signed up for more Spanish classes, but the pain in her stomach/back and the nausia pretty much kept her bed-ridden and royally out of service. I attended classes solo and we've been laying low. On Thursday we we went to a doctor who was fairly certain her illness is either an intestinal infection.. or even more appetizing.. parasites. Apparently it's not uncommon to catch parasites from fruits like strawberries here. Erin was put on antibiotics for both scenarios and some of her local friends here have attempted to cure her with tree leaves and her new best friend "Pedialyte" (discusting elixir for rehydration). Last night Erin ate her first real meal in 5 days (and kept it down!) when we joined up with some friends from school for dinner. I am happy to report that things are looking up and she is feeling better now. After we celebrate her birthday for our last night here in Antigua, we'll be headed to Lago de Atitlan for some lake fun. That's all for now, we send our love to all of you :)

Erin is wondering if Dr. G can explain this random coincidence to me