The Sactics - My Second Family in Antigua - Nov2008

After 2 weeks with Probigua and the Ixcamey family, I decided to try out another school and family for my remaining 2 weeks. I had been very happy with my first school and homestay, but I wanted to meet some other people. I first visited several of the schools in the town – there are dozens, and business is so slow right now that one can pick and choose. I decided to check out only those that had been recommended by Lonely Planet or by the other internet reviews (e.g. Travelers Notebook).

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San Jose El Viejo has pleasant ouside nooks for teaching, but could not offer a homestay. I looked also at Christian Spanish Academy, Marroquin, and Ixchel. The latter had friendly staff, nice surroundings and offered a homestay. Furthermore, they offered me a free one hour lesson up front. I took them up on this. This time I had a 24 yr old very attractive and fashionable young woman who was studying to be a school teacher. She had a good sense of humor, and was a good teacher. Only one problem. Rather suggestive clothing, including a plunging cleavage. It may sound silly but it was a bit like trying to talk to someone with a TV on just behind the person. Distracting. I would make notes, look up and there was the cleavage. I pondered about this later, wondering if I could politely request less suggestive attire but my Spanish and dictionary combined weren’t up to the task. I therefore decided to go instead with Antiguena Academy.

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Last Sunday I moved in with my new middle-class family, the Sactics. They have two daughters, one of whom won a scholarship and is studying medicine in Cuba, at no cost to the family. The other daughter Mariela has just finished high school and doesn’t know what to do. Many evenings she has been out competing with her basketball team against other teams. She does lots of chores around the house, including mopping the floors. Samuel the son is 15 and is studying English at school (plus other subjects). His English is much better than my Spanish. Interestingly, his class is also studying US history, and he is quite well versed in US geography. The don’t appear to study European history – maybe later.
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The path leading up to the Sactics' front door. Theirs is about 3 doors down on the right. Tricky opening the lock - the key needs a light pull outward. Everyone seems to know everyone else in the neighborhood. Lots of friendly smiles along the way.

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Early morning view from the front door of the Sáctic´home.
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There are 3 other guests living with the family. Natalie is in her late 30s I think and is from Quebec, Canada. She has an M.A. in International Development, and spent 5 years in Mali and Senegal working for the Canadian equivalent of USAID. She now wants to work or volunteer in Central America. She is fluent in English and French and almost so in Spanish. Jenny is a 25 yr old bright Englishwoman from north England who works for a Formula 1 racing car team. She works very hard during their short season, in countries like China, Japan, and Brazil, and then travels for about 5 months. Like me, she wants to speak Spanish to get to know the locals better. Recently she invited her brother to join her for a tour of Guatemala. Her younger sister and parents heard about this and decided to come too. So she will soon have 4 guests. She is a bit challenged deciding how to handle this mob. She accompanied me on my regular hour-long early morning walk this morning, and we had a great time. We visited a local “Molino” or maize mill, although it doesn’t operate on Saturdays. We also spoke to several of the local women, and got lots of smiles.
The third lady is a 21 yr old student from Switzerland, called Severine. She is planning to travel down through S. America with a friend in a month or so’s time.

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It has been fun getting to know the family and the 3 ladies. One soon learns to fit in. This week I was invited to join the ladies in a night out at a local pub, with live music. It was a lttle loud for me (I had to use earplugs) and I started getting sleepy around 930 pm. They sighed when I excused myself, and kidded me a little. They have now learned to make allowances for the old guy and we are all good friends. They are all three go-ahead women with lots of couraje (courage), and interest in the developing world. Interestingly, none appears to have had any serious problems traveling alone.

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Cesar's brother Huberto lives upstairs wife hs wife Martha. Here he repairs bikes. he is also a capabale carpenter - I saw some of his work. Great views from up there.










Cesar makes silver and gold jewelry for a downtown store, in his small shop next to the dining room. His buffing wheel makes quite a racket and was on during one dinner time, which made it hard to hear what was being said. However, I told them I had had trouble hearing and it hasn’t been a problem since. They have been taking in students for over 20 years. Eva is a cocinera estupenda (a wonderful cook). The food is as good as in many homes in Seattle. I asked her at which university she had studied cooking and she beamed as she replied that she was self taught.

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Breakfast with Natalie (right) and Severine (L).

Lots of fruit, cereals, tortillas, PNB, coffee, milk. Sometimes delicious pancakes. Total cost is $75 -week for the homestay, with private room, shared bath and all meals except Sunday. The best value I have had ever.
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Lunch No 1.

I eat early on my own, at 1130 am.

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Lunch number 2. The patty was of delicious fish, from Atitlan? Severine though it was some kind of local meat - we had a good laugh over this.

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Views of the bathroom and of my room. Simple, but adequate. Not very quiet, but then homes are small here. One soon gets used to it. The water supply has been iffy all week. Not sure why. Some problem in the city.

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This lunch time I was working on a children’s book in Spanish, about the Adventures of Ulysses. Interesting way to improve one’s vocabulary. I read about the mean old Cyclops with one eye.
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I have started to grow a beard. This morning I struggled with my Spanish but was eventually able to explain why. I told them I have an electric shaver, and a charger. But the charger doesn’t work. Cesar asked if I had tried plugging it into the socket. I said that wasn’t the problem. The charger did not fit the shaver. This perplexed everyone. I then explained that when packing in Seattle I had chosen one of my two shavers and one of the two chargers. Unfortunately, the two weren’t of the same make and I had erroneously picked the wrong charger. Aha, said Cesar, so the problem wasn’t with his electric supply, it was with my brain. Everyone cracked up at this. Eva said I could use one of her sharp knives but I said that I would probably cut myself and all the blood would put the ladies off their food. This caused lots of amusement. I added that manual blade razors take weeks to get used to, and we don’t have much hot water (I left out the last comment). Anyway, I am now looking ever stranger by the day.