La Antigua

After being separated from the rest of my Wahoos this past week while I worked in San Lucas, it was great to meet up with them again this weekend.  Emi and I rode with some other volunteers in the region to Antigua on Friday and spent the afternoon exploring the city before everyone else arrived from their sites.  Believe what you hear: Antigua is absolutely beautiful, with architecture that could occupy you for days.  I guess that's why it's on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

While the many churches and historic structures were a sight to behold, so was this random carving of "Chino" into the sidewalk.  If this doesn't scream "Kodak Moment," then I don't know what does.

Friday night was our group's big night out.  We went to Mono Loco, a random bar that we had heard some good things about.  Emi and I had noticed it during our walking tour earlier in the afternoon and had remarked on how it reminded us of the Mono Loco back in Charlottesville.

When we walked in, Evan pointed out that there was a Wahoo sign hanging on the wall.  Intrigued and confused, I asked the bartender what the piece of UVA memorabilia was doing there.  He told me that Billy, the owner, was a UVA alum, and then he said that I should go talk to him.  Good thing I did: he bought all of us shots and over half of my drinks were free that night!

As a result of this great fortune, I was hurting pretty bad the next day.  Still, some of us went to hike Volcán Pacaya, a live volcano that most recently erupted in 2010.  Now tourists are no longer permitted to ascend all the way to the summit, but we did reach an area with air vents from the volcano's center where we were able to roast marshmallows.  ¡Qué bueno!

The hike took a lot out of us, and I was still suffering from our previous night out, so Saturday night ended up being pretty chill.  This morning we woke up to explore the ruins of the Convent of the Capuchinas.  It was a nice way to say goodbye to Antigua and also our friends who were heading back to Xela.

After taking a bus to Panajachel, a lancha to Santiago, and a pickup truck to San Lucas, I'm finally home.  What a great weekend!  We ate, we drank, and we were very merry indeed.  Now it's time to buckle down for another week of clinic work before getting to see my friends again next weekend!