Tag Archives: travel photography

Antigua, Guatemala

Susan’s Photo Journal – Antigua Day Two

Antigua – Day Two

I am really enjoying day two in Antigua, Guatemala.

We started our day like every day we will this week, with four hours of one-on-one Spanish language lessons at our school, Tecun Oman.

Ira is working hard at conjugating verbs and pronunciation with Edgar. I am spending my time hammering through the different reasons you use estar and ser (plus lots and lots of vocab) with Catalina.

Antigua, GuatemalaHeading to our “Home” in Antigua

Every day at noon when Spanish lessons end, we walk 15 minutes to our homestay, the home of Doña Maria Lopez.

First, we head to our room to relax for 45 minutes (pushing your brain that hard for four hours of language study is hard!). Ok, I relax for 45 minutes and Ira checks work email.

Antigua, Guatemala

Then, we have an amazing home-cooked meal made by the family cook, Jaunita. As part of our homestay, we receive three meals a day. I can honestly say I have never eaten this well on vacation in my life. Homemade tortillas, soup made from scratch with fresh, organic ingredients, incredible, fresh papaya and pineapple. I wish Jaunita lived in Deerfield and could cook for my family every day too. But then, my children would never move out, so maybe it’s good they are stuck with my culinary skills.

Antigua, Guatemala

Cerro de la Cruz

After our lovely mid-day meal, we head back to our school, Tecun Oman, to go on another free guided tour the school arranges each day.

Today we walked 300 steps up a hill to Cerro de la Cruz, a gorgeous overlook of Antigua with a huge cross.

Sadly, I didn’t shoot too many photos today. The walk was incredible, but I had to keep putting my camera away because it kept raining on and off. Antigua, GuatemalaAntigua, Guatemala

Heading “Home” Again

And then we were off down the hill and through the town to go do our Spanish homework and wait in anticipation for our next amazing meal.Antigua, Guatemala

I am a candid, family and event photographer from Chicago, Illinois. Want to see some of my family photojournalism sessions? Click here, here and here.

Interested in checking out my event photography? Click here, here and here.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Susan’s Photo Journal.

Antigua, Guatemala

Susan’s Photo Journal | Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala Here We Come

Planning a trip to a foreign country using the internet is always a leap of faith. Can I trust the websites? Are the reviews accurate?
After scouring Guatemala365.com, the student review site of Guatemalan Spanish language schools, I booked Ira and I a week at the Spanish immersion school Tecun Uman. We decided to stay with a host family, believing it would give us the most authentic Guatemalan experience and force us to speak more Spanish.

We arrive in Guatemala City

I wasn’t convinced someone would actually be at the airport to get us last night, but lo and behold, the son of the owner of the spanish school, Fernando, was waiting with a sign with our names on it when we came out of the airport.
Fernando was so friendly and easy to talk to. I peppered him with questions about Guatemala while we made the 35 kilometer drive to Antigua.

Antigua, Guatemala

The house we are staying in is lovely. You walk in the front door into what feels like an “inside/outside” home. The kitchen, living space, stairs and bedroom are all around an open courtyard in the middle.
Antigua, Guatemala

Tecun Olam – Spanish School

Ira and I spent nearly four hours with our individual teachers this morning working on conversational Spanish and conjugating verbs. My brain is a bit fried with this new information! The funniest mistake of the day was when I accidentally said “tengo hombre” (I have man) instead of “tengo hambre” (I’m hungry). My teacher Cathy had a good laugh at that mixup.
Antigua, Guatemala

Ira and I at Tecun Olam Spanish school.

Walking Tour of Antigua, Guatemala

Tecun Olam organizes free outings for their students every afternoon. Even though Ira and I didn’t get much sleep last night, we still wanted to go on the guided walking tour of Antigua. Our guide, Christina, humored us with Spanish and English descriptions of the interesting sites.

I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful town. And the people are fascinating. But not being a seasoned street photographer, I felt pretty goofy taking photos of random strangers around Antigua. By the end of our walk, I finally forced myself to start approaching people to say, “Puedo tomar una foto?” (May I take a photo?) Everyone I approached was very gracious. I will try to be less of a fraidy cat tomorrow.

Antigua, GuatemalaAntigua, Guatemala

I am a candid, family and event photographer from Chicago, Illinois. Want to see some of my family sessions? Click here, here and here.

Interested in checking out my event photography? Click here, here and here.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Susan’s Photo Journal.