Antigua. When I told my friends and family that I was headed to Antigua this past weekend, many of them instantly thought I was headed to the tropical island shown on so many shows and movies and probably the most famous, The Bachelor/Bachelorette. So to answer you question, no I did not go to the romantic and tropical island. Instead this weekend, I went to Antigua, Guatemala. Although, it was not the Antigua many people are already aware of, it did not disappoint! Antigua, Guatemala is hands down the coolest, prettiest, historic, and romantic places I have ever visited.
After waking up at 3:30 am on Thursday and about 14 hours in a bus, we had arrived (fashionably late, of course, like all Hondurans do) to our conference. The whole reason for traveling to Antigua was for an educational leadership conference. The director of our school had extended the invitation to attend this leadership conference hosted by ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International). I thought to myself, "hey why not attend this leadership conference, not only could I learn something but I will travel and even better miss school!" I had little expectations (living in Honduras, you learn real quick to not have many expectations). So when we arrived about an 1.5 hours late, I was not surprised. In about the first 5 minutes of sitting in our our first workshop, I concluded a few things. One, we were the youngest people BY FAR. Two, these people were not playing around, this conference was NICE. Three, I was about to learn so much more than I had expected. After 2.5 days of seminars and some amazing food, I was reminded so much of what I want to do with my life. I was reminded in so many ways throughout the conference that I do want to teach and I do want to become the best educator possible. It was a very interesting atmosphere due to the fact that we were the youngest of the teaching world. All the teachers from my school who attended are first year teachers, straight out of college. So we are the youngest set of teachers, teaching this year. At first, I was a little intimidated by the amount of experienced teachers in the room and begin to ask myself if they would even take us seriously. However, the conference taught me a lot and gave me the confidence to become a better educator. Once again, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes...
"There is no COMFORT in your growth zone, but there is no GROWTH in your comfort zone."
After the conference was over we decided to take an extra day and leave on Sunday. Best decision ever made! We got to explore the amazing and beautiful town of Antigua. I am not joking when I said the most beautiful and cool places on this planet. After spending about half a day in Antigua, I have decided that it is the Lawrence, Kansas of Central America. The town is so welcoming, fun, cool, colorful, down-to-earth, and the list can go on and on. Basically, if you have never been there and you are planning on traveling somewhere unique. Go to Antigua. It will be well worth you time and money! After eating some awesome food, meeting some awesome people, playing in the cobble stone streets, and traveling hours upon hours through Guatemala, I have came to a few conclusions.
--You know you are no longer in Honduras when...they you see more Pepsi than Coke.
--when you can drive faster than 60 mph for longer than 20 yards without having to stop/swerve for a pothole.
--Gracias, Lempira, Honduras is the country. I did not realize how country I was living. Antigua is not a big town however, the food options were awesome.
--Central America decorates so early for Christmas AND I LOVE IT! I believe this is because they do not wait for "after Thanksgiving" to decorate.
--Guatemala is beautiful. (DUH!)
--Guatemalans are even more beautiful. They take pride in their culture so much. Their bright colored traditional dresses are an everyday wear. The people are also so much more indigenous than here in Honduras and I love it.
--Guatemala seems to have it a little more put together than Honduras does...or ever will.
--Traveling by bus is exhausting but never a dull moment.
--I have a hidden talent that all my co-workers are now very well aware of and that is BARTERING.
--The reason why some people might think Central America has some work to do is because they sell 40 cent shots of Tequila on Friday nights. (Blame it on that)
--Antigua embraces their love for art. It was awesome seeing all the different types of art work around the city. So much talent and so much work is put into so much whether it is the tiled Stop Signs on every street corner or the hand painted and sewn headbands.
Basically that is what I took away from this mini vacation. I had such an amazing time and learned so much! I am beyond excited to go back someday but in the mean time, I am so thrilled to be back in the small, peaceful (for the most part, minus the barking dogs), and beautiful town of Gracias, Honduras.
Goodnight loves!
xoxo,
Carly Adams
