Last Day in Antigua

As I sit in the crisp morning air on this veranda with my coffee in hand looking at the volcano, it's definitely sad to think it's my last day here.

I love this outdoor dining table on the veranda. 

Last night was my final Spanish class with Sonia and she was so sweet. First, she gave me my certificate, which had the level Intermedio Alto (High Intermediate), to my surprise. It's a really nice certificate, too, and my first. I plan to hang it up. :)

Certified!

She also gave me a present! It was a traditional ceramic coffee cup and matching soup bowl. I love them! We went to dinner after class and then said goodbye. She was a fun teacher (kind of nuts really) and I do feel like a learned a lot with her, even though they weren't the most structured classes.

Not our best photo but I only got one! 

Today after work I'll make one last trip to the big outdoor market to pick up some things for friends. I'd also like to get myself some new shoes because my sandals broke the other day when I was walking home. (It was funny-- the toe part came disconnected and was flopping free so I had to kind of march home so I wouldn't trip on every cobblestone). They have some really cute leather sandals here that are pretty cheap, so hopefully I can get some of those.

I thought about buying myself a piece of jade jewelry as a birthday present but ultimately, I probably won't. Things here are beautiful but I'm already happy with the little beaded necklaces I've bought. Instead, I'll give Lupita the housekeeper a good tip. She's been a big help to me and she works really hard, always smiling. What's incredible is I read that the average Guatemalan worker makes about the equivalent of $7 a day. I also learned the other day that Lupita walks over an hour to work every day. Did I mention she has 8 kids? Yeah, I don't think I really need a Jade necklace!

Pretty old building 

The taxi is picking me up at 6 in the morning to go to the airport, and then hopefully I'll be in Costa Rica by 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, checking into my basic little private apartment on the second floor with a view of the valley. It will be fun to see Greta and Tausha after so long and to revisit San Rafael, my old stomping ground. There should be some good hiking around there- can't wait.