Finally found a bit of time to take some pics around The Fancy New Place. Not too many interior shots as I don't feel I need all of the Internet peeking into my bedroom! :)
For moving day, we decided to just walk our stuff the roughly 1 km from NJP's place to our new place. So Bert loaded up the wheelbarrow, and I loaded up myself with backpacks and bags, and we hoofed it down the road. We must have made quite a sight...especially when we did it five more times! Just to save a few Q. Silly us. :)
Bert moving our stuff in a wheelbarrow, Guatemala style!
Tuckered out after moving. The quetzales we saved not renting a truck or using tuk-tuks was spent on food and drinks for our tired selves.
View from the couch in the Fancy New Place.
Willow enjoying sitting on a real couch for the first time in eight months.
Calvin loves the grassy lawn!!
Our landlady's dog, Charlotte. Such a sweetie!
Bert trying to relax on the couch while Gimpy tries to distract him. Ha!
I walked around the house today and took a few pictures to kinda give everyone an idea of how much of an upgrade the place is compared to the little casita we were living in. You can see why we call it the Fancy New Place!
And to my readers in Pana, maybe you recognize the place? It's on the river road in Jucanya two doors down from Tienda del Paraiso (Store of Paradise!) by the yellow bridge.
Our place! The kitchen is on the left, the living room on the right, the two bedrooms and bathroom are in the back.
(Did you notice Calvin at first glance?)
The garden, so lovely.
The sauna. Gonna try it out and do a blog post on it someday!
Tomatoes in the yard. Almost ready to eat...but definitely need to be WASHED before eating because of the rampant indiscriminate doggie peeing that goes on. :D
My favorite flower grows in our garden! It is called Sky Vine.
Loads of geraniums. The smell of them reminds me of botany class.
A lovely climbing flower on the back wall.
I love the little red and green ground plant, plus the succulents in the pots on our porch.
Neat bent wood chair from which to contemplate the garden. :)
Odd-looking painting on the porch wall. The more you look at it, the weirder it becomes.
Still better than I could do though!
I like this one, right by our front door.
The sign on the house. Literally translated it says: House of Mr. Fair. Hee hee!
Hope you're having a wonderful Star Wars Day! May the Force be with you all. :)
Yes, we moved into the new house over a week ago. No, we're not unpacked yet! Yes, I'll get a blog post up about it as soon as the place is clean and presentable. :)
And now for a Spanish break!
I will say it again, and louder:
LEARN SPANISH before you come here. Learn as much as you can! I believe it is the single most helpful thing to adjusting more easily to a life in a foreign country.
This morning, I'm practicing my Spanish vowels. I've figured out why Guatemaltecos often repeat back what I've said with a confused expression. There is a very subtle difference in the sounds of "a" and "e".
The other day at lunch, Arturo and I were talking about mangoes. He said the word back to me, "Man- go". I said, "Mang-goh". He said, "MAHn-go." Like, "watch the man go to the store." I'm sure he understood what I was saying but it was helpful to get a correction in the moment so I could practice and hear it back correctly.
Then I noticed how I say "Pana" and I'm doing that wrong too! I say "Pan-ah." But it's "Pah-nah". The "a" sound in Spanish is always the same, very much like "AH", open mouth.
Now try saying "Semana Santa". HA HA! You know how we Canadians say Santa, like Santa Claus? Not so here in Guate! :) It's "SAHN-tah". "Seh-mah-nah Sahn-tah." (I'll get it right by next year when it comes around again!)
Next, I'm gonna work on the "e" sound. It's not "eeee" or "ay" but "eh". As a Canadian, you'd like I know how to pronounce "eh", eh? But we say "ay", with an extra "y" on the end. The "e" sound in Spanish is more like the "e" in "egg". So San Pedro, the town across the lake, is pronounced "Sahn Peh-droh", not "San Pay-droh."
For a video from one my favourite Mexican Spanish teachers, try this short one. She repeats herself a bit but she's very good at enunciating!
Jucanya (who-can-YAH) is the name of the town that is across the river from Panajachel. You can get there by simply walking over the yellow bridge (Friendship Bridge or Puente de la Amistad) from Pana towards Santa Catarina. When I first arrived here, I didn't realize Jucanya has its own name. I thought it was all Panajachel, both sides of the bridge!
NJP's place is in Jucanya, the north part, so I've taken a few pics to show you what it's like. The fancy new place we're moving into on Sunday is also in Jucanya, but more south, so you'll be seeing more pictures of the area over the next while. :)
Doggies doggies everywhere.
Looking up the river road in Jucanya.
Looking down the river road in Jucanya, towards the yellow bridge and the lake.
The volcanoes are usually visible but it was hazy and cloudy.
A tuk-tuk driver told me the word is bruma.
Firewood vendor, plus they sell tortillas and other snacks at night.
If you're thinking that everything looks grey and dusty, that's cuz it is! We're at the tail end of dry season so everything is dessicated. (Word of the day!) It was also freaking HOT the day I took these pictures.
Old trucks in a mechanic's yard.
Colourful little tienda.
Remains of an old bridge that got washed away.
Bit bent but still readable.
River between Pana and Jucanya. The preceding photos were taken as I walked down the road on the right side of this picture.
Do you remember Flaca? She is still here, still skinny, and still so cute!
Speaking of skinny, I'm not going to be skinny if NJP keeps making yummy lunches like this!
This isn't Jucanya, but Pana, on the main road.
A clever cotton candy salesman was peddling his wares outside a school during recess. :D
I wish I could take a picture of the night times here. There are fireflies dancing in the trees every night. It's beautiful. One even landed on my arm.
