Hey so i arrived in Guatemala after a delayed flight as there was no pilot haha, they called in a guy on his day off who was just leaving for a day of golf. its so much hotter than in south america, in about 3 hours of 1 afternoon i managed to get more of a tan than in 18 days in south america. im nicely browning now! its great. i look healthy for a change and im eating sooooo healthy. typical guatemalan cuisine. chicken and rice. white fish and courgette and cucumber, today was watermelon, banana, melon and pineapple with yoghurt and granola for breakfast and lunch was chicken with spinach, onions, pepper and a liquidised watermelon to drink. so much water. im on a real detox. dinner last night was potatos, corn on the cob and runner beans. no meat. so yea detox but im feelling so much better already. need to learn how to cook it. the woman who runs the house is called Estela and she is lovely. typical guatemalan housewife. speaks no english so i have to talk spanish. my room is good. when i arrived in antigua on saturday, i got fed by estela, but i was the only person in the house until sunday and she left at 3 so i got a bag together and wandered round looking for a hostel to stay in. i remembered one other people ive met previous had said about and i kept walking by it but in the end after asking about 8 people, i finially found someone who was staying there so she walked with me. I got a bed for the night in a 6 bed dorm, 4 guys and me. 1 guy was from israel, 1 guatemala city, 1 belguim and he works in the hostel bar and the other guy i didnt meet. but sitting in the bar i met a load of people, had good food and kipped there for the night. sunday was a big celebration of Semana Santa. its holy week in Guatemala and Antigua is the heart of the celebrations. i cant even describe what its like. ive never ever seen such a procession. literally processions through all the streets, the locals make carpets of coloured wood shaving and plants and then the parade walks over it with their monuments of jesus and mary. people line the sides and walk alongside. you have to look when i put my photos up. that wasnt even the big day. friday sat and sun is the biggies. its packed here. anyway i forgot where i lived on sunday afternoon and trawled the streets for hours, trying keys in doors and getting locals to phone the number i had. no answer so i had to call the emergency number on the door of the school to ask where i lived. so panicky but i found it! went back out in the evening and ate at the street markets.

monday was my first spanish lesson. my teacher is called glendy and she is guatemalan and lovely. so much information. going through regular and irregular verbs. the people in the school are ridiculously friendly, they have so many pupils yet they make the effort to learn your name and make u feel so welcome. i get high fives and handshakes from the staff and its all smiles. i got a doll with my name on and a card when i got to the airport and its so nice. there are 2 guys staying in the guesthouse now. both really nice guys. one american and one guatemalan. he is learning english. Ive been hanging out with the american guy today, hes pretty cool. been to the market this afternoon and got some supplies. Later im going back for dinner and then off out for the night. its ladies night at a bar/restaurant called monoloco so im going there with a few people ive met. Im meeting a girl called Kerry who i met on saturday and spent sunday with too so will be good to catch up. So good at the moment.

hope everyone is good.