I just returned to Panajachel after spending a few days in la Antigua Guatemala. Literally “The old Guatemala”, a city that was the capitol prior to 1773. I was there to go to the dentist. Finally getting the last of the work done on a broken tooth I’d had for quite a while. An unwanted, but somewhat necessary expense, as the tooth kept getting infected, and was costing me an arm and a leg in antibiotics.

It rained almost the entire time I was in Antigua, so I didn’t get to walk around as much as I would have liked. I did make it to the market, where I ate lunch, and probably got a parasite. And I made it to the arch and the central square. I didn’t get to hang out in the Square at all, due to the rain, but I did stop by an interesting coffee shop. It’s run by a guy named Tony, he slow roasts the coffee, and I wasn’t really impressed by it. But the chocolate he made was interesting, if a bit “rustic” if you will, with bits of the cacao bean still in it. tasty, but crunchy, and not like a nutty candy bar.

On my second night there, I ran into an interesting old Guatemalan man. We discussed things for a bit, and it occurred to me that he was kind of crazy. He told me about how his father had been a catholic priest, and how he went to “religious school” and after informing me that he worshiped “jesus” he offered to show me his “jesus” idol. I declined. Afterward, he confided that he was a witch doctor, and offered to bless me, I declined again. We talked a little bit more, and now he’s gonna look me up on facebook. Imagine that!

I also met a very nice young man named Jonathan Tiemensma, He lives in Antigua, and is married to a Guatemalan woman, they have a 6 month old daughter. He’s from Holland, and wants to work in the US as a social worker, that’s what his degree is in, and he loves helping people. I hope he finds his way to the US.

After the rain finally let up for a bit on my last morning in Antigua, before catching the shuttle back to Pana, I finally made it to a Guatemalan blacksmith shop, something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while now. I was impressed by the level of work they produced based on the fairly simple tools and techniques they were using. I took a lot of photos, I’ll be adding an album later on, and will post back with a link when I do.

I have to go back to Antigua next week for the final crown to be fitted, maybe I’ll have more adventures then!