Day Off #1

Tuesday, August 7^th

Boy, did I sleep well last night! I had a huge bed with down pillows and a down comforter all to myself. It was so comfy! Once I dragged myself out of bed, I walked to La Reposteria close to my hotel and got a custard pastry for breakfast. Then, I dropped off ALL of my laundry at a laundry place. It’s nice to have my clothes machine-washed instead of hand-washed for once. Next, I went to the Artisan Market to get souvenirs for people and do a little bit of shopping for myself. I ended up getting a new wallet and purse for myself and some presents for friends. Next, I went to the food market, where I bought some street food. It looked like an empanada, but the woman insisted that it wasn’t. She didn’t say what it was though, so I don’t know. It came with a side of some kind of radish salad. It was delicious and luckily I didn’t get sick from it at all!  

I spent the rest of the day looking at some of the churches, while simultaneously looking for a cheap massage place. Most of the spas were obviously directed towards tourists and marked way up. There was no way that I was going to pay the same amount for a massage here as I would in the States. Luckily, I stumbled upon a job/message board that listed an American expat masseuse who caters to students. It was only 100Q or around $16 for an hour massage. The woman was a nice old lady who took a very spiritual approach to the massage. I really enjoyed it and I intend to go back to her whenever I’m in Antigua again!

For dinner, I headed to a hotel called Zoola. It is run and owned by some Israelis, so I thought it would be nice to have some Middle Eastern food. I got some kind of dish that started with a K. It was meat, tomatoes, onions, and some kind of sauce all in bread that was similar to pita bread. It was interesting….I’m still not sure if I liked it or not. It was good to try something new though. After dinner, I headed back to my hotel and went to sleep early. It has been so nice catching up on sleep here!

 A pretty doorway I found on my walk

 

 

 A view of La Merced