Mady: I am in Antigua. This is a beautiful place. And the big mountain you see in the back is actually a volcano, but it is not active. There are 3 volcanoes and they surround the town.
Jade: The town is like Canada but instead of paved roads with yellow lines like we do in Canada they are kind of different – the pavement has stones on them and they are more twisting. I went into a car and we were driving on the stone roads and the car bounced up and down and I felt dizzy.
Mady: This is me and Jade and my teacher, Lilianne, and we are learning Spanish! It is easier than you think. And we do activities, games and writing that include Spanish. This room is not like classrooms in Nova Scotia. It is a big room with a garden in the middle, with palm trees and banana trees and coffee beans and Mangos and there is no roof over the garden, but the classrooms are open to the garden. And there are desks all over the room and there are different places where other people are also doing their work.
Jade: We have a Spanish school for 5 hours straight. And we only have 2 1/2 hours and then we have recess. Recess is not like in Canada, there are no playgrounds, no fun things to do, no blocks or anything. All we do in recess is go home and have a rest for 30 minutes and then go back to school for 2 more hours. Guess what? On the first day of school we got to have coffee and on the second day of school too. And we are only 7 and 8! We’re having coffee because my Mom said people are selling lots and lots of coffee in Guatemala and that’s why we are having coffee. It’s not like at our school, listen to the difference.
Mady: These are the coffee beans, but they are not ready yet. First you pick them, then you have to wait for them to change a certain colour, and then you peel them and then there is one bean inside and they are green at first, then you roast them for 15 minutes, then you empty them out and then there is a machine that stirs them around and cools them down. Then you crush them up and make coffee!
Jade: We went to markets that sell necklaces, bracelets and rings mostly made out of beads and earrings too. And sometimes they make the earrings and necklaces out of Jade stone, because you can find Jade stone in the mountains if you dig. When I was walking past one shop, it said Jade, then six more shops said Jade. The picture shows me under a sign that says Jade, that is a store with jewellry inside made out of jade. I really wanted to go in there, but my Mom and Dad said we had to move on.
Mady: Here is me and Jade with the 3 guard dogs at our little cabin. The girl that is on the porch her name is Nadia, the boy on his back is Jagger and the one sitting up beside me is Carruso.