Gringo Lingo

One of our Spanish lessons with Olga

After the shock of witnessing an earthquake in Antigua we packed our bags and headed three hours west for an even bigger shock. We're going back to school!!

Since arriving in Spanish speaking Central America we've noticed that we've been at a distinct disadvantage with our inability to speak the 'lingo'. Hacking our way through basic greetings, ordering food and finding accommodation have been fine but everyone, including the Aussies, Americans and even the Brits all appear to speak it really well which leads to all conversation in Spanish, leaving us in the dark.

A couple of strong recommendations were given to us for excellent Spanish schools in the town of Panajachel which just happened to be our next planned destination by the beautiful Lake Atitlan which is ringed by three volcanoes. Panajachel itself is little more than average but our accommodation is both cheap and one of the best so far plus its adjacent to both the school and the stunning lake.

As we'd planned to stay for about a week, we enrolled for five mornings of one to one Spanish with our teacher, Olga, who is really lovely and patient beyond belief as there was a lot of phlegm flying in her direction initially.