THE FIRST WEEKEND IN ANTIGUA....I LIKE IT, I REALLY LIKE IT

It's Sunday, and the first weekend in Antigua, Guatemala is drawing to a close. Gotta say, this town is cool. I brought a friend from home, Michelle, to help with the settling in process. I also don't deal with stress well alone,  so I figured a comforting presence would be helpful.

Michelle...a tad overserved

First, traveling with a dog to Guatemala is super easy. The process before hand is exhausting but actually doing it? Piece of cake. The folks a United PetSafe made it super easy from Houston, which is good because the Cubs had won the World Series in 10 innings the night before, so I was somewhat the worse for wear. In Guatemala, you basically get a pet concierge. She led us through the entire process, and we were through customs in 15 minutes and on the road.

Thursday was mostly spent unpacking and getting settled in. Friday found us at Cafe No Se, which is my favorite bar down here, chatting and shooting mescal with the ever hilariously lovely Jacki behind the bar.

Saturday came and we decided to go to breakfast and check out Caoba Farms, which is just a short walk down the street from my house. This place is great, and I'm pretty sure I'll be spending alot of time there. They are open every day, but on Saturdays there is live music all day, food and drink, whatnot. Bluegrass band was playing when we got there, and we decided to grab some breakfast. Actually, I've met the banjo guy before when his band played at NoSe when I was down here last. He'd been to Mobile, and was saying that he never imagined he could make a living playing the banjo in Guatemala, but here he is. So that's cool. Anyway, breakfast was amazing, the "Typical Farm" was black beans, chicken sausage,

sourdough toast, fruits, potatoes, homemade jellies. The cool thing is that your breakfast is literally made right in front of you. In addition to breakfast, there are folks selling their wares like at any farmer's market. There's also a permanent indoor market where you can get organic olive oils, balsamics, fruits and veggies and whatnot. They also make their own yogurt and hummus there. The yogurt is the USD equaivalent of $1.20 for a regular sized cup. and the hummus tub is about $3.00. Suck it, America.

Finally, and most delightfully, lest you think things are different here in Guatemala, right there at Caoba Farms, I enjoyed Breakfast With The Barn, a tradition like no other (Auburn football stuck in the morning game again, for those of you who aren't on Twitter). There is supposedly a shuttle that runs from Caoba to Parque Central every hour on the hour, but someone arrived by tuk tuk, so we grabbed that back to town to do a little shopping.

Up on the main avenue in town, Alameda de la Santa Lucia (it looks alot like Canal St., if you've been to New Orleans, is the Central Market. (which is alot like the
French Market in NOLA, before Katrina and huger, much huger...cheap knockoff stuff, amazing produce, and a good bit of handmade stuff). I picked up some produce, Michelle found some souvenirs for some folks back home and I found the most amazing thing for one of my besties. He and his wife are having a baby, and man I hope it's a boy or a lesbian because just look at this thing. Hand made Infant.Sized. Pancho. GTFO.

So anyway, after some needed rest...*aside* I have flat feet, so walking really isn't a thing that I can physically do as much as I want. Like, I was in corrective shoes as a child. Yes, I was that kid. Those shoes didn't correct shit, by the way. The dogs still bark all the time... we ventured back out to watch the main event: The Crimson Tide and a team that like to talk about beating the Tide, but also a team that Bama has now beaten six times in a row. #RTOTA We posted up at Monoloco, the gringoest of the local bars, but they have about 10 flat screens showing all the games, so it was an easy choice. We'll likely head back there this afternoon to watch the Saints. I met the owner, Billy, a UVA guy...(poor thing), and it turns out he's my neighbor.

So I guess that's it. I'll wait for Michelle to wake up and we're heading to Cafe Condesa for brunch before the game because it's Sunday and that's what white people do on Sunday. WhoDat.

Oh, please remember and never forget that The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016 and the St. Louis Cardinals did not. More later, skaters.