Antigua, Friday

1349 On terrace at Casa de las Mixtas, just met my Spanish teacher, which went well. Am going to hang on here for another half hour or so then go up Cerro de la Cruz; she says it is safe, there are police along the route (up to 4pm) and she goes there a lot. She also confirmed what the receptionist told me about not being safe to work in las orillas but here is OK.

Incidentally I just got a diet coke and it seems here the diet coke bottles (well, Light) are red. I thought I'd got a full-fat one at first. So maybe I did get a diet one in Travel Menu the other day too. (Maybe it's red in the UK too, but I think it's silver/grey.)

Other things I asked her about or which came up:

- her daughter went up Volcan de Agua the other year with a group of about 20, accompanied by six soldiers (a sort of favour from someone who had connections with the army, I think), but it is indeed not generally safe. I asked about the bandits and they are 'poor bandits', so to speak, robbing the few groups of (probably in large part locals) kids who go up there as a kind of way to survive, not making a lot of money from it.

- the 'police' I had seen on street corners with collecting tins are actually firemen, which is mildly more reassuring

- it is a low-ish season for tourists here, it picks up in December and it gets busy in January

- local school/university "long vacation" starts now-ish or November-ish (this presumably being the analogue for the UK summer vacation in August-ish)

- I should try to copy the other person's use of usted vs tu, there is no harm going in with usted in general

- I should reply to 'que tal' with 'I am good, que tal' - it does require an answer (albeit a standard one), not just repeating the question back

- it's fine to say 'disculpe, senor' or similar after bumping into someone on the street, some people are rude and wouldn't say that but some would

- 'buen dia' is correct but so is 'buenos dias' and the latter is more common, it is very rare to make an equivalent shortening with tardes or noches, so I'll just stick with buenos dias

- she is a keen follower of news and hadn't heard about the incident the guy in The Londoner (I walked past today and finally remembered its precise name) which is reassuring; she said she'd see if she could find anything about it.

My arms are mildly sunburned from yesterday (I was too lazy to put cream on them when I took my fleece off; I had done my head before leaving the hostel) but not too bad. I am wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt today anyway; mixed feelings on whether it's good for comfort, in part because my arms hurt a little bit from e.g. contact with table due to the mild burn.

I might come back here to eat after I come down from CdlC. They shut at six, but if I need to be off the hill by four that's fine. I'd quite like to try eating here and they are shut on the weekend (which is strangely charming) and although I'll almost certainly be back here for a few days or longer later I am leaving on Monday so this is my last chance to eat here this time. I think they're quite cheap and I happened to see some reviews on Google Maps when checking location of the place this morning and the reviews suggested the portions were biggish.

Two people just passed me and said 'have a good meal'; slightly odd as I'm not eating and didn't know them, but whatever.

Feel a bit jittery but I think it's the two coffees and the diet coke.

Woke up before my 0925 alarm; was awake for a while before checking time and I think then it was about 0830 so I woke up fairly early but stayed in bed til my bladder dictated otherwise (one of the downsides of a shared bathroom). So had breakfast at the hostel about 930ish - there was one other group eating there today - before hanging around a bit before coming out to meet my teacher. Was thinking yet again that I need to relax and just take things easy.

1541 Back at Cdlm. Ordered plato mixto, a bit pricey at 50 but OK. Comes with chirmol which wasn't in dictionary but I asked and it's some kind of tomato salsa, but it's on the side so I think that will be OK. I tried to go to CdlC but although I saw the lookout point and the cross from below, I couldn't find the path up - I asked one woman but she told me to go down that way and ask someone else. I got a bit edgy in case I was wandering off the tourist path and might be at risk, so I ditched it. I'll have a poke at the guidebook and/or the web and give it another go tomorrow.

Went for a bit of a walk, taking in more of the centre - I'd been very constrained before, for no really good reason, so not a bad afternoon in a relaxed way. Did go past Mono Loco, it didn't look super inviting but I'll probably go over there anyway 6-630ish and see what it's like. If I just have a few beers there or elsewhere (a bit like last night) and go home 9 or 10ish no big deal.

1753 Been back at hostel a while, we had some modest rain but seems to have stopped now. Dinner was pretty good, 55 for the food and a coffee, I made it 70 which is perhaps OTT but never mind. Plan to go out shortly so will send this now.

Had a shower, as always the suicide shower doesn't seem to do more than take the chill off the water but it's OK, it's not as if the weather is particularly cold. Temperature seems to be hovering round about 20C in general, it's pleasant verging on overly warm when the sun's fully out.