Bad Spanish

I am tired, frustrated and failing miserably at learning Spanish. We landed in Guatemala City four days ago and took a taxi to Antigua. It is a charming, small colonial town about an hour south of the capitol. We arrived late and had a little trouble finding a room for the night as it was Saturday and Antigua is a popular destination for the locals as well as for the tourists. I guess I was a little hyped up about all the tourist warnings and was a little bit agitated upon arrival. Rule #1. Don’t listen to the tourist warnings. Antigua is safe enough for old ladies to walk around the streets in the middle of the night.
We ended up paying too much for our first night here ($38) but we were tired of looking around. We tried 4 other places but they were full. The streets were filled with people and performers. Bands, dancers, people wearing huge puppet costumes, and more. It was loud and exciting. I could hear the festivities throughout most of the night from our hot little room. Maybe it was just because it was attached to a bar. We moved our belongings the next day to another and cheaper hotel. $12. Like the night before, we had to try several places. We ended up in a place with a nice garden, but it was next to the main drag out of town. When big trucks or busses rumbled down the street, the whole room would shake. Actually the room I am sitting in right now is doing the same as we ended up living with a family that lives on the same busy and dusty street. It’s about a 2 minute walk up the very noisy road from our school.