Made it to Antigua on Sunday, sans chickenbus (a bit relieved!). There was a huge festival going on, so central park had book and food vendors set up. Tried a cheese tortilla with lettuce, cheese, and sauce on it. Still don't like corn tortillas much--they look so much better to me than they actually taste.
I love bargaining at the market! In truth, you can find the same products every three or four stalls. Beautiful colors everywhere--in the fabrics of purses, table runners, toy animals, hammocks, leather work, paintings--brilliant blues, reds, pinks, oranges, browns every direction you cast your eye. Walk by the stalls, and they yell out, "Adelante! Come in, special price just for you. I give you it for 80 quetzales. No? Seventy-five. Best deal. Special price, just for you..." You quickly learn to smile and say no thanks, unless of course you want it, in which case you go back and forth, feigning dislike until they finally get to the price you want. One particularly persistent vendor, who haggled pretty heavily with one of the group members to sell him a giraffe, came up to me with another giraffe, trying to sell it to me. After refusing his offer several times, I finally said, "Es muy hermosa, pero lo no quiero (It's beautfiul, but I don't want it)." He chuckled and went away.
My favorite purchase of the day were two little lizard/iguana key chains. I was only going to buy one for little Ludwin, but I couldn't pass up the laughter and the deal of buying two at a cheaper price. I asked the vendor (yes, in Spanish!) if iguana eyes were really red in truth as portrayed on the key chain--it looks a little demonic. For some reason he found this a particularly humorous question, so he kept giving me reasons ("Quizas... o quizas... perhaps this or perhaps that") in the midst of his laughter, but my Spanish comprehension broke down after the word perhaps so I'm not sure what his suggestions were. I always find it enjoyable when I can make a random stranger truly laugh (although I usually do it quite by accident).
One of the team members treated me to a cup of coffee since I helped them with their bargaining in the market (delicious! much better than any coffee I make), and then we waited for Lito to show up. I've decided that Lito with a mustache looks very much like a hispanic version of Uncle Buddy (props to you, Uncle B!). Since Lito was coming from his soccer game, he was 30 minutes late, during which time a drunk guy came up and started talking to us. After telling us about 100 times that he spoke English and Spanish, he related how he lived in Oklahoma City for 2 years until he got caught by police without papers. Poor guy. Reminded me of Jose. The men from the group were not too excited about him talking to us, and I was afraid a few times that we were going to have a knock-down, dragout session in the middle of Antigua. Fortunately, it didn't come to blows, and Lito showed up to take us home.
Bible school started today. I'm going to hear "Jesus Loves Me" at least 20 times this week. At least it's the cool version with a beat and hand motions. Good thing I'm past the age where I worry about what people think when get into the song and motions. I have to admit I like it.
I think little Ludwin and I've bonded over his iguana. I showed him the little story I wrote about his iguana on my blog, and he asked me to print it out for him. Evidently, the poor little guy sobbed the night it died. He's been hanging around a lot more lately. He sat with me during prayer time for fifteen minutes, leaning his little head on my shoulder while we watched the candles flicker and listen to the music. So hard to tell what little kids are thinking.
I also helped Lupita finish a volcano today. Rachel helped her make the mold on Saturday, so today we put on a chalk and water mixture to form a hard crust before painting it. We also ran a practice verson of the volcanic explosion so she knew how to do it for her class tomorrow. I think it turned out well! Between Geovany's artistic input and Andrew's eagerness to help us collect twigs, leaves, and grass to glue to the base, it turned out quite nice.
Tomorrow: more Bible school, math with the second and third graders (too bad Bible school doesn't cut into that subject), dinner with the group. I'm trying to remember the last time someone offered to cook every meal of the day for me. I'm not used it, but I'm thankful the group is so inclusive.
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