Soon a chicken bus appeared down the road and I waved for it to stop. Jackie informed me that you hold your hand flat and press down to indicate that you want the bus to pick you up. This may be why we've been passed by so many buses during the past two weeks. We'll have to test this theory in the coming week.
The bus stopped and was already packed. There were no seats, so we had to stand and hold on for dear life. We also were directed to move to the back of the bus, which we did. When we finally got to La Antigua, we decided to exit from the back of the bus and discovered that a special step had been installed just for that purpose.
After getting off the bus, we separated from Jackie and began the walk to Socorro School, which is operated by the Bethlehemites, a religious order founded by Saint Hermano Pedro, whose home was just down the street from the school.
I had meant to hire a tuk-tuk for the trip, but Linda thought we needed the exercise.
Along the route, we passed several men making repairs to the cobblestone street.
They were using pick axes and pounding devices that looked like logs with one end carved to make a handle.
We arrived at the school around 9:00 a.m. and were admitted by the housekeeper. We headed to the office to let them know we had arrived and to get them to unlock the computer room. A nun, perhaps the director, led us upstairs to the room and tried the key.
It didn't work. I tried the key. It still didn't work. She then goes to the railing and asks another nun in the courtyard to find the key. At this time, the maintenance man appears, is consulted and hurries off to get his key. This second key works and we enter.
To call the room we were in a computer room is a stretch. It's a dark room, even with the three windows open and the two florescent fixtures lit. The computers are dirty and covered with dust. I go around pressing power buttons and find that most don't seem to work. I then notice that there are large number of UPS devices wired in and begin pressing their power buttons. Soon we begin to see some digital life in the room.
At first, only about seven of the units seem to work and some of them have defective monitors or mice. After changing out components and straightening pins on the connectors used to plug mice in, we begin to make progress. By lunchtime, it appears that we have six units working and I've installed a free anti-virus program and another systems maintenance program I like. Leaving these six units doing a full system scan, we go to lunch.
We had planned to take a tuk-tuk to the mercado for lunch at our favorite comedor, but no tuk-tuk was in sight. Instead, we walked until we found a restaurant and walked it. It was an Italian restaurant and the menu was in Italian, Spanish and English. By Guatemalan standards, it was rather pricey for lunch and all that we had was an Italian salad. It was an excellent Italian salad with a variety of lettuces and greens. The restaurant even offered free WiFi, which was rather slow, but did work.
After lunch, we walked back to the school and continued our attempt to get it functioning. By about 4:00 p.m., it appeared that ten of the twelve computers were working much better and would probably function for their intended use. That became nine when one spontaneously rebooted. It appears that I'll have to give it additional effort. We soon left and once again looked for a tuk-tuk to take us back to Pollo Campero, where we would be having our dinner. Once again, no tuk-tuk appeared, so we walked.
On our way to dinner, we walked by Parque Central and heard a band concert taking place. We stopped for about two songs before our hunger forced us to continue our walk to our dinner.
After enjoying our roasted chicken dinner at Pollo Campero, we headed over to Bodegona to pick up a few things we needed and then headed towards the street where we get the buses heading back to our apartment. This time, we take a bus heading towards Dueña. The driver and ayudante make sure to stop near the entrance to the cemetery and are probably still wondering why we want to get out at the cemetery each time we ride with them.
After a short walk, we're back at our apartment and are ready to relax after an intensive day. There's Internet research and blogging to do, but we're looking forward to the weekend.
