Once again, our day began at 5:00 a.m., so that we would have time to eat breakfast and prepare to leave in time to arrive in La Antigua by 6:45 a.m. so that we could catch that 7:00 a.m. bus that was going to Panajachel, but would drop us off right at the road to the school. The morning, like the previous two, was overcast and hazy and, expecting rain again, we had brought our new umbrellas.
As on previous mornings, we began walking towards Ciudad Vieja when buses declined to stop to pick us up, because they were too full. When we got to the intersection of the roads to Alotenango and Dueñas (our cemetery is pie shaped and sits between them), we saw another in the amazing sights involving chicken buses that have occurred on this trip. A chicken bus roared past us and started to slow. A man was holding on to one of the ladders on the back and dragging a bicycle from the roof rack. He continued to climb down with the bicycle and jumped off the bus while it was still moving. He then got on his bicycle and began pedaling rapidly in the other direction as if this was the most normal thing that could happen.
We continued walking towards Ciudad Vieja and soon found ourselves with some other people waiting to ride into La Antigua. Eventually a bus pulled up, some people got off and we got on to what appeared to be a fully occupied bus. I spent most of this ride standing up. When we got to the first stop in La Antigua, we stayed on the bus planning to get off at the second stop. The bus, however, turned to the right and started heading to Guatemala City. We quickly told the ayudante that we needed to get off, so the chicken bus paused for a few seconds so that we could exit. We then walked over to where the bus to Panajachel departs to find that we were still early.
The bus to Panajachel arrived as expected and left on time. There were even some riders who had been on the bus returning to La Antigua who remembered the "La Antigua" sign we had used the day before to get back, since the driver and ayudante were convinced that we wanted to go back to the Molino School, where Child Aid has their warehouse. The trip to school was relaxed and pleasant. To our surprise, about halfway to Chimaltenago, the sky cleared and we were presented with one of the most beautiful days we have experienced since our arrival. Within about an hour we found ourselves walking down the road to the school. After we entered the gate, we went to the library to greet the librarian and to the office to greet the principal. By that time, the grounds keeper had seen us and had gone to the computer room to unlock it for us.
We spent most of our day doing clean-up, both to computer systems and their grimy cases (inside and out), monitors, and keyboards. I removed as much digital junk as possible and placed icons on the desktops for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Paint. Five of the original computers (using the term loosely) are total junk and almost nothing in them is worth saving for future use. Three, one running XP and two running 98, are working quite well. The jury is out on the fourth one and, if I can get installation software for Windows XP and Office, I'll probably do a complete system reinstallation. I'm also going to search for some free typing tutor and math instruction software, which I'll be able to evaluate and possibly install on Thursday.
At the 1o:00 a.m. break (all of Guatemala takes a morning break at 10:00 a.m.), our room was filled with children wanting to find out what we had been doing. Linda got them involved with Microsoft Paint and they seemed to have a good time.
Around 12:30 p.m., Kristen showed up with John, the in-country director for Child Aid. They had been at a staff meeting that morning and had brought us another computer for me to get running. This one, fortunately, is of much younger vintage.
We returned to La Antigua with Kristen and John in John's car. He's been in Guatemala for about five to six years working with various development projects. During the return trip to La Antigua, we explained our reasons for being in Guatemala and our future plans. I was told that the Executive Director (top dog) of Child Aid would be in Guatemala within the next two or three weeks and would be wanting to visit with me about my fund development experience. Supposedly they have a grant writer in Oregon, which seems to be rather far from the action, both here and at their project in Oaxaca, Mexico.
As we drove through Chimaltenango on the Central American Highway, Kristen saw something that brought home to us the hopelessness of poverty in Guatemala. We were driving down the highway and she happened to glance at some buildings on the side of the road that offered certain types of personal services. Standing in front of the building, in "work" clothes, were two 13 year old girls who had been in school that morning in their school uniforms. What kind of world do we live in where children are put into situations like this? Kristen said that she would discuss what she had seen with the principal the next time she was working at the school, but doubted if anything could be done, since one of the girl's parents had most likely dropped them off at their "after school job."
Because we had a "direct flight" back to La Antigua, we found ourselves on the Alameda at 1:30 p.m., so we decided that a "cono helado suave" (soft-serve ice cream cone) at Pollo Campero was in order. While we were enjoying our treat, we planned the rest of our time in La Antigua. We first went to the mercado to buy some t-shirts in case our hand-washed shirts hadn't dried by tomorrow morning. This made it possible to drop off the rest of our laundry at a lavandaria in La Antigua on Wednesday morning.
I'm often asked if we haggle prices in the mercado and the answer is that we don't. They are already so low that we feel guilty trying to make them any lower. Here's a case in point, the t-shirts, which show a picture of a chicken bus and the slogan, "Es una gran aventura" (It's a great adventure) were Q45 ($5.63) each. Now where in the U.S. could I get a comparable souvenir shirt for less than about $15-20? The fruits and vegetables are even more reasonable. These are families trying to support their families and I just happen to come from the richest country in the world (at least it used to be). What I would save would be, to me, a small savings, while, to the vendor, it might be the difference from between a good day and a poor day of sales. I'm probably an idiot, but I sleep well at night.
After we left the mercado, we headed over to the Convent of La Compañia de Jesús (the Jesuits). The Govenment of Spain restored the ruins and has turned it into a study center. It's a delightful oasis with two inner courtyards, a fountain, balconies, and benches. We sat for about an hour studying Spanish and enjoying the peace and quiet, since the building blocks the street noises. Before we fell asleep, we went on a walking tour to find a small bookstore we had stumbled on after church on Sunday. We hadn't stopped then, since we were ready for lunch, but Linda wanted to go back to it. We're not sure we found it, but we did find two small book stores and purchased a children's version (in Spanish) of the Popol Vu, which recounts the Mayan version of creation. I have the compete version in digital form in both Spanish and English, but our Spanish isn't good enough to read that version yet.
Since it was getting close to 4:00 p.m., we returned to our usual bus stop to wait for a chicken bus heading towards Alotenango or Dueñas. We soon boarded a bus and, after getting off at the cemetery, walked the final distance to our apartment where we prepared our supper and video conferenced with Donna and the kids in California and Susan in Texas. The rest of the evening was spent doing research and downloading for my two current computer projects and updating my blog.
