On the way through Central Park we saw the From Houses to Homes trucks drive through! I got to say Hi to Teo from last year! Love running into friends.
We hired the cab for 50Q to take us to San Miguel. He corrected my Spanish during the whole drive. EVERYONE in Antigua is a teacher. I love it. Not sure that everyone appreciates it but I love the fact that they are helping me learn their language.
We met with some other people for the tour. We recognized a guy we'd run into at the Artesian's market the other day. He was definitely from the US, definitely had an ego, and looked strung out. Fun.
We walked about 30 minutes up to the Farmers land. He talked to us about how he got involved in the cooperative and how beneficial it's been to his family. The cooperative was able to give him some microloans to help him buy the land. He's been able to produce more each year and is able to send his kids to school. He told us that not only is it beneficial to his family, but it helps the community because during harvest time, they need to hire local workers and they pay more than the local fincas do. They also are able to hire single mothers who can sort the beans while still watching their children. Time and again, we run into organizations down here where the people being helped are not only conscious of the help they are receiving but of the help that Guatemala is receiving. It's a true Pay it Forward mentality.
The strung out guy pulled Scott aside to tell him where he could pick up some narcotics at the Pharmacy. Really? Turns out he's from Janesville. Said he just took off for Guatemala and didn't even tell his family. Has a girlfriend at home, and one in Guat. *winner*. No wonder some people have bad impressions of Americans.
After the tour, the farmer invited us into his home to show us the rest of the process. He has what looks like an exercise bike to run the coffee through. They use a machine to take the husks off. It's one that the cooperative has purchased that they can use. They then sort the beans by grade. We roasted it over a fire and then ground it with a stone roller. It was amazing. We each received a pound of coffee as part of the tour.
Our taxi driver was waiting for us to bring us back. We didn't finish until 12:15, so I'd called Ethan to let him know that it would be a bit before we returned. The driver dropped Scott and Tim off near our house and Shelly and I rode with to get the kids. We picked them up and headed home. The school is great. The teacher popped her head out to make sure that it was me they were getting into the cab with. I highly recommend PLFM if you ever are able to make it down here.
The kids said they went down to Parque Central for some sort of festival this morning. Jake said his teacher wouldn't let him go. I suspect that Jake had a teacher who was more interested in pushing Jake to learn more...which didn't necessarily go over well with Jake. It's hard when you are 11 to see the value in someone pushing you.
Scott, Shelly and I walked to pick the kids up at 3:30. They are supposed to be on break from 3:00-3:30, but they had class straight through since they were being picked up an hour early. They decided to do the ChocoMuseo again with Scott an Shelly. I did some shopping at the Mercado while they started the tour. I picked up some more cocoa tea (amazing). Tim met me at the market and we walked to get the kids. They were having a blast. They are lucky to have such an involved aunt and uncle.
For dinner we were going to go to Cafe Sky but it was looking overcast so we headed to Fonda Calle Real. Shelly wanted traditional and that's what had been recommended. When we walked in, Tim and I recognized it as the restaurant we'd been at in 2006 when we were in Antigua. Crazy. At that time the menu was only in Spanish. Now it's in English as well. Ethan got an amazing dish of fish. I got some nachos. Lily has been complaining about her stomach so she just got breadsticks. Jake and Grace both got chicken. The lights went out while we were eating. It's TOUGH to eat in the dark. Jake took a bite and then said 'oh...that is a weird texture. I'm not eating more until the lights are back on'. Can't blame the kid. :) Lily's stomach was cramping up so Jake, Ethan, Lily and I left to find a tuk tuk to go home. We were almost home by the time we finally found one, but we rode in one from the Bodegona to home. Amazingly enough when we got home and she had one of her chocolate, and hopped in the pool, she was all better. Go figure.
We ended the night by watching the movie 42. Scott and Shelly are heading out at 4:30 am. We aren't ready to see them go.
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