On the way I found the Antigua gym...which is a little cheaper than the new gym I stumbled upon yesterday. I smaccked my shoulder into a windowsill on the street. It's crazy challenging to maneuver on these sidewalks with the people, the window ledges, the cobblestone, the ups, the downs, the dead bird (not kidding), perros, occasionally a drunk....
I stopped to get lapiceres on the way home for Jake. he's been stressed because he only had pens....and he was NOT happy he had no way to erase anything. The woman led me to the upstairs of the bodegona which for some reason I had no idea existed. There were school supplies, pinatas, etc. I also noticed on the way home that Fuego volcano is active...and quite honestly, given how active it is, I'm not sure why I didn't notice before today that it was smoking nonstop. During the day, a group of about 30 people showed up at the houses we are at....I'm hoping they are quieter than they seem to be so far. I guess the payback will be at 6am when the Dunsirn family is up and at 'em.
When Tim and I picked the kids up today, they were excited to see the volcano. When you are a kid, it's pretty awesome to have your picture taken with a volcano in the background. The kids swam some more and inhaled the leftovers from dinner last night. I'm making like 10 quesadillas today.
This afternoon the kids and I took a field trip with the Spanish school. We went to San Antonio Agua Calientes to mananas y tardes. It was about a 15 minute drive from Antigua. We were in a large brick room and the woman gave a demonstration of how to weave. She spoke slowly in Spanish so that we had time to understand her. She showed us the weaving that is typical of San Antonio Agua Calientes. The weaving has a design on both sides. The woman do the weaving for 8 hours a day....5 days a week. On their knees. I know this will come as a huge shock, but when they asked me to demonstrate, the first thing I did was break the string. I told them I was chica fuerte! Seriously....it would take me about 15 years to finish one of those pieces. The next thing they did was talk about a traditional wedding. They asked me to translate...which was interesting. I understood most of it, but definitely needed some help. They had me dress in a typical outfit to be the bride, and Ethan dressed in a typical outfit to be the groom. He was ECSTATIC. I think his favorite part was when they dumped flowers on our head..or maybe when they had us dance. They did wave incense around us to get rid of the bad spirits. I told them I needed some and could they please wave it around the rest of the kids. They were happy to oblige. We will see if it works!
After the wedding ceremony and dance we made tortillas. They served the tortillas in sauce with chicken. Yes, we all ate chicken in a one room conrete building...in a village outside Antigua. Fingers crossed we don't get sick. They also gave us some coffee that they picked and processed by hand. Amazing.
Of course, we had the opportunity to purchase products and weavings that they made. The woman who taught me to weave and dressed me as an indigenous woman brought over all sorts of table runners that I NEEDED. It took her one whole month to make...400Q (which is around $50). Didn't I want it? Her best price was 375Q. If I didn't have enough money, I just had to bring it to the school tomorrow and she would collect. Guess who got suckered into a table runner? I did only pay 300Q.
When we got back to the school, Tim was waiting for us. Mayda isn't cooking tonight so we had to fend for ourselves. We walked aways with Ethan's teacher who actually has a small house near the church. She said it was a gift from her aunt. I think his teacher is my favorite of all the kids. She's funny...and a good match for Ethan.
We went into the mercado off of Parque Central so that Lily could look for some shoes. She left with 2 bracelets, 2 rings, and a headband for $10. The girls working the booth were 10 and 5. We bargained down to $10 from $12 and then gave them a $2 tip. The more time I spend here, the worse I am at bargaining. A $1 to me means a lot less than $1 to them.
We ate at sky cafe tonight. We had a view of Fuego....and the fun part is that as soon as it got dark, we could see the flames. Pretty cool. I had an amazing shake made with pineapple, strawberry and water. Lily got the best hot chocolate I've ever had...and Ethan is addicted to the Fanta down here. We walked the 20 minutes home...and watched the volcano most of the way. By the time we got here, you could see lava going down the side. It was awesome. Lily started crying. Apparently when you are 8, an active volcano outside your house is frightening. We kept trying to reassure her that it wasn't going to erupt. Not sure she's convinced.
We skipped the pool tonight. The kids need some sleep....and Jake and Lily both had homework they needed to do. They are insistant that it gets done. Cracks me up.
I'd say it was another successful day!
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