Had a little moment with the native woman at the airport. (mental picture)I smiled and she smiled. It was special. The fabrics and colors of their clothes are incredible!
Left Myra at the airport. She went to go get cash from an ATM and Elmer our driver has to drive around because the police get mad if you sit for too long. We came back for her though!
Went to the artesian market and I bought a hand carved flute and made friends with a woman selling bracelets..
Although I didn't buy one, so I'm probably not her friend. But I liked her and gave her some of my m&m mix. We also met maria Jose. She was awesome and friendly and super helpful. ( more mental pictures) We walked a lot.
We took some pictures of murals kids had done talking about what they wanted Guatemala to be. It was cute.
We went central parque-the historic district- and took pictures of the cathedral and the palace. We got some amazing pictures of the sky and the cathedral had a dome, with made me think of "tuppence a bag" and was in my head..which then made me think of England. I want to go there too:)
We went to hotel pan-americano and had Guatemalan food and Hecho a mano tortillas "de Palma a Palma". As our waiter said. I loved his pants! Jorge our taxi driver told us about it. He loves his country and came back after living in Chicago for 5 years.
We tried to get money exchanged, after we FINALLY found a bank, but we waited forever and then some lady cut in front of us, so we left. We tried to find me some bodywash, but it was too smelly.
On the way home, I talked with our cab driver and helped him with some phrases for his American customers. I even write them down for him in his little book. His name was Carlos, and he was young and fun and liked history.
Part of me used to think that we are so lucky as Americans to live where we live and have the things we do, but the people I've met seem pretty resilient and over all pretty happy. I know it's not easy..I served my mission with people who would agree, but it's a definite reminder to me that I have a choice about how I choose to see my world, and how I choose to live in it.
Today I went to the temple and went through a session. It was fun to go and check off another temple on my list. The worker at the front told me to hurry because they were going to put me in on the session starting, but I didn't understand that;) the lady at the clothing rental helped me out. The temple is a lot smaller than most I've been too. It was amazing to me that even in such a small space, the ordinances fit. They could literally be performed in a closet. ( the room was pretty small.. And we sat on benches.. Another first) I talked with a girl and asked her if they had come very far..there was a chicken bus in the parking lot.( mental picture) I'm assuming it was theirs... She said not that far- about 2 hours. Yet, dir me, it dis seem far-especially since the farthest temple away from me was 30. Plus the cost and stuff I knew was a sacrifice. Everything was the same but different, and it took longer than I thought for several reasons. Luckily my friends were distracted by some missionaries and taking pictures so they had something to do while they were waiting for me.
We met Myra's friend at the mall..I'll figure out how to spell it..and went to the museum there. It wasn't a big exhibit, but I learned a little more about the Mayans and really appreciated that the artists were so revered. There body of work definitely shows that. They also used to bury people under their houses. Interesting. I don't know if I could live somewhere with people underneath!
We then went to the mall-miraflores- and ate at one of the two food courts there. I had dobladas- their version of tacos- and they were good. We also found me some body wash and rode the carousel! They had this thing kind of like the teacups at Disneyland on it, so I was all over that! I also rolled down a hill and two little kids laughed at me. It sounded fun, so I did it. I hope I didn't flash anyone in my dress!
We came back, took a bunch of pictures and watched a movie ( the switch) and ordered expensive mediocre desserts and a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. I was hungry, what can I say? I will try and post some pics and see what happens.
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