We have pushed our wardrobe to the limit so we loaded everything up and toted it into Antigua to the laundry mat. We drop them off and later in the day go back and retrieve our clean and folded laundry. Sarah and Mark would let us use the washer/dryer facilities here but our very early morning hikes for a bus put a crimp in that plan. By the time we have returned home the last thing we want to do is start the laundry in someone else's home. I will have to implement a trick learned when the girls were in Girl Scouts and tie a rope handle onto the laundry bag. It is tough to handle as it is now, that is just a laundry sack. At any rate the job has been completed and we are good to go for the week.
Our trip today started at 9 am so we were able to sleep in a couple of extra hours. There is a public school that has some kind of computer issue Child Aid wanted Don to check out. We met Kristen and walked to the school only to discover that no one has seen or heard from the supposed computer person at the school and that no one has a key to the master lock on the door. That's when we switched to plan B. We grabbed a tuk-tuk and bounced around on the cobble stone all the way back to Kristen's apartment. She wanted Don to check her computer which was running as slow as molasses. The biggest problem so far discovered is the she had Skype running all the time which was hogging computer resources. Don ran a clean up on things that were running but not always needed and when we left the computer was doing much better.
We stopped at the store for some crackers and lunch fixin's for this week. It is easier when we go to Melotto that we eat a nice leisurely lunch at the school instead of hiking out to find lunch. There is not much on the Pan American highway and the traffic is horrific. Thursday should be our last day with Melotto school. They have such great needs that it is difficult to walk away from them. They need enough text books for all of the kids to have a set, the normal collection of school supplies would be great, play ground balls, etc. etc. the list is endless. They need to be adopted and have a group who could offer support and scholarships. They need to develop critical thinking skills as small children so that they can change how Guatemala grows and develops as a country.
Chicken Bus Story For Today.
Today the story is not very spectacular in any real sense. We got on a bus first thing this morning and Don and I were the ONLY passengers!! It was so weird. We started out toward Antigua and picked people up all along the way. We stopped at a service station for the ayudante to take a break and while waiting for him another bus pulled in front of ours. I bet you know what happens next!! The bus that passed us scooped up all the passengers. Our driver was nearly livid before the bus in front filled up and we picked up several more people. We got off at our stop and the driver continued on down the street to collect enough people to make the trip to Guatemala City cost effective. We wondered later in the day if our driver ever got over the bad start to his day.
We had some time on our own this afternoon so we hiked all over the place again. Next time we do this hike the city thing I plan to bring a map and write down landmarks to places we want to return to. We have lost a book store that does book exchanges. We saw it once today on the way to the public school but we did not find it again this afternoon. We sat for a little more than an hour reading Spanish in a library that is maintained by the Spanish government. They have a nice inner courtyard which is well maintained and furnished with chairs and tables and study desks. It was very pleasant out there and fairly quiet. We read till the stillness and comfort of the place began to lull us to sleep. Then we walked! We walked at least two hours---again.
We checked on our laundry at 4 pm and it was not done yet. It seems someone did not show up for work today at the laundry and the one person there found herself falling behind. We went back at 5:30 pm and retrieved our laundry, went to the store and market, caught the bus and returned to our nifty apartment. I have to admit that while the apartment is little it is pleasantly quiet at night and we only hear fire works in the morning. Guatemalans light fireworks for all sorts of feast days or any other special days or occasions. They just love the big bangs I guess.
