If you walk that mile in my shoes then you too will feel like you have been pulled through a key hole backwards! The lack of signage in Antigua is a real stinker. We picked up a magazine that has a nifty listing of places to eat, see or visit and we ran across a listing for a book store. Today I had the wild hare idea that we could go check it out during our free afternoon. So after lunch we started out to find it. We walked all around the place but it was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Today the day was a rather warm one so walking just added to the heat. Don and I don't have much sense when it comes to finding a book store or fulfilling a plan. We walked and walked and walked and....well, I think you get the picture. By the time we found the book store I already didn't like the fool place. Viola! we located the store in the middle of the block and went in to see what we could see. It was a disappointment. The store did not live up to it's hype. Someone over bought a bunch of travel books. Somehow I just can't see anyone buying a book on travel to Italy from Guatemala, but I could be wrong.
This morning we left at 9 am for our final trip to the Socorro School where Don wanted to put some of the CD's from several of the books on the computer as Virtual CD's. That way they would be easy to access and not as likely to 'walk' out of the library. The solution to the problem had to be researched which is why we were there today. It was very nice to see the kids from the school come into the library and either read or do research for their homework. Books are not cherished here as they are in the USA. In The USA young children are read to long before they start school. They learn early that books can take them places, make them laugh, and give them information. Guatemalan's have been in a revolution for a very long time and they are very poor so books are not among the first things parents think of to provide for their children. Most of the time the children have to work along side of their parents so that the family can eat and buy the essentials of life.
Tomorrow we plan to have breakfast with the other Ex-Pats and perhaps have another computer to checkout for one of them. After that I want to return here to rest and read. Don wants to 'take and adventure' and pick a bus and travel to one of the near-by cities. My vote is to do that on Saturday.
On Friday we are meeting at Kristin's to put some more memory into her computer. She may also have a couple of other computers from Child Aid that they would like to have optimized. They seem anxious to have these computers cleaned up before we leave Antigua. Friday should be easy enough because Don will have to stay close to the computers which means we will not be walking for more hours than makes any sense.
