I suppose by now you have noticed that we are not doing daily blogs. There is a reason for that -- we are living in Xela and not doing much exploring outside of the city. We figured that you all know that we get up fairly early in the morning and that Don cooks breakfast -- that is standard. We fix beds, sweep floors, and wash dishes as part of our daily routine. Actually, one of the young ladies made what we called in Girl Scouts - a Kaper Chart - so that in the common areas we rotate through the chores (scrubbing the toilet is not high on their list of things they like to do
The work Don is doing right now -- grant writing-- he can do from our own space. That means we have less interaction with the Chicken Bus! Okay, here is another chicken bus story. Here in Xela instead of the tuc-tuc they use 15 passenger vans as well as the school buses. They can over stuff the buses but it does not happen as often as it does in Antigua. Now that is not the same as the 15 passenger vans which they do stuff to over full so that 2 or maybe 3 people have their backsides hanging out of the open side panel door! Don and I do not get on a bus if we cannot get a seat! Now our biggest problem is getting on a bus from Parque Calverio which is close to us and THEN finding one that will bring us back to the same location!!! Most days we head out around 11 or 11:30 am to get lunch - our big meal for the day-- and our return usually happens at the same time that school lets out near the big mall. Then we have to compete with high school age kids for space on the buses. One day we got on a 15 passenger van and the two seats available were at opposite ends of the van. After the first stop a very old Mayan gentleman got Don's attention to let him know that he could join me in the middle of the van because I had moved up so that we could sit together. Being at the back of the bus was fun when I was a kid going to school but here you can miss your stop if you can't get to the front of the bus fast enough.
We are enjoying the days of beautiful, cool weather in the common area of our guest house. It works out that we all manage to be gone for a time during the day so each of us has quiet time at home. Our roommates introduce us to their friends when they come up as the 'young folks' living at the guest house. Don does his writing and research and I play on the computer and read books on the computer. We are both feeling well and that is wonderful. Each day we get in a good long walk which is plenty of exercise because Xela is not flat. It is surrounded by mountains and volcanos and the city has plenty of ups and downs but terrible sidewalks.
