Friday afternoon we returned to La Piscina (the pool) to hang around and be lazy. Tate, Cora and Steve swam in the pool while Michelle read and studied. Then Tate continued his chess games with Paul-Pierre. Paul-Pierre is a 60 year old French Canadian who lives in a hammock behind the pool. He travels around making leather baby shoes out of various animal hides (mostly I think old leather coats that he gets from thrift stores) and playing chess with kids at the pool. Paul-Pierre is now making Cora a pair of shoes that we will pick up on Sunday. Cora is very excited. When we were talking to Paul Pierre before we left, he asked what I did. I told him I worked with computer systems that told distributed medications. That was a mistake. Apparently Paul-Pierre spent time working in a psychiatric hospital and somewhere along the line they decided he should stop working there and start living there. He told us he had to go to court to prove he was mentally competent. Fortunately for him, and lots of babies that wear leather shoes, he won his freedom and was not committed. We are looking forward to spending more time with Paul-Pierre on Sunday. There is going to be a BBQ at the pool and we are planning on spending the lunch hour there.
After dinner the kids played more Las policias and ladrones (cops and robbers) and then we all turned in early for our mountain hike on Saturday morning.
Saturday
At 7am (on a Saturday!) we left to climb to the top of Nariz del Indio (the Indian nose) with other students from our school. Dolfino, the gardener from the school, was our guide. We started with a 10 minute pickup ride to San Juan. Pickups are a major form of transportation in Central America. For anywhere from 50 cents to a couple of bucks, you can ride standing up in the back of a small pickup that has some cage thing on it so you don’t fall out of the truck. There are often chickens, firewood or other necessities in the truck as well. The major problem for me was that Cora’s head was the same height as one of the support bars and I had visions of her smashing her nose or her teeth during a sudden stop.
We started the climb around 7:30 and reached the top around 10:00. Yes, 2 ½ hours. Straight up most of the time. It was VERY hard. The view was great but Steve doesn’t think it was worth it. I say the sense of accomplishment was the main thing. Surprisingly enough, the kids agree with Steve. Tate and Cora did very well actually on a tough climb, but after this and the volcano last week, they are probably done with mountain climbing for the forseeable future.
After the climb we all walked to the pueblo of Santa Clara. It was market day and this was no tourist market. In fact, they didn’t have any of the touristy things I was looking for. This market was full of live chickens, fried pigs feet, cheap household goods, fruits and vegetables galore, traditional clothing, and lots and lots of people. It was packed. Steve and the kids gave up, bought some sodas and popcorn and sat on the curb for a long time. I wandered around looking for the non-existent souvenirs I had been waiting until this market day to buy. We ended up with just some coconuts (drink the water than eat the fruit-is it a fruit?) and some yummy bread.
When it was time to go our group loaded up in the back of a pickup again and, along with a woman and her live chicken (always with the chickens) that was to be tonight’s dinner, we took off on our 30 minute ride down the mountain back to San Pedro. 30 minutes of standing in the back of a pickup truck with 15 other people, taking switchback turns down a mountain road that is riddled with either potholes or speed bumps. Tate almost dislocated my shoulder twice by slamming into me during sudden stops. The ride was beautiful. We were outside on a beautiful day with spectacular views of the volcanoes, the lake, the other pueblos and clear blue skies. It was one of those-Life is Awesome-moments.
By the time we got back to our home we were all dead tired and completely filthy from all of the dust on the dirt path up the mountain. Steve and I decided a good soak was better than the measly stream from the shower so we convinced the kids to walk for just 5 more minutes to the small beach at the lake. The water was very cold but refreshing. We washed our bodies and our hair, along with about 10 or so other people there for the same reason and then watched all the women who were there to wash their clothes. We found a lot of pumice rocks on the beach and threw them in the water to watch them float back to shore. The kids had never seen pumice before so they were amazed that a rock could float.
After returning home it was time for a siesta. Unfortunately that is just not possible to those of us who are used to a lot of quiet. I laid on the bed and read a book while listening to a choir group practice, a very loud grackle chirp, a saxophone player practice the same song over and over again, someone shoot off fireworks (they also like to do that at four in the morning. They let us sleep in today and didn’t set any off until 6am), a ton of tuc tucs pass by, and the loudspeaker of the ice cream man. It was so comical I had to laugh.
After dinner Steve and I went out for a while by ourselves. The kids were exhausted and Ruben and Tina said they could stay at the house while we went out. The town was pretty quiet for a Saturday night so we got a beer and sat on the docks and then stopped at an outdoor restaurant in a garden and listened to live music while we had some dessert.
Sunday
Tate woke up with a fever this morning. All of the kids in this house were sick last week so I figured it was just a matter of time but was really hoping it would pass us by. He was also having some stomach problems so I started him on a round of antibiotics we had brought with us. We left him in bed while we went to get some breakfast (on Sunday there are no meals at the house). Around noon he was feeling a little better so we ahead and went to the pool for the BBQ and to get Cora’s shoes. We were there about an hour and Tate was wearing out so we headed home, gave him some Tylenol pm and put him back to bed.
In the afternoon we took the kids of the house and Cora (Tate stayed in bed) to a soccer match that my Spanish teacher was playing in. It was in “el campo” which was a climb to the top of the city. Marvin, Evelyn and Ana were excited to go. Unfortunately, my teacher’s team lost. We spent the whole time feeding the kids (choco-bananas 1Q=15 cents, chips 75 centavos=10 cents, water 50 centavos=7 cents, jello bags 1Q=15 cents) I think we spent about $1.25 and the kids were bursting by the time we left.
By the time we got back Tate was feeling better so now I have to finish this note so that we can go get some dinner and check email. I am happy to report that I finished my 113 sentences (!) of homework so when we get back I can take a shower and then relax with a book for the rest of the night.
After dinner the kids played more Las policias and ladrones (cops and robbers) and then we all turned in early for our mountain hike on Saturday morning.
Saturday
At 7am (on a Saturday!) we left to climb to the top of Nariz del Indio (the Indian nose) with other students from our school. Dolfino, the gardener from the school, was our guide. We started with a 10 minute pickup ride to San Juan. Pickups are a major form of transportation in Central America. For anywhere from 50 cents to a couple of bucks, you can ride standing up in the back of a small pickup that has some cage thing on it so you don’t fall out of the truck. There are often chickens, firewood or other necessities in the truck as well. The major problem for me was that Cora’s head was the same height as one of the support bars and I had visions of her smashing her nose or her teeth during a sudden stop.
We started the climb around 7:30 and reached the top around 10:00. Yes, 2 ½ hours. Straight up most of the time. It was VERY hard. The view was great but Steve doesn’t think it was worth it. I say the sense of accomplishment was the main thing. Surprisingly enough, the kids agree with Steve. Tate and Cora did very well actually on a tough climb, but after this and the volcano last week, they are probably done with mountain climbing for the forseeable future.
After the climb we all walked to the pueblo of Santa Clara. It was market day and this was no tourist market. In fact, they didn’t have any of the touristy things I was looking for. This market was full of live chickens, fried pigs feet, cheap household goods, fruits and vegetables galore, traditional clothing, and lots and lots of people. It was packed. Steve and the kids gave up, bought some sodas and popcorn and sat on the curb for a long time. I wandered around looking for the non-existent souvenirs I had been waiting until this market day to buy. We ended up with just some coconuts (drink the water than eat the fruit-is it a fruit?) and some yummy bread.
When it was time to go our group loaded up in the back of a pickup again and, along with a woman and her live chicken (always with the chickens) that was to be tonight’s dinner, we took off on our 30 minute ride down the mountain back to San Pedro. 30 minutes of standing in the back of a pickup truck with 15 other people, taking switchback turns down a mountain road that is riddled with either potholes or speed bumps. Tate almost dislocated my shoulder twice by slamming into me during sudden stops. The ride was beautiful. We were outside on a beautiful day with spectacular views of the volcanoes, the lake, the other pueblos and clear blue skies. It was one of those-Life is Awesome-moments.
By the time we got back to our home we were all dead tired and completely filthy from all of the dust on the dirt path up the mountain. Steve and I decided a good soak was better than the measly stream from the shower so we convinced the kids to walk for just 5 more minutes to the small beach at the lake. The water was very cold but refreshing. We washed our bodies and our hair, along with about 10 or so other people there for the same reason and then watched all the women who were there to wash their clothes. We found a lot of pumice rocks on the beach and threw them in the water to watch them float back to shore. The kids had never seen pumice before so they were amazed that a rock could float.
After returning home it was time for a siesta. Unfortunately that is just not possible to those of us who are used to a lot of quiet. I laid on the bed and read a book while listening to a choir group practice, a very loud grackle chirp, a saxophone player practice the same song over and over again, someone shoot off fireworks (they also like to do that at four in the morning. They let us sleep in today and didn’t set any off until 6am), a ton of tuc tucs pass by, and the loudspeaker of the ice cream man. It was so comical I had to laugh.
After dinner Steve and I went out for a while by ourselves. The kids were exhausted and Ruben and Tina said they could stay at the house while we went out. The town was pretty quiet for a Saturday night so we got a beer and sat on the docks and then stopped at an outdoor restaurant in a garden and listened to live music while we had some dessert.
Sunday
Tate woke up with a fever this morning. All of the kids in this house were sick last week so I figured it was just a matter of time but was really hoping it would pass us by. He was also having some stomach problems so I started him on a round of antibiotics we had brought with us. We left him in bed while we went to get some breakfast (on Sunday there are no meals at the house). Around noon he was feeling a little better so we ahead and went to the pool for the BBQ and to get Cora’s shoes. We were there about an hour and Tate was wearing out so we headed home, gave him some Tylenol pm and put him back to bed.
In the afternoon we took the kids of the house and Cora (Tate stayed in bed) to a soccer match that my Spanish teacher was playing in. It was in “el campo” which was a climb to the top of the city. Marvin, Evelyn and Ana were excited to go. Unfortunately, my teacher’s team lost. We spent the whole time feeding the kids (choco-bananas 1Q=15 cents, chips 75 centavos=10 cents, water 50 centavos=7 cents, jello bags 1Q=15 cents) I think we spent about $1.25 and the kids were bursting by the time we left.
By the time we got back Tate was feeling better so now I have to finish this note so that we can go get some dinner and check email. I am happy to report that I finished my 113 sentences (!) of homework so when we get back I can take a shower and then relax with a book for the rest of the night.
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