A Very Nice Weekend

Hi All!

It's been a great weekend (the Packers could have played better but can't complain too much about a win!) and hard to believe it's almost Monday again. Friday was "Dia de los Ninos" or Day of the Children, so I spent my morning playing games with the kids at our school. Myself and the other female Americans (there are a handful of Americans working for my organization, the other 50 or so employees are Guatemalan) dug a mud pit in the school yard and had the kids playing tug of war on either side of it. A fun and messy game enjoyed by the boys especially, and after the games all the kids in the school got to smash five HUGE (people-sized!) candy-filled pinatas.

Friday evening, Ben and I went out for soup and sandwiches with a new friend, John, an expat who is living out his retirement here in the Antigua area and doing some non-profit work. I'm going to be starting some grants research (on top of my regular job) for an organization he supports called The MESSAGE Program, which collects medical and fire fighting supplies from central Minnesoa, ships them to Central America, and distributes them to local hospitals, clinics, and fire stations. Later we grabbed drinks at Ocelot, a jazz bar where a colleague of mine, Ron, plays sax on Friday nights. There's a chance they'll spring for a piano soon and Ben will see if he can't get in there too.

Saturday morning, we woke up and went to eat at our favorite breakfast spot, "Colonial Cafe." We had locally-grown coffee, pancakes with a side of fruit, and spicy eggs with bread, fresh cheese and cream, black beans, and fried plantains. Yum! Then we visited a great bookstore and yet another cafe (this one makes and sells chocolate). We bought a box of dark chocolate-covered marzipan and found some great wall decor too.

Wisconsin!

After our relaxing morning, we ran errands. I took some pictures of our trip to the Antigua market. It's a huge, covered area the size of several city blocks where you can theoretically purchase pretty much anything you're looking for. Except, its so big that if you need something specific - a crock pot or a washcloth or an extension cord - it's almost impossible to find it! Lot's of asking where to go and lots of getting turned around.

First we stopped at the "paca," an area where vendors sell second-hand clothing and shoes. Ben needed to upgrade his old pair of sandals because they were really stinky, and he found a good new pair for 60 Quetzales, the equivalent of about $8.

The Paca

Then, we headed over to get some veggies and other foods that we'll use to cook with during this coming week. We have a book of Guatemalan recipes from Ben's Spanish teacher so we're trying to utilize all of the delicious and fresh local ingredients.

Fresh veggies. There must be hundreds of different stands set up.

Dry ingredients: corn flour, rice, black beans, and tostada shells!

Market trips are always a bit stressful, all that stuff is just very overwhelming! So we were happy to get out of there and enjoy our walk back across town to our apartment. On the way, we spotted a traditional band playing in the streets...

(The kids looked kind of bored)

and I took a surprise picture of Ben too!

(Love you honey!)

The rest of Saturday was making dinner and more drinks out with my colleagues. Today, we went down to a local sports bar to see the Packers game and later this afternoon Ben played ultimate frisbee with a group (mostly ex-pats) that plays every Sunday. There's always something going on here.

Be sure to check Ben's last post as I'm adding photos of our apartment to it now. Goodnight everyone!