The last full day in Guatemala, boo, double boo when we found out that we had to be up and ready to go to the airport at 3:30 on Saturday morning. So we spent the morning at the Dreamer Center. It was vegetable handout day. Since the children get great meals for the entire week, they want to make sure that the proper nourishment is held through the weekend. They were also celebrating Mother’s Day so there was a program to honor the mothers.
While mothers were getting vegetables and fruit, Stacy and I decided to specialize in organized chaos and give temporary tattoos and giant bubbles. However halfway through me trying to help kids with giant bubbles, Stacy looked at me “Amanda, I am soaked”…I guess the bubbles were getting a little too close to Stacy!
In the afternoon we went to the market. I got to barter in the artisans market. In their market, you can’t really barter…in fact there is no haggling of the price. I bought a couple of shirts, the problem is that the people are so small that their medium is not a medium and they don’t have tags in the shirts. My favorite was the artisan market. I bought a few things for me including a couple bracelets and a hand sewn Mayan calendar. It is beautiful and I’m hoping to get it framed later on. I also bought a beautiful black jade necklace and earring set. They are good barters and are great a guilt trip when you want to purchase. My hardest bargain was my Mayan Sun Gold. I wanted a little one, but when I saw him, I didn’t want him that bad so I offered Q50, He said no, Q120. I didn’t want him that bad so I stuck to Q50. He came down to Q100 then Q85, then Q75, then Q65…before finally agreeing to Q50. When I thought of it afterward, he started at 15.00 and I started at $6.25.
That night we hit the local market that is close to Dora’s neighborhood called Nim Pot. Oh my…we laughed so hard. It’s comparable to the Walmart Flea Market of Guatemala. They have things that are all fixed price and range from jewelry, to t-shirts, to crafts, etc. We found a chest of finger puppets…and the giggling began!
The night ended with a stop at Reilly’s, an Irish Pub in Guatemala. That was one of my favorite places, the atmosphere, the music, the food, it was so relaxed. I could have hung out there for hours and relaxed. I did find it appropriate that I could find a place that united my 2 foreign visits together.
We went back home and Stacy DID NOT want to pack at all! She decided to wear her clothes and everything else back versus pack it. I giggled so much I could barely take a picture of her. Oh my….I felt bad leaving her to situate her stuff!
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