SPELLING BEE

Time

BY BEA WESTERBERG

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions”. Oliver Wendell Holmes The second floor of this almost 4,000 square foot home had 3 bedrooms with large bathrooms. Huge wood doors to each room had interesting opening methods and one had a Dutch door to see downstairs. The upstairs patio had acres of flowers in pots. The walls were very thick and it made it comfortable no matter what time of the day or night. It was our mansion to retreat to!

Walking or driving anything with wheels from, bikes, scooters or cars will get you around. Our highway department would declare every road and street a disaster. If you had enough rope, you could tie down and transport anything! Speed bumps totally all over did keep the speed down but you never knew if there was a stop sign in place. Some were posted in very unusual places. If no signs, they have a polite way of “one car goes, then you go – repeat. If the pothole will take up maybe half your car, they put a tire in the hole and you drive around it! Sometimes there is traffic going 5 to 6 different directions on the same street. Gas was $$$. FLOWERS, FLOWERS AND MORE FLOWERS…all over almost every street and along every road and they are there year around.

Family and history are very important to most people who live in the country. We were blessed to meet and spend time and meals with Emma’s dad, grandpa and grandma, sister and brothers. There was also a big number of uncles and cousins. We had foods that had several thousand years of history and learned how important they are to everyday life. (Also very yummy.)

Shopping took up a big part of our time and we did Walmart as well as the street and market shopping. The street and market shopping are what most native people do and it is a 7 day a week thing. Shopping can be done indoor or street side and you can see FRESH meat right in front of you in every shape and form you can dream up. Yes, flies and very crowded spaces! Arre said most of the meat products were processed just a few hours before the market! Bread and local cheeses were available in many shapes and kinds. Fruit water was a common drink available using local fruit for flavors. Almost anything a human could need was available someplace in the close packed shopping areas. Of course every human wants to sell something. One way streets, narrow sidewalks, and lots of uneven walking surfaces made getting around interesting.

At first our hearts were broken to see all the street dogs but after a while we decided that maybe they just work and then a bus picks them up as we did not see them much in the evening. We also saw a lot of them being fed and I did toss some food to 2 dogs and they did not even attempt to look at the it. There also were street people in places and that was also sad.

And what did I eat? I did a fair share of crickets which are very good in squash flowers among other things, and a worm powder that is traditional on a mezcal drink. The “fresh off the tree” local fruits include coconut, bananas, avocados, passion fruit, mango, lemons, limes, and many other things we may only see in the grocery store. The most exciting thing was CHOCOLATE!!! It’s available anytime in almost any form. Drinks can be made with leche (milk), water or a ground corn. Chocolate at my age must not make me break out otherwise I would be a walking mess.

It was so amazing to see things we had seen in pictures or heard about. The huge church that had almost EVERYTHING inside it covered in gold was unbelievable. Of course it was a DO NOT TOUCH place. We were lucky to see a big street celebration for a wedding that had taken place in it. Arre said that the church at present has a 5 year waiting list for weddings. Better be in love.

Next week we will continue travel in a country that has never seen snow.