During Spanish School today we took a field trip to the
market. My teacher, Magaly, showed me
the best place to buy fruits and vegetables.
She explained that in some areas the prices are set and in other areas
they are not. “You can tell if they are
willing to lower the price. Just ask how
much it costs and when they tell you shake your head no and walk away. As you walk away they will lower the price
and then you know they are willing to bargain.”
Magaly asked how much some limes cost; the man told her 3
Quetzales. She shook her head no and
turned to walk away; the man was quick to yell, “2 Quetzales,” before she took
two steps. Magaly bought three avocados,
5 limes, and 5 freshly made tortillas for about $1. Our budget is $2.75 per person per day for
food, so we are going to hit up the market on Saturday and skip the grocery
store.
This afternoon a group of us walked to a Christian school
for underprivileged children where we were asked to help out with gym
class. About 5o kindergarten through 3rd
grade students came bounding out of the classroom excited about running and
playing. Immediately groups of curious
students formed around each one of the Gringos.
We were run through the ritual questions of what is your name, how old
are you, and where do you live. They
also enjoy asking us to pronounce their name in English. For example, one little girl pronounced her
name Who-deet, which we know to be Judith.
After just two days of Spanish school I found that I was able to
comprehend and communicate better with the students, because I was recognizing more verb tenses.
In order to have a space to run and play we walked about 10
minutes through the cobblestone streets of Antigua. Motorcycles, taxi’s, and truck whizzed by as
the kids skipped on and off the sidewalk.
I had about three girls hanging on to each of my arms as we avoided the
traffic. We arrived at the field and the
kids took off in all directions. There
was a soccer field and basketball and tennis courts. The teachers led stretching and bending
exercises for their classes. The class I
was with then played red light, green light.
They loved to hear us say the colors in English. We played a couple
other games then the kids were dismissed to play. Most of the kids played soccer, but a few of
the girls stayed to play with Brienna and me.
We played a hand-clapping game similar to Down by the Banks, but at the
end you kiss your favorite person.
Brienna and I received plenty of kisses from the girls.
Finally it came time to walk back to the school. Some of the boys decided to cool off in a
sprinkler that was watering the lawn.
The girls that were dangling from my arms squealed and rushed through to
avoid the water. It actually would have
felt pretty good. We had only spent
about 2 hours with the kids, but I was worn out. The director told us that it would be better
if we just helped out for a couple hours.
I remember thinking to myself, “I can handle more than just a couple
hours.” She was right, it was better for
us to only be there a couple hours. We
arrived at the school and it was time to say goodbye. I had to pry two of the girls off of me. I could not tell them that I would see them
again, because I did not want to make a promise I could not keep.
This evening Team Salt is staying in Antigua; it was so good
to talk to them. Sometimes on the World
Race, we feel like we are not doing anything really important unless we see
huge miracles and bring people to Christ.
It is hard to hear about what other teams are doing and how successful
their work is and not compare our work to theirs. So it was great to talk to Team Salt to give
and receive encouragement in regards to our ministries. Tonight we went to an English worship
service. This was the first worship
service in English I attended since I left for the World Race. It was so refreshing to know the words to the
songs and to be able to understand the message.
