Words about the ups and downs....by Twy's Twavels

Ups and downs...in no particular order - kind of how life goes.

- I thought of doing a whole blog post about the ups and downs of walking here in Central America (maybe I still will - if so, this is just a taste).  It is a constant necessity to look at where your feet are stepping either up, down, off the curb of varying heights or onto something less than desirable, where your head is leaning (notice how the window ledges are a perfect height to catch my 7 year old right smack in the forehead - thankfully that hasn't occurred up to this date), where your backpack is swinging because you might swipe an older Granny off the sidewalk if you aren't careful.  Inconsistent - that is the best word to describe sidewalks in these lands.  While some may wish to look at the scenery while walking - that becomes a fourth item on the list when trying to stay upright.  You never know when a water line cover on the sidewalk will be missing...ahhhh.  You never know when the sidewalk will abruptly end because someone's garage door is half a meter lower and the sidewalk was in the way for building...ouch.  You never know when the width of the sidewalk will be cut by a quarter to accommodate a water gutter...squish.  You never know whether the tiles that are laid on the sidewalk (because homeowners can embellish their own walkways) will be more slippery than the previous steps you've taken...watch out!  You never know when the pack of dogs just trotted by and left somethings behind...gross!

- It's great to have Grandma here.  We went for a manicure (Maelle) and pedicures (Grandma and Twy).  We had jamaica juice - which is hibiscus flowers dried, then boiling water put on them and made into an ice tea like drink.  Delightful!  Our toes or fingers turned various colours of blue and teal.  We had a relaxing time with lavender scrubs, warm bubbly foot baths, coconut oil massages and conversation - thanks to the work of Carol.

- Haircuts were on the schedule for the Boys of our home.  While getting our digits painted, I asked Carol (see above) if she also did haircuts for men.  She confirmed she did and I noticed a hair clipper in her supplies (her husband also looked like he had a reasonable hairstyle).  Later, we went back to schedule a visit and she met both Arden and Meritt.  She confirmed again that she does this regularly.  The appointed time came...UNFORTUNATELY for Meritt (as he went first)...she does not do haircuts for men - at all!  There are multiple visible lines, gouges and uneven pieces...I didn't take a picture for his sake (just take our words for it - and the words of the security guard at our complex 'muy feo').  At this point, neither of my Men are comfortable going to anyone but their regular (in-house) hairdresser - so, one of the gardeners here at our condo complex will bring his friend's clippers tomorrow for me to work my magic.  Wish me luck!

- Maelle has been inspired to add many more flowers and plants to our collection at home when we get back.  Jasmine, hibiscus, succulents, fig tree, and palms are just a few. We will have more than one oxygen spa!  It is good to talk about our return plans now that we're more than half way done our year because we dreamed for so long about this year of travel.  Maelle regularly asks how many more months are left before we get home...there's anticipation for both the now and the future.

- Meritt came to chat a few evenings back with me about his thoughts.  He is missing home...the routines, family skating, the rug in our toy room to lay on to read books, his violin and his friends.  We talked about the good things of home.  We talked about the things that we will miss about Central America when we get back home: the tasty tostadas at the market (pictured above buying his favourite treat using Spanish to accomplish this task), our relaxed time with Grandparents, the lovely warm climate, a home/world school year that is unlike any other they've had or will have, the farm fresh fruits and veggies that we eat, the many friends we've made along the way using Spanish as our language to communicate with them, and the experiences we've had with travelling and becoming 'settled' in each of our locations.  We talked about becoming a third culture individual - where we know about more than one culture and both love and miss parts from each one (lots more on Wikipedia about this - fascinating info!).

- The market has both ups and downs...the above photos kind of relay, without too much drama and odor, the harder parts of the adventure of trying to get our fruits and veggies.

- I almost had a complete freak out when a chicken jumped out of the basket right in front of me...I had to calm my breathing, sit down and close my eyes because I was ready to scream and run (I do not like chickens - for the record).

- The aspect of this market that I cannot adequately capture is the number of shops/sellers in this huge city block location combined with the number of people all buying, yelling their wares, carrying heavy crates of tomatoes, massive baskets of corn husks, bags of carrots, etc. etc. etc. on their heads, and finally, the walking sales-people with a variety of items to sell: body-sectioned mannequins dressed in the shirt, pants, or leggings being carried high above heads to show what is being sold, a man wearing long strips of packaged rat poison and moth balls on his clothing, another man with sharp knives that glint in the sunlight, the walking demonstrator who is selling a home-made whisk (along with a bowl of fluffy egg-whites to display the capability of this product), and the man with rolls of plastic table cloth that swings to and fro and nearly misses my head on most visits to the market (I swear he tries to find me each time).  The joy of being in the midst of this carnival of selling is an overwhelming adventure for my senses which tends to dwindle my supply of energy at a bit of a quicker rate than grocery shopping at home.

- Let me describe the way of moving through this market - at 5'7, I'm a head or two higher than a lot of the Guatemalan people which has it's advantages and disadvantages.  Arden and I can keep eye contact and point to the place we're going without a problem.  I hold on to Maelle's shoulder while guiding her and protecting her from bags, crates and moving baskets.  Meritt follows closely behind Arden's backpack making sure to stay to him.  Our two walking groups have lost each other once - and then we met at our favourite seller's stall (thankfully).  Several disadvantages to being tall are: not all things are hung at a level that accommodates my height, the products being carried on the heads of others tends to be in direct line with my head, and I cannot hide that I don't fit in. There is no pushing or shoving to get past or in front of someone else in the narrow walking rows...but that isn't to say there isn't squishing and squeezing.  It's an age old dance that is done by millions of people around the world that is full of zigging and zagging...fascinating and exhausting all at the same time.

- Today, we entered the market from a completely different location (the bus terminal).  There we found flowers for half the price as in the 'tourist' entrance - awesome.  We saw a Mom/veggie seller playing with her young Baby wrapped in a blanket laying in a basket on top of several crates of tomatoes - cute.  Juan Antonio, the roaming cilantro sales-man, chatted with me about what my name means and later we met again and he remembered.  While helping Grandma find 'repollo' (which isn't chicken for the second time), Maelle observed that the size of cabbage Grandma was buying was suitable for around 6 people, not just two Grandparents.  We had a quick discussion about how estimating how much food is needed for different quantities of people is a useful math skill that she is already working on.  The Guatemalan ladies selling the repollo were curious about our conversation, so I translated it.  The one lady commented to Maelle that it important because she's a girl to know these things.  I said that I'm teaching my Son the same thing because we all like to eat...we laughed together.  To me, finding joy together with others while shopping for our foods is worth the energy used to weave my way through the market.  Finally, I was able to lead our pack through the maze to find our way out.

- There are no sugar ants, far less mosquitoes and hardly any creepy crawlies here in Antigua (thanks to the higher altitude and relatively cooler weather compared to the ocean's edge).  I can't say that I'm missing the feeling of light movement on my arms only to look down and see little ants running.  There have been two smaller spiders in our condo - but that's it.  The kitchen is far easier to maintain.  That's an 'up'.

- Arden and I bought a 10 day family pass at a tennis club.  These are the views from the clay courts (which is the original 'cancha') - spectacular.  With 22 years of experience so far (and a big improvement, on my part, to where I can actually hit the ball back to Arden most of the time) - we want to continue our classic version of 'double bounce' tennis well into our retirement (I jokingly tell Arden that if I continue to improve like I have in the past 20-something years, he'll have to up his game by the time I'm 80).  The ball-boys who can be paid $1.50 per hour to pick up tennis balls that go astray are rather baffled by our game...and that's ok.

- I giggled at this cup in the grocery store...and thought of Brene Brown's life-speaking book entitled "Gift of Imperfection".  I wonder if giving those two items together would make a perfectly balanced Valentine's gift (along with chocolate and a dozen roses)?  I love silly ironies...