Field Trip

The school took a field trip to San Antonio today to visit a group of traditional Mayan women. I rode the CHICKEN BUS!!!! I have a quick picture of the actual bus I rode since as soon as it drops you off it gets going. As a matter of fact if you are one of the last one or off you kiind of had to jump as the bus was already moving. That happened to me getting on. It was so crowded. They are aold school busses so you can imagine. I had to sit in a seat on the tire hump with two other women and some people had to stand. The village was interesting but not what expected. I thought the women would be going about their normal life and we would go in and out of it with our teachers. Instead their was one big presentaton. Much was explained to us about their clothing and what the y different colors represent. We also learned a little about their economic status which was very sad as this particular group of woman had just been ripped off by a phony organization offering to help the get to the United States legally. It was heartwrenching as one of the teachers told the story with tears streaming down her face. They showed us how they make some of their fabric crafts and then dressed up volunteers and went througha wedding ceremony. We did get to go to a tradtional kitcken and watch them make tortillas and a traditional soup ( a different form of pepian). I tried to take pictures but it was so smoky in their. I also got some good pictures of me standing next to the women. I look like a giant!!! One of the little boys was dressed in traditonal clothing as well which I had never seen and I got some great close ups of him.
Not sure if I mentioned this already but I had the date wrong anyway. So tomorrow, I am going to La Merced church to watch and listen to the three boys that are in the family I live with play the marimbe (not sure of spelling). I am very excited about that and really happy we were invited by the family. I talked with several students today that are not having good experiences with their families. Mine has been a dream.
Once again dinner is my favorite part of the day. I swear t is like a sitcom. Pep drops in from stage right and just the right time and only stays for about a minute and then he's gone like those reoccurring characters that are in every episode but have no real role. The dialogue is hilarious since we don't really know how to speak very well yet. Last nght I was talking with Patty and the mom but trying to listen to the dad and the boys. The mom caught me and I told her what I was doing but that they were too fast. So the oldest shared the story of the twins tests scores one got a 76 and the other tried to tell me quickly he got a 100 but everyone moaned and he grinned and say he really got a 0! I love that he was trying to joke with me though. They have been so acceppting of us. Then the mom tries to help us with our home work as if we are 10 years old and sometimes she and the oldest son argue about what is correct. It's a riot for sure.
The food os fabulous. Breakfast usually consists of tortillas and beans and eggs and sweet fired plantains, cow cheese (salty but very good) or fruit (differents kinds of bananas, watermelon, papaya, pineapple, etc) and yougurt with cactus. Lunch is the big meal and dinner is usually similiar. I've had blanco tamales, chile rellenos (the pepper is chopped and mixed with meat and vegetables, no cheese and then breaded and fried), thin strip of steak with a tomato salsa on top, beans, soup, squash (not like one I have seen before though) and too much to remember actually. One thing I had last night I can't think of the name of it any more but it was a sweet plantain stuffed wth sweet frijoles and friend n sugar. It was my absolute favorite. I drink a lot of juice too. Fresh squeezed lemondae and orage juice (no puld and very sweet, I almost didn't know it was orange juice) and I think I had rice juice of some sort last night. The mom makes the best guacamole I have ever had in my life! I'll start keeping better track of what we eat.