I wore white at my wedding...

and apparently my teacher here is appalled!!!!
More on that in a bit. Until that situation arose I had other titles in mind for this post: Ni Fu Ni Fa, and Another day, Another Chicken bus...so let me write about those first.
Patty and I leave tomorrow for Pana and Chichi and then she starts her two week vacation throughout Guatemala, so tonight is her last night with the family. The boys have a school dance tonight so Patty took us out to eat last night. The family got to choose the place. Without much thought, they decided on Ni Fu Ni Fa, an Argentenian steak house. The mom had been there before with her school for teacher appreciation but none of the rest of the family had been there. I knew the twins really wanted to go when Sylvia went with work so I was happy about that. They were all so excited. It was so cute. We walked from their house of course. The women were much faster than the guys so I got a great picture of the dad and his sons walking together (it was cute, even though the kids are 12 and 14, the 12 year olds held their dad´s hand a lot-all the boys are quite affectionate with all the family). Once there, the kids walked all around the restaurant checking it out. This is a restaurant that is typically too expensive for their family so this was special treat (for perspective, it cost $135 to feed 7 people last night and that includes letting the kids get whatever extras they wanted-Patty was so nice and only had me pay the tip, so she actually gave me a little going away treat too). The mom ordered for us because Patty and I didn´t really understand what to do. The food was fabulous, but way too much for me so I am having leftovers for lunch. Patty and the twins did the same. They wrap your meat in foil and make little itmes out if it. Mine was a duck, Patty got a basket, and the twins got a fish and a candy. I got some of the best pictures of me with the family, the oldest one talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend, and one of just the family. I am going to try to get some of them printed while here to give to them, if not I will send them once home. I really want to get the picture of the family framed. The only pics I have seen in the house are of the boys when they were babies (professional), one school picture of each boy a few years back, the parents wedding pic, and one of the triplets when they were a month old.
Another chicken Bus...I was supposed to go to a local public school today to work with the students. It was sponsored through my Spanish school and my teacher was to go to help translate as needed for me. I prepared a great lesson with books and frisbees, and had already written out in Spanish everything I could possibly think to say and then it got cancelled at the last minute yesterday. So I arrive at school today and my teacher asks if I want to go to another town to a coffee museum and a Mayan musical instrument museum. Of course I said yes and the next thing I knew I was on another chicken bus with 9 other students, their teachers, and the director. It was interesting and I was relieved because after dinner last night we took a walk around the city and let the kids play on a playground so we got in late and I didn´t do a lick of homework. The museums were interesting and a nice break from the intense 1:1. However, this is where the final title of this post comes in.
The teacher and I were talking at the end of the coffee farm tour, in the gift shop. We were discussing our preferences to photos or paintings. This led her to ask what kind of photos I had in my house. I told her about some and of course mentioned our wedding pictures. She asked where we got married and when I told her in a Women´s museum, I immediately saw the look of horrow on her face, but it was too late to take it back and lie. She asked what color my dress was and when I told her white, Oh Boy! She had a million questions about why I was allowed to wear white if I was not in a church and then do pastors in the USA marry women who are pregnant, etc...the conversation was starting to end, thanks goodness, and then...She went on a 10-15 soapbox about the Catholic church and how the have strong leaders who know right and wrong, preach black and white, don´t care if you leave their church because they have to preach not what they think but instead what is in the "perfect word" (yes a direct quote), that the youth of today need strict guidelines and rules, and finally that the evangelicals here were messing everything up and they may be part of the reason there is an alcohol problem in Guatemala. She then asked if this was the same in the US. I told her I didn´t know and politely dismissed myself from the conversation. She knows more about the Catholic church and her country so I didn´t say anything and this is obviously her opinion but it was an interesting look into how (probably) many Guatemalans think. She did not mean anything personal towards me. She was simply having a conversation (albeit one sided) because the ride home she joked and talked like normal.