18 de Julio

Today I purchased some indoor soccer cleats in desperate hopes that I might be able to play a game or two on the indoor courts. I also bought materials for fishing. We’ll probably make our first fishing excursion on Sabbath. We’re not sure right now what to use for bait, however. I had a solid day in class which felt good. The weather here is very predictable. It is the warmest in the morning but come 1:00, the clouds start rolling in and there are decent sized rain storms every night. I have constructed my very own defense against the elements out of a couple plastic bags. We are getting to know some of the other students better. There is the couple I mentioned last week, another younger couple from Iran and a father with his 2 very young daughters. The daughters have taken a liking to us and are the type that warm up very quickly. The father is a pretty nice guy who looks like one of the last remaining hippies of the sixties. Speaking of hippies, there are tons of them in Panajachel. Though they aren’t the cleanliest looking bunch, they are definitely talented. Many are jewelers, others make custom diaries that are really cool looking, and others are painters. It’s quite an interesting culture to observe. The word for today is “descalso.” It’s significance, “barefoot."