Walking home tonight from the super market was somewhat surreal. Uneven streets made from rough rocas. (rocks). I'm feeling not so much a stranger anymore even though I am. The bustling people and traffic going home for the day. Women carrying baskets of goods on their heads and babies in their arms. The clouds roll in as the afternoon progresses and as I sit here in my room I can look out the window and see yet another light show behind and above the volcanoes. Horns honk and eventually I'm sure music will be coming from somewhere. Life here is simple. When you want fresh tortillas you look for an open door and you can find young girls making them fresh right inside the door. At night when you see a red light above a door you can find fresh tamales. Life is simple for most people. Family, food, and work. Friends and church. There are those who have become caught up into the electronic world but not nearly as many as our country.
The wash hangs to dry above the roof lines after it is washed outside in a bucket or maybe inside with the one large sink. Cars are washed in the street. The lights flicker from power surges. Most people greet you with genuine smiles as you walk along the street. Buenos dias, Hola or just the simple buenas. The women who do not where traditional clothing all wear heels of some kind or another. Very daring from my western perspective. As I said above, the streets and sidewalks are a bit precarious. Young people openly show affection for one another. Old men pull carts full of goods down a side street. While chicken buses roll down the larger streets putting out fumes of diesel. Young men stand in the doors of these buses. I realized after a ride in one yesterday they are simply there to help navigate. There are very tight roads and bus mirrors will sometimes literally be an inch from one another after a group effort of young men directing each bus to enable them to pass one another.
I enjoy the tranquility and the odd craziness so different from our surroundings. Soak it up I tell myself soon enough it will be a memory.
