The Finshing Touch

The last day of building is so difficult. When you arrive at the site on the fifth day, there is no question that this is going to be a difficult one. It is so hard to explain the emotional connection you develop with these families in 5 days. It is really intense.....on both sides. The last day you paint the house, install the door and window, and you have completed what you came here to do. Our Mom chose yellow for the outside and blue for the inside. Sun and sky. Those happen to be my favorites of the color choices. I think they are very happy colors.

Samuel

Reuben

The moment we add water to the powdered paint to begin the task of painting the kids make a bee line to help, it takes about 2 minutes and they are covered in paint. Samuel had blue specks all over his little brown face in minutes, he looked so cute and his smile was from ear to ear. Reuben took this task very seriously, as evidenced when he squeezed into the side of the home that was about a foot wide and began painting that section, I honestly did not think we would be able to paint that side because of the narrowness between that and the cornstalk shack they will leave up to use as their kitchen. He squeezed in there so I thought it only right I follow and I squeezed in there with a small bowl of paint, (following his example), and we painted. I admired his determination to paint as much of his new home as possible. We stood side by side in this narrow area and when I would need more paint on my brush I would have to reach over my head from left to right and dip the brush in the paint. It was very good excercise. Painting is always fun, as it is the cherry on the sundae of the project.


 While we are painting, Maria is preparing lunch with the help of some of her neighbors. They are preparing a very traditional dish called Pepian, it is sort of a pureed vegetable soup. They were serving a piece of beef and some rice with it. Marissa was working in the corn stalk shack making and cooking tortillas.


Tortilla time!

 She really was pretty good at it and the women loved having her work with them.There were some neighbors helping Maria make the meal. I was happy to see she had such a strong support system. I don't know how you would make it here if you did not have a support system. I am so grateful for this gesture, however I wish the family would not do this as it costs them money which is something they have very little of. It is a very beautiful act of gratitude on their part.

Pepian

We finished painting the house, the door was installed along with the window and the laminate roof. It was time for lunch. we had lunch inside the new home, the first meal. Many of the people that had helped prepare the meal ate with us. I raised my glass and offered a toast to the first meal in the new home. It was a joyous moment. Everyone enjoyed the meal and we had a lot of laughs. Only one of the family and their guests understood spanish and Kechiquel, so we had a lot of translating going on. The conversation was one of asking many questions of each other about out different lives. The Guatemalan people that we build for are always fascinated with the fact that my children are adopted from Guatemala. At the same time I am fascinated with their life. It is an interesting exchange done with mutual respect for each other.

The whole group.

After lunch Oscar had planned the closing ceremony to be done as a group at the other property where our group was building, however the keys would be presented at the individual homes. We went to the property above us where the Dickersona nd Sibinas Family's were building 2 other homes. We all gathered together to hear Oscar speak to the families. Oscar speaks to the families in Spanish and then translates for those of us who do not understand. The basic premise is this. The home is a gift. We do not expect payment, we ask you to live in the home with pride. Keep it clean and take care of it. The only thing we ask of you in return is to help your neighbor, we know you cannot do it finacially, however there are many ways to help a neighbor. After Oscar speaks the family usually will say a heartfelt thank you. It is very emotional. Most often the men will speak for the family, and they get very choked up. Beautiful words that are spiritually driven are shared through tears and grateful smiles. It is a beautiful moment. We all return to our respective homes to present the keys and give the gifts we bought for our families. Maria Cristina was so grateful she could barely speak. She did manage to say a few words which Henio translated for me, and  made an attempt to thank her for allowing us to step into her life and recieve us with open arms and hearts. Our real feelings were exchanged with a simple hug and the knowledge that both of our families lives were changed this week.

Sam presents Maria Cristina with the key to her new home

 When Sam handed the key to Maria I was very touched when he said to her, "This is a gift from our family to yours and we are one family now. I was" so moved by his words and honestly, I did not expect that from my 16 year old son, I was so touched, it just added to the moment.

Pinata Time

Of course we bought a Pinata that provided alot of fun and excitement. I always get amazed when the elders jump after the candy also. Eveybody wants some.  We bought each of the children a small gift, the ohter volunteers and I chipped in on a bag of groceries. $30 buys a family a month worth of groceries. I also bought the mother a clothesline and clothes pins. I am hoping that will help her and she wont have to hang clothes over the fence to dry any longer. Our family had bags made for all of us with our name embroidered on them. Another lovely gesture. Judy is a very simple name but In Guatemala it is quite a challenge for the people. Most of the time I am Yudi but here at this house I am "YURI" and that is what me bag says. LOLOL.

Just laugh!!!

Time to say good bye to another wonderful family. This is such an incredible expererience. This was our 5th house we built, they all have their own special story and I enjoy getting to know what it is. When you pull up to the work site in the morning the children are waiting for you with a huge smile as their greeting.. As we leave today Samuel has tears in his eyes as he says goodbye to my Sam, Christy gives me the hug of all hugs, Reuben has a huge smile and a wave and Maris Cristina gives me one more hug and a smile and we exchange one last glance of gratitude and friendship.

Our gang who built our house.

Finished

Maria Cristina Pio Pio

Maria Cristina, Samuel and Christy

I feel as though I should honor this woman with a page of her own. She is the mother of the family we built for. She is 33 years old and a widow. She has 6 children. I think it is extremely difficult to be a widow in any situation, however here you add poverty to the mix, the inability to read or write and I think it is even more challenging. Maria was very guarded when we first met. She works very hard all day and is trying to do the best for her children. Her youngest, Eswin is 1 year old. He keeps her very busy. He is a tiny little thing who seems very timid. When we first arrived he screamed when he saw strangers entering their property through the gate. Maria often has Eswin on her back in a blanket. They tie them around their body and the kids just hang off the back. It is a mayan backpack kind of thing. The children will stay in these up to five years old. Sometimes you see woman walking around and all you see is some little feet hanging out of the blanket. The crazy thing is their heads are also covered when they are sleeping. I don't understand how they do not suffocate. Anyway, think about this, you have a baby on your back while you cook over an open smoky fire, you make multiple trips to get water which you will carry on your head filled(about 35 lbs.), you do laundry by hand quite a distance from your casa, this week add carrying block to the mix and so on. She is a prideful woman who has 4 of her children in school. When we come to build, the children really get excited and want to be part of the whole experience with us so it is somewhat of a fight to get them to go to school. Maria had a difficult time getting them to do even do their school work. The children would sit on the ground to do it. Samuel was practicing the letter "V" for vaca(cow), he was doing it in script and print. He was really doing a great job. He wrote the lettter about 500 times. Her daughter, Christy, who gave her a much harder time about school was studying the dictionary and writing words and their definition in her notebook. I have to tell you her handwriting was incredible. Christy refused to go to school all week. Anyway, Maria has quite a bit of responsibility every day.  She was so happy at the prospect of having a sturdy block home that when ever I would ask her about it she would have a look of happiness about her, yet still somewhat guarded. It was almost like she could not believe this was really happening to her. She cooks over an open fire in a small cornstalk shack. The smoke in there is incredible and it makes your eyes burn. I would go in to see what she was cooking and she would be frying black beans for her family, about 6 beans per person. It was also extremely dark in there so I don't know how she could even see what she was doing. I am always so amazed at these women. They are busy all day. She had done her laundry one day and she hung everything over a fence, and then it rained so she quickly grabbed it all and wrapped it up in a big piece of cloth and then put it in the shack..the rain would stop and she would hang it on the fence again....it is rainy season, I can only imagine how many times she does this routine. Some of the women have clothes lines so at least if the sun is out the clothes will dry quickly.
 I cannot say enough about this woman except that she is an example of perserverance and determination. She is like any other mother in the world, she wants what is best for her family and under the  most difficult cicumstances she makes every effort to create a warm and loving home with the dream that her children will have more opportunity and promise in their lives. I commend her and can only remember her as an example of strength and determination when times are difficult.

School, floor, old friends and much love..

Day 4 is a short day. We only have to pour the floor, so FHTH's takes the volunteers who are working in Santa Maria de Jesus to visit the school. This school has been run by the Cambianda Vidas project in the past, howevr the school will now be part of From Houses to Homes. The new name of the school will be Escuela Kem na 'oj english that means weaving minds or weaving knowledge. The school is currently housed in a rented space which is quite small. Next year we will educate 100 students. When you walk around and visit the classrooms you see nothing but smiles. The children are really thriving in this school as a result of a dedicated staff.  These children do not always come from the happiest homes as there are many issues that face the Mayan community. The staff of the school not only educates the children, they also work with the parents, especially the mothers to encourage them to learn new ways of coping and facing some of their issues always reminding them they are very important themselves.  Most of these children would not ever go to school as they cannot afford the tuition. This school is free to the children, We are always looking for people to sponsor a student. The monthly fee is $60 per student.
I had collected money to bring every child a loaf of banana bread today. We passed out the banana bread and each child thanked us with a grand smile and a "Gracias"  This is a big treat for these children. They receive a meal in school, however at home it is a different story. Food is scarce, especially a nutritious meal.
Today I saw children in one of the rooms playing dress up and dancing to some pretty happy music. There was a little boy dressed in a yellow princess costume with a magic wand dancing up a storm, totally uninhibited when the vistiors arrived. It was so cute and and it really cracked me up. In other rooms the children were learning new vocabulary, reading and singing songs. The teachers always have the children sing a song in spanish and then in english. I never get tired of these cute little faces. There is one girl who has always just stolen my heart. Her name is Maria Petrona. I just think she is beautiful. She has always been quite shy, however on this visit I see that she is emerging from her shell. She remembered me from my last visit and gave me a big smile and hug. It is always hard to say good bye to these children, however I know I leave them in good hands. The staff of the school are very dedicated to these children. The principal and psychologist have only the childrens best interest and well being in mind. That always comforts me and I can only pray that God leads these children to better opportunities in life in which then they may break the cycle of poverty. Big prayers needed here por favor!!
After I am dragged kicking and screaming from the school we return to the work site and the only task we have today is to pour  the floor. We have to mix sand, cement and stone and form bucket brigade to pour it on the floor, and as we do that Henio smooths it out. It seems simple , however it is a very heavy job!! We manage to get it done by lunch time and that is it for the day because now the floor has to set. Tomorrow we will return to paint the house. I have asked the Mom if all the children will be there so we can have a fiesta to celebrate the new casa. She says "Si"so I hope it will come together.
After we left the work site we walked down the road to where we will built 2 years ago to visit the family that we built for. I love these people and this particular family really greets us with warm hearts and open arms. They have a daughter Jessica that has the grandest smile and as she has gotten older she has only gotten prettier. She will always give me a robust hug and we sit in the casa and talk with her Mom and other sisters. Her brother is at school and her father is working, thank god. Thanks to a family in my church her brothers tuition is paid. Luis really wanted to attend school and he cried the day he told me he could no longer attend as the family was really affected by last years rainy season and had no money to send him. He was thrilled to hear that he could attend again. His Mother told me today he is doing well and loving it.

We sat and talked for a while and had many laughs but also looked at some of the current issues that they are facing. Their  youngest daughter, Monica who is 11 months old has not been feeling well for quite sometime. She suffers from gastro intestinal problems. Fortunately, we now have Clinicas Medicas San Jose to treat her. Mom takes her to the clinic by taking 2 busses.She has been given some medicine and is feeling some what better. This is not an unusual diagnosis for people here as the water is so dirty and it does not agree with all the people all of the time. Wendy, their 3rd daughter wears hearing aids. At this time the battery is dead and they are awaiting a replacement.  Wendy does not hear what is being said but as I watch her play with the other children she is always smiling.  Henio was translating for us and I asked him to tell me ask Jessica what she needs and she replies, "nueva ropa." No different from a 13 year old in the U.S.A. Her clothes are torn and tattered. She is very helpful to her Mother every day, as we are sitting there she runs into the next shack area and stirs something on the fire. While we are sitting and talking Sam is outside taking up where he left off with this family. He is playing with the boys and they are jumping all over him. They really loved Sam and he them, after we left he told me he feels a very strong connection with that particular family. When we built for this family our friendshad come and built 2 other houses on this property. The 3 families are related. After I was done visiitng my family, I checked in on the family that the Folans had built for. Elizabeth the Mom allowed me to enter the house. She was mother to the imfamous "Danny" who was heavily photographed andmade it to the FHTH's website as he was so funny and  so cute. At the time of our building she also had another infant son who is about 2 now. Today she was holding her newest arrival, another boy, 20 days old. She and her husband had not yet named him. She said they are considering Samuel. I told her that was a fine name, haha.(My son is Samuel also)  Betty told me through Henio that she had a C-Section and did not get her medications that were prescribed for her after she had the baby. She was supposed to get antibiotics, pain medication and a third med that I am not sure what it is for. I could see she as moving gingerly and I asked her for the prescription. I took it to the pharmacy and it was a grand totsl of $25. I will deliver it to her tomorrow.  Isn't that very sad? She was seen at the National Hospital where she was given these meds. The National Hospital translates to the poor peoples hospital, where they get less then acceptable treatment, but I guess it is better then none. Of course there is no one asking them if they can afford these meds. Again, how sad the government does not care about these kind of things. It just so happens that while we were here this week a famous folk singer from Argentina was murdered. I think his driver was the target but he was killed in the cross fire. There is all this press about how emabrrassed Guatemala is about the murder. They should be embarrassed about all the people living in substandard conditions, lack of education and starving children. The only up side is the eye of the world is on Guatemala so maybe someone else will notice what else is going on here every day. I could really get on a soap box however I will not at this time. My children were both born here. There mothers made the very difficult decision to ut them up for adoption so they could have a better life. They do have many more opportunities in their life, including a warm shelter, food, and education. Yes they also have a family that loves them very much, but one thing I noticed here as that no matter what these people love their families. It is a lesson learned for most. The main commodity that is always present is love, through all the poverty, hunger and lack of education these people love their family's. So, yes my children are blessed with the "extras" but there is a clear picture here that the most important thing is love in one's life and that they have much of. It is no blessing to have all the material things if you do not feel love.

Day 3- 7 Rows of block and mucho concreta!!

Today, Wednesday, is Day # 3 of the build. We got started right away because we had 6 rows of block to lay. It was cloudy but the rain held off. When we arrived Cristina the daughter, and Samuel one of the sons were  the only family members  there with Eswin  the 1 year old. The Mom was at the "pila" doing laundry. A pila is a concrete sink where they wash all their clothes by hand . Two of the other boys were at school. There is usually an area in town where there are a group of pilas and the women wash together...a Mayan laundromat you might say. We had to begin by carrying all the block we would lay into the center of the house. This way Henio and Hector can just grab it, put it down, and we can get to filling the seams. The men also put the scaffold up today as the house is getting higher. I don't like the scaffold so I fill all the seams on the outside of the house where I can reach most of it and then towards the last rows I can stand on a block. We realized we would need more water so Cristina and Samuel went to the water station with buckets to get more water. Eswin stayed by himself. It is such a different a world here, can you  imagine leaving a one year old alone. One of the people traveling with us said that if her husband a police officer in the U.S. saw that this situation he  would call DYFS. I said if you were going to call DYFS down here for something like that you would need a convoy. This is a different world, it is just the way it is, and as Americans we have difficulty grasping it. A very different culture, not to be judged but to understand what it takes to survive a life of poverty.
 In a mere 3 days we have become closer with the family, it always happens that way. Our Mom has become warmer. Unlike the children who immediately take to you, it takes some time for them to let their guard down, after all we are entering their world. I have had many conversations using our men as translators and even though I do not understand the language I can tell by the body language that these are very proud people. What is sad is when I detect shame. There is no shame in living this lifestyle. The only shame in a place like this belongs to the government for their neglect of these beautiful people. The Mayan people have been in Guatemala longer then the rest of the population. The beauty of this country is the result of these very gifted people building ancient temples and pyramids. These ruins are present in many areas in the country. They are also very talented weavers. They often make the clothes they are wearing and a typical blouse if you will, can take up to a month to make. It not only saddens me but, also amazes me that these people are the backbone of this country yet they are so neglected. Their gifts are what bring so many people to visit this country. Seems ironic don't you think?
Anyway, we lay our 6 rows of block and we get on our way. The work is hard, or as Joe has quoted someone saying,  "it is the hardest work you will ever love." I agree 100 %. Tomorrow is our short day as we will pour the floor and that will be all. All this is a sign that our journey is coming to an end. I just hate the thought of saying good bye to another family. It just never gets easy...not at all.  (I am having a difficult time with teh internet so I will not be able to load pics right now, please stay tuned)

Blocks, concrete, water and monkeys!!

You really start to see a house forming on day 2.  We did 6 rows of block today.  Heavy lifting, mixing concrete, filling in seams, bucket brigade...all part of day 2. Becoming closer with the family, laughing with Cristina, the only girl in the family who wants to stand by my side a good part of the day, finally getting the baby to wave at me, and maybe even possibly a slight little smile, and getting to know Mom Maria a bit more and certainly having a growing respect for what her day is like everyday, and finishing the day with a belly buster laugh with all the "neighborhood" kids....that is what I'm talking about!!
When you arrive on day 2 it is important to get right to work. It is rainy season and you certainly cannot predict the weather so you have to forge ahead.We did get sprinkled on today but not enough to stop the job. We have a great team. I have enjoyed getting to to know the Irish girl that is volunteering with us. We have shared alot of Irish storys, talked about music and some of the silly facts that people think they know about the Irish that are so far off. No they do not eat corned beef on St Patricks day, nor is it a big drinking day, and they never say "Top o The Morning To Ya." Never. There is another Irish girl but she was not there today. We are also working with Emily from Morristown who traveled here by herself to do some volunteer work. She is somewhat quiet, but joins in the fun while working.
We are behind because of the big rock, so we were hustling a little today. We did get those big rocks covered up though, I can't believe it. We did 6 rows of block today. Henio and Hector lay the block and we fill in the seams with the concrete. We also mix cement, and carry the block closer to the house. Today we started by carrying 300 block into the house, if you will, and then the guys started to lay them. Again, our team works well together and we got the job done, with a nice lunch break and time for a walk to the tienda with the kids.
Our family speaks little spanish so it is somewhat hard to comminunicate, but that is why God gave us the gift of tenacity and I just keep trying to make my point. They speak a Mayan language called , Kaqchikel, one of 29 mayan languages spoke in parts of Latin America. There is no making it out as it sounds nothing like spanish, I actually think it sounds like sloppy german without the hard accents.( But what do I know) I always manage to get across the point I am trying to make.  At lunch time I asked the Mom if I could take her kids to the tienda and she was fine with that. The girl working in this particular tienda does not speak spanish either. I wanted a bottle of 7-Up....she put 7 bottles of anything on the counter, then they went back in the fridge, 1 bottle of coke out, 1 bottle of coke back in the fridge, no soda at all on the counter and a group of about 7 kids, and I staring at each other. I finally spotted an empty  bottle of 7 UP in a case on the floor and pointed to it..."no, no, no" they did not have any...after all that. She allowed me to look closer into the fridge and I found a bottle of lemon lime, and we moved on from there. The children got some fresh fruit drink and of course a bag of cheeps. Although we have difficulty understanding each other we exchange alot of laughs and smiles. I started this thing today with Cristina, where whenever I see her I sing her name in an operatic tone, and she gets hysterical. This huge smile and bright eyes light up my day. She is very warm and friendly. She and Marissa have really hit it off. Marissa has a way of moving into ones life without any difficulty or boundaries of any kind. Marissa and Cristina played a number of games including jump rope. Cristina jump ropes in her cornstalk shack. She can jump rope fabulously with some piece of old twine string. She jumped for 57 times and was so proud to demonstrate that for her. We clapped and again she flashed that grand smile. 
Cristina and her Mother went for water quite a few times today because we were mixing so much cement. They would disappear into the cornstalks and return with 2 buckets of water.......on their heads of course. Later in the day Marissa followed them and grabbed a third bucket. I was comfortable with her going, but I could not find them amongst the corn. I just kept looking across the landscape, and eventually I did not see the 3 "water gatherers," I saw 2 striped pottery looking peices walking through the cornfield. If you did not know better you would think you were seeing things. Eventually it was clear that the buckets were attached to heads, and then the 3 emerged. Marissa was carrying her bucket of water in front of her, (think back 5 blogs, I did this once and thought my arms were going to fall off) she did it though...you know Marissa, nothing stops her. I watch them wind there way through the "corn maze" and up the hill, back to the house. The amazing thing about this, well there are many amazing things, the Mom, Maria has a baby strapped to her back, sound asleep the entire time. She also carried block this morning with little Eswin on her back laughing the whole time. I cannot say enough about this woman, I will tell you more about her later. She deserves a page just for her.
We finish up and put our tools away and go out on the road to wait for a our ride who happens to be Oscar and Joe. They will be here in "10 minutes......NOT!!"  It does not bother me that they are late because I sat out on the road and watched a bunch of little boys playing like little monkeys. Some in shoes, some in bare feet...why is that of importance??? They were climbing on barbed wire and it did not even phase them...I have to laugh at myself, I am cringing and they are just being little boys. I got some lollipops out to give them and we became instant friends. They told me their names and ages, and laughed the whole time. IN the midst of such poverty and deprivation these little boys were just like any little boys anywhere in the world...rough housing, pushing each other down, laughing hysterically...they were a riot. They all told me how old they were and then  they guessed my age, "cien" and for those of you who do not speak spanish...that is 100, yeah this work really does you in, because the norm for me when people guess my age is about 28, I must have looked really tired.

It was a great day, as always, I expect nothing less. The Dickerson Family who are building for the first time have told me they they have a "great" family and their girls love the children. They agree with me in that no matter how much they have heard me talk about this experience you cannot put it into words, seeing it really gives the clear picture. I am so glad they are loving this experience, as I think it can only enhance one's life in a most positive way.

Today we met our families and started our homes. We had a beautiful ride up to Santa Maria de Jesus as it was crystal clear and the temperature was perfect. A perfect example of why they call Guatemala the land of eternal spring. Our family consists of a Mom and 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl. They welcomed us with bright smiles and the look of excitement that their new home would be started today. Their property is flat but is located on a very steep hill. The Dickerson Family and The Sibona Family are building for siblings just above us. We are working with 2 workers from FHTH, Henio and Hector and 3 other volunteers. Two girls from Ireland and a young lady from Morristown...go figger! Today we were to dig the foundation and put in 1 row of block. We started to dig and immediately hit rock, or should I say rocks the size of a whole other planet. Some were large pieces of lava and others were just huge pieces of rock. As hard as the men tried, we ended up leaving the rocks in there and we will have to adjust. We never did get to put in the row of block, by the time we realized there was no moving some of this rock we only had time to fill the foundation with concrete. Tomorrow we will begin to lay the rows of block.

This is our 5th house and this never gets old. I love it here and I so love the people. Having no spouse the Mother of our family works very hard. When we finally started mixing cement and we needed alot of water, the Mom ,who by the way had the baby tied to her back walked down the steep hill and quite a distance to get us water, and as they do here she carried it back on her head. The woman here amaze me when they carry things on their head. The thing is I think they have the right idea...their hands are always free, making it easy to multi task. Todays work was exhausting. I was happy to get back in the truck and head back down the mountain. We stopped at a tienda just down the street from where we were building,we had built there 2 years ago, so when we pulled up I saw alot of familiar faces.  Building a home for a family who has no chance of ever having a sturdy and safe home is an amazing experience and has a very deep emotional impact on you as you bond so quickly and affectionately.The Dickerson Family who has made their first trip here have already said they love it. The family they are building for has 8 children and they have touched their hearts already,  I look forward to the rest of this week, however do not like to think that it could be over. Stay tuned...

Clinicas Medicas San Jose and other stuff...

This morning we took a trip to the health clinic. They were doing physicals on some of the students from Cambianda Vidas School. Dr, Rivas the pediatrician was working with 2 med students from England who have been working in another area in Guatemala. The Moms bring the children to the clinic for their exams. I noticed every child leaves with some kind of medicine. Dr Rivas told me many of them have stomach problems because the water they drink is not clean. He also said that the other big problem is respiratory from the open fires that they cook over in their homes withour proper ventilation. The strange thing about that is when we build homes and we offer a stove some family's refuse as it is their tradition to cook over an open fire. I had some fun with the kids. I let them take pictures of each other with my camera. It never ceases to amaze me how hard they laugh when they view the picture they took on the camera..

We had taken a taxi out to the clinic and we told him he did not have to wait. When we left the clinic we could not find a taxi sooooo...yes......we boarded the chicken bus to return back to Antigua.  What a riot. Phil said it is inconceivable that the tires on the bus could be any balder. Those busses are so unsafe, however it is a major source of transportation for the people of Guatemala. They are all independently owned and operated, there fore it is often a race to the next bus stop.They drive so fast and have no qualms about riding on the wrong side of the road. We made it safely back to Antigua and were dropped at the back side of the market. This is a typical market that sells just about anything. We were at the backside where there is many choices of typical food. I have to say it does not look that inviting to my friends and I  but it is very satisfying to the locals. As for me...no gracias. The market is facinating there is so much to see...there are so many people selling things that you cannot keep track. You could easily get lost in this market. They sell everything here. Food, fruit, shoes, music, sporting items, glasses...you name it and it is here. If you can't find it here they don't make it.
The rest of the day we just meandered around, heard some great music in the park and saw some young people performing traditional dances. There was a terrential down pour for about a half hour, it rained so hard the middle of the cobblestone streets were filled with pools of water. It was a good day and the anticipation of meeting our family and starting construction on their home is growing. Just an FYI-cannot get rid of the yellow highlight for the life of me...