An amazing place...

It's raining. Not surprising, I guess, as we near the end of the rainy season, but rain is so calming. A gentle rain, like we have here - mostly, anyway - slows the heart, makes the eyelids heavy and quiets the spirit. It also waters some of the most plentiful vegetation I have ever seen. Like the garden of Eden. Our landlord told me a story about a time when he stacked some fence posts in a shed during the rainy season. There was a "skiff" of dirt on the floor. When he came back a few weeks later to install the fence posts, they had sprouted roots!

This week I was taking a closer look at some of the plants in our garden - our yard. I noticed that some of the blooms had insects on them, munching their way through the petals. I figured they'd shortly consume all the blossoms on the plant. What I didn't realize is that the plant would sprout blossoms faster than the bugs could eat them. Amazing! The bugs get their fill, and there are still dozens of blossoms covering the plant for us to enjoy. No insecticide needed. There's plenty for all. I think that was God's plan all along. I love it when a good plan comes together.

Today was "gringo" day in Antigua. Apparently, a Holland-America ship docked on the west coast of Guatemala, and hundreds of toursits boarded buses and came to our little berg. We've only been here a month, but have walked nearly every calle at least one time, and are pretty good by now at figuring out north and south (the volcano is south, the cross is north). But many of our visitors were losing their way and, seeing us and realizing we spoke English (which we plan to maintain, by the way), were asking us how to get back to the square and their tour bus. As the seasoned, one-month residents we are, we helped them find their way, which can be difficult since few of the streets are marked. So it's more a matter of counting blocks..."go three blocks this way, go right and then go four blocks to the square." On the map, the streets are marked, which is totally misleading. In reality, I would guess fewer than 12 street signs exist. The good thing is, the streets of the city are all cobble stone. So we warned the people, "if you start walking on asphalt, turn around...you've gone too far." Probably sage advice for us all.

The best tip for directions is, go into one of the many travel agencies lining the streets here. Many of the Guatematecos there speak pretty decent English, and they are pretty good at giving directions...even when clouds hide the volcano.

We are having a blast here...meeting new people, discovering new things and testing our limited Spanish skills. So far, we haven't hit "the wall" people predict will come. When it does, I'll share that with you, too. More mas tarde.