Saturday, August 2, 2008

50.

I can’t believe it’s August already. It’s practically the end of summer!

After the crazy thunder, lightning and rain we had yesterday, we were happy to wake up to clear skies and sun. We had a leisurely breakfast out on the patio, enjoying some of the best coffee we’ve had recently. It’s grown locally in the highlands of Guatemala. We hope to find some to buy in Antigua. No idea why they don’t sell it around here, but they don’t.

After breakfast, we took a launcha to San Pedro to hit the ATM and then a tuk tuk (tricycle taxi) to the next village over, San Juan. San Pedro is a super hippy back packer hang out. The water appears to be polluted and the city smelled. San Juan is smaller and Maria suggested we visit to get a feel of a typical Guatemalan town. And that’s exactly what it was. Not much going on other than just people living their life.

I’ve been on the look out for yarn shops throughout this whole trip. I thought for sure I’d find one in Merida, what with all the textiles for sale. No dice. And then I thought for sure I’d find one in San Cristobal because of all the Europeans who have moved there. Surely there are knitters. Right? Nope. So imagine my surprise when I walked into a little shop selling hand woven table cloths, napkins, table runners, etc and found those same triangular bins that yarn shops in the states use for displays. Yarn! Hand dyed, cotton yarn in beautiful saturated colors. I nearly fell over with joy. But then I learned that it wasn’t really yarn. It was embroidery string. I still touched every single skein, but didn’t buy anything.

I also saw a woman crocheting in the central market. She was making a very pink lacy tablecloth. I wanted to take her picture, but the indigenous people believe that a photograph steals your soul, so we didn’t get one.

I have, however, been knitting a bit more. I think it’s the lakeside setting that has inspired me again. It’s just so lakey and lodgy that knitting makes sense here. So I’ve picked up the socks that I cast on during the bus ride from Isla to Merida and have about 2 inches done. The colors are very Guatemalan – blues, purples, greens, oranges – not colors I usually knit with. I think they’ll be girl socks. Short girl socks.

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