Noahs Ark (aka Chatun)

Sorry, I kinda dropped the ball on my last promise to keep my blog updated more frequently.

So, this Sunday Theo and I went with Leonidas and his family to the park that we tried to go to the week before. He had really built it up for us saying there were pools we could swim in, and a basketball court, and picnic tables, and much more...but even so we were still a little skeptical. When we arrived we realized that it really was a big step up from the last place. It had a pond with paddle boats, lots of hammocks and picnic tables, a kids playground, a hiking trail (which you could take on horseback), a canopy (zipline), basketball, volleyball, and soccer fields, a nice river, and two nice sized pools. It was Esquipulas' version of Noah's Ark. The pools had multiple depths and side pools as well as a few small slides. We played in the bigger pool with Leonidas and his daughter (about 2 years old). We bought a beach ball to play with and it was a big hit...she loved it. After a little while, Theo, Leonidas, and I went on a short hike up to the top of the nearby lookout...it was a really beautiful view of the valley. When we got back, there was a clown leading activities for the kids...by this time there were about 50 people in the pools, and more sitting around at the tables. Unfortunately the clown was using a microphone attached to a big speaker pointed in our direction...and he did not talk quietly! It got annoying really fast. We left just before 1pm to catch the bus back to Esquipulas but of course it wasn't there. We ended up waiting over an hour to catch the bus back...thats the downfall of a laid back culture...there are no schedules that are kept...and sometimes you wait a long time.

A little more info on Leonidas. He speaks kinda fast and sometimes laughs when we don't know what he's saying. Also, sometimes he gives us lessons on faith, christianity, poverty and heaven. He can't wait to see us in heaven and say Hola, Leonidas, ¿Como Estas? Also, since we are finishing in the orchard tomorrow, he wants to be sure that we don't forget him. He seems really worried that we wont talk to him or see him again...so we need to be sure to make and effort to see him. He is also really interested in learning English so we are going to try and set up two days a week to teach him one on one. He has very very poor vision so he cant learn in a classroom setting becaue he can't see the board, so thats why he is so set on having private lessons.

well, thats post number one...sorry it wasn't very funny, read Theo's blog...his is probably more funny than mine...follow the link on my page.