Dia de Mercado Dos

Today while our parents were teaching English, Marta once again brought Lynn and me (Brooke) to the market. We made a stop before the market to say hello to Marta’s sister, Dalila, and parents.  After we all took a seat, Marta’s mother and sister started questioning us while Marta’s father slept in a chair on the street – like many men in Greece do. Ten minutes later Marta’s mother went home and Marta’s sister asked if she could do our hair.  Dalila owns her own hair salon.

 

Our hair after Dalila did it.

 

When our hair was finished we headed off to the market where Marta had us ask, “Cuanto cuesto?” (How much is this?) and, “Una libro por favor” (One pound please).  As we walked through the market to find our vegetables, Lynn and I discovered some interesting things.  First of all, the venders keep chickens in a basket, with a net over the top so they cannot escape.  Some venders had the chickens alive, and some did not. You can get the chicken already killed, kill it yourself, or have them kill it on the spot for you; your preference.  Another interesting thing Lynn and I discovered was a type of fruit that we’ve never seen sold in the U.S..  They are called lichas.

 

A licha

 After we finished buying all of our food, Marta brought us back to her sister’s hair salon.  Two of her sisters were there and they quizzed us on what we had just bought.  After minutes of awkward glances and stuttered sentences, we headed back to our house where our parents joined us for some fresh pina (pineapple), watermelon, and lichas.

At dinner tonight, we were joined by Marta's nephew, Irving, and her niece, Jonna. Jonna is nervous because tomorrow is the first day of a new semester for her at the university in Sololá. She has to write a 3-4 page essay in English about San Pedro.  She is studying English at the university so having her at a meal is like having an interpreter!  She's awesome. Dad and Irving also discussed engineering, as Irving is majoring in computer engineering at the university in Guatemala City.

We have plans tomorrow to go to the local pool with Marta and her nephew, Irving. On Sunday we will go to Santiago to the mercato grande.  Not sure what else we'll do but it's the weekend!!  No school!