Before I begin to talk about all that Day three consisted of, I must first discuss the free concert that we attended last night. At some point in the afternoon, while we were all half asleep in hammocks or yard chairs in the center living area of Casa Sito, a group of minstrels in very interesting, colorful costumes came parading down our street with a drum ensemble! When we went outside to see what all the commotion was about, they stopped and read off a message, revealing a free concert in the Central Park. So, with nothing better to do that night, we attended! It turned out to be a very interesting, entertaining, and empowering concert, which I think was all for women´s empowerment (no way to be really sure). All I know for sure is it was comprised of all women performers who had a very stong opinion about something, and James was very enthusiastic about it (I have a picture of him right in front of the stage with his arms in the air). It began with some interesting tribal performances and ended with multiple women singers, providing for a very entertaining night!The next morning, we headed straight back out to Santa Maria to finish off the next four layers of cinder blocks. Just as before, the family was very excited to see us! I believe the whole neighborhood in general is getting more used to us as well. As we drove up the hill to Cesar & Isabella´s house, we were greeted by the smiling faces of many children in the area who we have not seen before. Since we only had to complete 4 layers today, it left more time to play with the kids and get to know the family a little better, which is exactly what we did. The day was packed with a mix of soccer games with the kids and work. Whenever we were not working, we were playing, which was actually a lot more work than the actual work, especially when the ball would roll down the extremely large hill that their house was on (they live on the side of a mountain to put it in perspective). James actually beat the kids down the hill while chasing a ball one time, although he did slide half the way down on his back. For lunch today, pizzas were delivered from Antigua along with some Sprite and Coke. I think everyone would agree that it was a very delicious meal! It was the first time that I have ever seen little kids eat a supreme pizza and love it (it was all that there was to offer).
After we completed the four layers of cinder blocks, and many games of soccer, we said our "Buenos tardes" to the family and headed off to play some soccer in town (still Santa Maria) with the Guatemalans working for From Houses to Homes. They took us through town to some basketball/soccer courts where we played for quite a while. Growing up in a soccer family, it has always been a dream of mine to play in a foreign country that truly loves the game. That couldn´t have been more true here. All the workers go straight from their jobs, in concrete crusted work clothes and all, to play soccer on dirt, or in our case concrete, fields. It was incredible to not only play with them, but also see how enjoyable the game is to them. One of our foremen, Henyo, is quite the talented player, as is Fred of course! There are soccer fields everywhere here! I love it!
To close out our day, we returned to Casa Sito to tend our wounds from the game for a while, and then headed out to diner. We dined at a fine Italian restaurant today that had home made pasta (a necessity for Fred). I have yet to find a dish that was not delicious here in Guatemala!
-Patrick Needham
