This morning we did another Paka sale (selling second hand clothes) at The Porch. We are raising money to finish the roof of a house for a family here in Pana. I woke up too late to get a coffee, but they had some for all of us who were volunteering at the paka. All three girls came with me, but the younger two had grumpy sleepover hangovers. No alcohol involved, grandparents, just good old lack of sleep from being at a single or double-night sleepover. Kier was tired from the boat party. I sent all of them home in a tuk to sleep off their moods. I told them not to kill each other, even talk to each other, just go to separate corners and sleep. Twas a good decision, since they were their normal pleasant selves when next I encountered them next.
As far as the paka went, our business wasn’t as brisk as it was last week. This week we only charged 5Q an item which is about sixty cents. In the end a woman came and bought all the clothes that were left for $120. She started her own paka. There were lots of clothes left. The woman could only pay $60 now and the rest when she sold some clothes. A good example of a microloan.
After the paka was finished at noon, I went home. Kier woke up at 2 p.m. and started doing her homework. She went with me to buy some groceries. She is still having some tummy troubles.
We went to church, a smaller group this week. I was again reminded how different it is to have church in a bar. Some guys were playing pool before the service, you could probably buy a beer after the service if you wanted one.
During the message part of the service one of the well known older indigenous women who sells bracelets on the street walked through the service. She’d been drinking the free coffee, said very loudly that it wasn’t very good, and started asking us for money. I’m not sure she realized we were in a service or maybe she did. The local rumor is that she is extremely wealthy, owns lots of land surrounding Pana and has been on the cover of National Geographic. She asks everyone for “un Quetzal” and is persistent. After she had enough Qs in her hand, she left. Then a man stood outside the door with his hand out until someone went and put some money in it. I don’t think anyone can concentrate when people are begging, which is probably how it should be. After the service, and required visit to Saritas for ice cream, we walked home. There was a serious soccer game taking place on the field, lots and lots of people watching.
After the younger two girls were in bed and Kier was settled into doing her homework, I went to a friend’s house for girls’ night. When all four of us were gathered, we talked about what we would do, our big plans. One woman didn’t want to go out because she was broke and didn’t want us to pay for her. The consensue was to stay in for a beer and a movie. Sounds simple, right? Two of the women had tv’s but no dvd player, so couldn’t do it at their houses. I have both, but they think my house is too far away, so don’t want to spend the money on a tuk. That left my other friend, who does have a small tv and dvd player. We stayed at her house. She had also just made cookies, extra bonus since none of the rest of us bake. My friend has her tv in her bedroom, luckily her husband was out playing a band gig or our plan wouldn’t have worked. The four of us would squeeze onto the bed to watch the movie. That part of the decision was done.
Next we needed a movie. My friend rents movies as part of her business, but they had just bomb-sprayed for roaches so we couldn’t go there without being exterminated, too. The only three movies they had in the house were School of Rock (juvy), Scoops which is a Woody Allen movie that I nixed because he makes me want to hurl, and Avatar. We decided on Avatar even though the last time my friend watched it she hated it. She thought she’d like it better the second time around. Next we went out to buy beer. We went to a couple of stores and they were closed, but we finally found a place. By the time we got the movie started and were piled on the bed with beverages and cookies, we were all about to fall asleep.
I got a third of the way through the movie, and decided to pack it in. It was only about 9, but I wanted to go home and be around for Kier before she went to bed. I lasted longer than one of the other women who left earlier to talk to her son. I found out the next day no one made it through the whole movie. My other friend left soon after I did because she wanted to talk to her son before he went to sleep, which left the woman who lived there with her teen son to finish watching the movie. We all ended up going home to connect with our teens, specifically. The whole point of a girls night out, is to get out with the girls, have a break, and none of us could do it. Sometimes we pull it off, this just wasn’t the night. We were all tired and wanted to be with our kids. Ironically, when I got home, Kier had gone to bed early. I could have stayed with my girlfriends, fail.
Whether in Canada or here, the girls seem to meet their social needs, no matter where in the world you plop them. Likewise, whether in Canada or here, moms try to have girls’ night out which sometimes doesn’t work due to exhaustion or not being able to turn off the inner call of parenting.