Domingo

Our last free day before schools starts!

We visited our landlord and landlady - John and Margaret - this morning. They own two houses in San Miguel, and we went and visited them at their main home. John is an architect, and Margaret an interior designer, and they have teamed up to create a really cool living space at their other home. It is 3 blocks away from the center of town, in a building that used to be owned by the local refrigerator repairman. When they bought the house, there were several families there, dogs, chickens and other farm animals, and of course, tons of refrigerator parts. They cleaned it up, and it's a large bit of land now, with the house on two sides of a courtyard, as well as an upstairs patio with a view overlooking downtown. (Actually, our house has a better view IMO.)

Afterward, we had lunch in a hotel ($30 for 4 of us, and a terrific meal), then the kids played in the Jardin (town square) for a while. Bryce bought a huge $2 pencil-shaped balloon, which popped after about 10 minutes of play. There was a band in the center square, and Laurel an I watched the salsa dancing for a bit. Next, off to the Mercado to get school "slippers" for the kids. (Our school requires kids to have special shoes they wear only in the classroom.) Then back home for "siesta" and work.