Thursday was the final delivery of bread and sweets to the team members in Los Encuentros. We were invited to join the team for lunch and gladly accepted. It was very enjoyable to sit at table with some of the team and to enjoy the food that had been prepared by the kitchen staff. The food was more than acceptable and the company excellent. We had chalupas with much of the ingredients coming from the market at Chichitenango just that morning. The pilot of the bus which had been acquired to transport the team hailed from Xela which coincidentally would be our next planned stop so, since we were seated at the same table where he was also breaking bread, we asked him what we should see and do in Quetzaltenango. He was fluent in understandable English so those who were unable to use Spanish were speaking with him in our more familiar tongue. We learned that he had had no formal instruction in the Queen's tongue but had gained fluency in idiomatic English simply by watching television. That blew my mind because he missed not one beat in either understanding or responding to our inquiries. He spoke and understood idiomatic English as any of us native-born speakers would or could. He was also a translator at the clinic during the week. A wonderful addition to the service team to be sure.
He told us that our transport time for the approximately 75 kilometers should be no more than one hour. He also gave us some suggestions for our short visit to his home town of some 200 thousand souls.
It seemed strange to return to Las Buenas Nuevas for the last time on this trip. But John was relieved that he had fulfilled his promise to supply bread for the week. It is different working in one's own kitchen with one's own stove and equipment, to say nothing about the raw materials going into baking. Some items simply are unavailable locally such as molasses, light brown sugar and buttermilk. But, he managed and managed well according to reports coming back from the team. He made Swedish rye, the wholewheat that mom made when we were lads, corn bread, angel biscuits and banana bread during the week. He made a variety of cookies also.
The last night at Las Buenas Nuevas we invited Niel and Diana to join us for dinner. They are the resident care-takers of this wonderful spot in Panajachel and we have connected with them on several occasions. We spent a great evening together at probably one of the best restaurants in Pana. It has European cuisine and I heard no complaints from any of us around the table. Niel took his motorcycle because he had promised to pick up some material that needed to be copied for Diana at her classes the next day. Diana, John and I hoofed it up Santander and arrived prior to Niel. The time went rapidly and we had a wonderful time together of conversation and visiting. We heard several different languages in the restaurant as this eating establishment serves a diverse population. Those I could decipher were Spanish, German and English. There may have been more but I will blame it on my failing ability to hear as I did when a youth. You know - the z's c's and s's to say nothing about the wh's and th's! Out time together consumed several hours and so as to not close the greasy spoon down, we bid good-byes and while Niel and Diana piled onto the motorcycle, we walked the few short blocks back to the compound for the night.
The next morning we walked about a block to the Deli for breakfast. Can you imagine an outdoor establishment offering meals with classical music to entertain the diners? That is exactly what we had and it was sufficient encouragement together with the good food to attract us more than twice.
As we sat at the table breaking our fasts, we noticed a number of children gathering in the streets outside. They were coming on foot, on their parents' motos and by tuk tuk. Just as we were seeing this, a small lad came tableside and offered note cards for sale. We asked him what was going on and he told us it was carnival and there would soon be a parade of youngsters. John was manipulated to purchase eight of the cards and then he took his leave because he had spotted something up the street that had to be purchased prior to our departure from Pana. I stood around until the parade began and took a few snaps.
We both found our ways back to the compound and began packing up our things for the final time this year. We bid our good-byes to Niel, Diana, Marco and Marta, packed the car and headed for the gasoline station for a refilling of the peanut of a car. For the week's passages, including that from Antigua to Panajachel, it took no more than about 6 gallons to bring it up to the top of the tank. While I was filling, John was in the store part of the station buying us some peanuts (spicy chili for him and salt and lemon for me).
Now we would retrace our daily routines at least as far as Los Encuentros where we would pick up the Pan American highway to our next destination. It took us about half an hour to get up to Los Encuentros where we turned left onto the Pan Am highway. There was little or no traffic on the highway which passed through mountains and valleys. On one of the steep inclines there were men standing just a few feet from the roadside holding sticks on which parrots were perched. For a very small sum we could have had una mascota (a pet). But, we wended our way and pressed forward. The highway on this stretch was four lane so, with the exception of the few construction sites, we sailed without stopping until we reached our destination city just over one hour from Los Encuentros. We made a few wrong turns but they were rectified within minutes or seconds and finally we were entering a major metropolitan area. We funneled into a major thoroughfare and soon John told me to take a left turn followed by yet another left and then a right turn. Up one block and we were situated just outside of the B&B Bartolome. He rang the doorbell, it was answered and soon the doors for the car entrance was opened, I drove in and parked it and we were ready to settle in for two nights.
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