We woke up at 8:15. The house was still dark and quiet. Unfortunately, Jess, Kasper, and Linda were still sleeping when Amber and I left. Kasper and Linda are staying in Antigua for another day and then going to Lake Atitlan so I won't get to say goodbye to them. We also did not get a group picture. Amber and I found a place to eat breakfast called Cafe Colonial. I think it was on seventh avenue (if not, it was on sixth). We both got huevos rancheros that came with coffee, beans, plantains, crema, a thin slice of strawberry, and bread. It only cost 25Q ($3). We then headed to Dona Luisa's to buy bread. They were having a half marathon in Antigua. As each runner passed by, all the people on the street clapped. The finish line was on the north side of Central Park. Of course, that is exactly where we had to walk. We had to weave our way through hordes of people clamping to congratulate their friends and relatives. We finally bought our bread and headed to the bus terminal by means of a different route. We found the bus to Chimaltenango as it was leaving. We hopped aboard and found a place for use to sit together. We were the second and third people on the seat so it was not like we had the seat to ourselves, but we were happy to get a seat together. At Chimaltenango, we got off and were searching for the bus that goes through Patzicia on its way to Patzun. Amber found a different bus that was going to Patzicia, so we took that one instead. That turned out to be a bad idea because unbeknownst to us, this bus did not take the same route through Patzicia. Because the bus stop was not the one Amber knew, we rode too far and were chatting away when the cobrador (person who collects the fare) came over to us and asked if we were going to Patzicia. We said yes and he told us that we had already passed Patzicia. We were annoyed that we had missed it, so we got off the next place we could and crossed over the highway on a huge bridge with ramps that went over the road. We had to wait at least twenty minutes for the bus to arrive. We climbed aboard and had to pay 5Q each which was an awful lot to go just a few miles. When we got to Patzicia, we were not sure where to get off. Amber did not think any of it looked familiar. She thought Patzicia was a small town and this was a large town. We asked where the buses go to Patzun and decided to get off near there. We didn't want to ride too far out of the city the other direction. Amber did not know how to describe where Bernabe lives. The biggest clue she had was that they live kind of near a water park of sorts. We asked a man on the street for help and he did not know. All he could tell us was that the buses to Patzun passed in the street we were on. We asked a group of older men sitting on a step and it was the same story. Amber did not remember going through Patzicia so we decided to start walking toward the outskirts of town on the Chimaltenango side. We followed a parade of horses and continued walking out of Patzicia. We walked for 30-40 minutes until we came to the realization that we were not going to find it. Amber had called Bernabe earlier in the week and left a voicemail and she had also sent him a Facebook message, but she never heard back. We decided to wait for a bus to Guate. We had been walking along the highway this while time. Amber decided to try Bernabe's phone one more time. She called him and he answered. She said, "Bernabe!" and then the call dropped. Se looked at the phone and realized that it did not have any saldo (credit) on it. Fortunately, Bernabe called her back and he said that he was on his way home from Chimaltenango and would be there in 20 minutes. We crossed to the opposite side of the road and waited there with a woman wearing a green traje (traditional outit). We though Bernabe was on the bus, but he surprised us by pulling off the road in a red pick-up. We rode with him to where they live, which was on the other side of Patzicia. It was pretty far outside the city (5-10 minutes driving time). He went to park the truck and we went up to the house to surprise Nirma. She was very surprised. We greeted all the family and were given two chairs to sit in. We gave Nirma the photo. Sadly, the picture frame broke on the journey. Three of the pegs that held the picture in fell off and the frame cracked. They liked the picture a lot. Amber showed it to Bernabe when he came in. We saw Kayla and Anderson and the extended family. We could only stay about two hours because the last bus heads back to Guate at 4pm. Nirma walked us to the bus stop. We got to see their church, too. The bus came soon and we got on. Amber and I had some good deep conversations on the bus ride. It was nice on the way back that we only had to take one bus to Guate and then the usual two home from there. There were a lot of people at Trebol trying to get on the bus, but the line at Cenma was not bad. The entire journey took just under three hours. We bought some tomatoes and bananas and then walked with Rachel to buy beans to make chili for dinner tomorrow. It is Lucas' birthday tomorrow, too. We came inside and scrounged around for dinner. I had a bit of leftover rice, tomatoes, and basil with a piece of toast. I washed dishes while Amber washed and soaked the beans. Then we finished up writing the standard on post-it notes. Tomorrow we begin the more fun job of manipulating all the standards into the correct month for the curriculum map. I wish Amber and I lived closer together so we could continue to work on it. We were working on the stairs because the Internet signal is not very strong right now, although it is working. I took a shower and then sat outside Barb's door and checked my email. I then started typing my two blog entries which I had already written out highlights on the bus ride. Katie, Amber, and I talked and then I finished typing. I went to bed about 11:30.
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