Un Dia in Zona Viva

For day three of our empathy study we spent the day around the hotel in an area called Zona Viva. For breakfast we ate the muffins we bought at San Martin last night. They were very delicious. After breakfast, we went to Econo Super to get some extra socks and underwear so we would not run out before the empathy study ends on Monday. We also picked up a lot of water and snacks. The same water they provide in the hotel for $2.75US can be purchased for Q3.10 at Econo Super (the exchange rate is 8.24:1) and we go through a lot of water with five of us. The finance guy in me just can't pay that kind of mark up.

We spent the next hour or two in the hotel room playing hide and seek. It is pretty amazing how many places you can find to hide in a hotel room. The kids had a great time and it was everything we could do to end the game when lunch time rolled around. We were determined to get Christopher (our very picky eater) something other than pizza to eat for lunch, so we asked where the nearest Burger king was. It was a couple of blocks further than we had ventured before, but felt it was worth it. Christopher was happy with the chicken tenders but even happier to get Pokemon Cards in Spanish. The best part though was watching all three kids run and play in the play area. It had slides with rollers that would never be allowed in the US, but they had a great time running and playing and so did Jenny and I.

We spent most of the afternoon in the pool. Luis absolutely loves the pool and gets more comfortable every day. Today he had fun jumping from the edge to our outstreached arms. He even rode accross the pool with me to the deep end where I was having to tread water. I love that we can see the trust building every day. The other highlight of the pool visit was on the way back to the room Luis wanted to hold Christopher's hand. This was great because Christopher loves Luis and desperately wants him to love him back. Christopher was BEAMING.


Tonight we out to dinner at Applebee's which worked well. The food was good and it is the only place I have found in Guatemala with free drink refills. On the way back we stopped at San Martin and got more muffins for tomorrow's breakfast.

Tomorrow we plan on going to IRTRA which is a combination amusement park and zoo. We took Luis on one of our earlier visits but Christopher and Caroline have never been. We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow.