Day 39 - An Evening Walk

An Evening Walk

This morning was so beautiful, with the breeze blowing in my room, making it so cool inside, I didn’t want to get out of bed.  Wrapped in the covers, reading my Bible, checking Facebook and Instagram, I did not want to get out of bed.  But school starts back in a week and I really hadn’t done anything in my classroom.

So I finally forced myself to get out of bed, though the bed kept saying, “Come back.  I love you, Mark!”  Hard to leave when it is like that.

I took a taxi to school.  The poor guy looked so sleepy.  I swear at one point his eyes were closed.  A few times he looked like we’d go off the road.  So that is when the crazy gringo needs to start up a conversation.  I was more afraid of a wreck than him dropping me somewhere so he could go home and sleep.  But I made it.

I didn’t have a lot to do in my classroom.  I am sharing it with the Spanish teacher.  She has tons of books on bookshelves, all in the middle of the room, so the cleaning crew could clean the room over the summer.  And my room got a fresh paint job.  So I did what little I could.  I moved a few pieces of furniture and organized the student desks.  The school secretary, Yaskara, told me since I was here, the cleaning crew would clean my room and organize it like last year.  I was also told I could get a shelf for me to use in the classroom, since the Spanish teacher’s shelves were all full. 

I was on the school computer for a while, but not long.  So I left after being there less than two hours.  I needed to go shopping for some things for my classroom, but the store I thought they would be in didn’t have them.  Now I am tired from running around, so it was time to eat and take a nap.

Around 5:00 I convinced myself to stay inside and just read because it was so hot.  But I still needed to get some supplies for my classroom.  About 8 blocks away, just two from the Plaza is a very good papeleria.  The -eria ending means store, so washateria means washing store. A papeleria means paper store, but think office supply.  It took a while to let the lady clerk to understand what I wanted, but I walked away with scissors, stapler, hole punch, notebooks, notebook paper, white board markers, and etc.

The walk actually restored my energy, so since I was just two blocks from the Plaza, why not get a Nicecream? The Nicecream store is the most different ice cream place I have ever encountered.  They make the ice cream while you wait.  It takes only about 3 minutes because they use liquid nitrogen to freeze it.  The process looks like a crazy mad scientist's experiment.  The guy needs to branch out and open one in Ennis or Kaufman.

By 7:00 the Plaza is crowded.  Families have poured in.  Kids are running around playing with toys or blowing bubbles.  Teens are smooching.  Old friends have met to enjoy the cool evening.  It is the place to be.

A funny looking lady sat down next to me.  She was dressed in baggy pants, a suit top three sizes too big, a frilly shirt, and bows on her head.  She wasn’t one of those crazy street people who don’t usually smell too good.  She just dressed differently.  She started complaining that it was too hot to drink coffee.  So I told her that is why I was eating ice cream.  She saw someone across the Plaza and said she needed to talk to that person.  As she was leaving she said she’d be right back.  Well, I didn’t wait for her.  She was a bit crazy.