Parque Central

There's a large, very pretty park that takes up an entire block right in the center of the city. It's always buzzing with people and activity- kind of the social center of Antigua. And it never fails to be an interesting place. One thing that it doesn't take very long to notice is that apparently PDA by young couples is socially accepted here- you can't walk in the park without seeing evidence of this (much more evidence than you'd care to see).

Today after church was especially interesting. The weather was perfect and we weren't hungry for lunch yet, so Emily, Kara, and I decided to sit in the park for a while. We found an empty bench and it only took a couple of minutes for someone to think, "Hey- it's white people. I bet they have money- I think I'll ask them for some of it." I've written before about our struggle to learn how to live in a Christlike way with all of the beggars we encounter. A lot of the people we see are in very sad situations... some others, like the guy we encountered today, are a bit more comical.

He came up to us and I could tell that he was asking for money, but I couldn't understand anything he was saying. He wasn't speaking Spanish at my necessary west-Texas gringo speed, and he just kept mumbling things. I kept telling him I didn't understand and I was sorry that I couldn't help him, but he just kept talking. Normally, I would have been a bit more compassionate toward him, but I did understand that he said he was asking for money for food- all the while holding a crushed beer can in his hand! Whatever it was that he said- that beer can didn't make his story very believable.

After a couple of other uncomfortable encounters on that bench, we decided to move. We found another bench, in the shade this time, and were enjoying ourselves very much, when a young lady walked up and asked us to help her with a project that she and some classmates were doing for their English class in the university. We were a little skeptical at first, but it was legit... she and some other classmates had to videotape themselves interviewing people in the park in English. They had their questions written out- both so that they could remember them and so that we could read them incase we didn't understand their pronunciation.

Emily was first... her interviewer asked her questions mostly pertaining to the night life in Antigua, like if she'd been to any "disco-techs". The highlight of the day was when they asked her what her favorite drink is and she replied, "Umm... I like water." I don't think it's exactly the answer they were looking for.

Then our interviews... they asked Kara what was her favorite thing about the indigenous villages (which we haven't seen) and if she likes to dance (which I haven't seen). Then they asked me what was my favorite sport, and I told them basketball- they asked me how much I practice, and I told them I don't practice much at all anymore. That ended up being a good answer, because then I looked at her questions and if I'd answered differently, her next comment was going to be "Show us something you can do." Not sure what I would have done in a park without a ball.