Postcard :: these boots

...We sped past many cool furniture shops and dogs that knew not to wander into the road as we headed back to Antigua, Guatemala. We got off the shuttle at the center of town and made our way to Casa Amarillo. Our 4 hours here on the way to Lago de Atitlan turned out to be useful and we didn't need to get the map out to find the yellow house.

After checking into a private double {with shared bath} we walked back to the central plaza. The waiting taxis were all lined up on one side. The driver wanted 200Q for round trip to Pastores. We got him to go down to 120Q and off we went.

I can't believe we didn't take any pictures in Pastores. We were single-mindedly on a mission to find red cowboy boots. What we saw of Pastores - and I don't think there was much else - was one little street lined with boot shops. Every shop sold boots.

"Tienes botas rojas para una mujer?"{do you have red boots for a woman?} The question brought quizzical looks to the shop owners' faces. It seems they just didn't make red woman's boots. Finally, at the third shop we found a pair - not bright red like we'd been thinking, but they would do. And hopefully not be too big. I tried them on, but they were a gift for my mother-in-law for watching our kitty. Now we just had to carry them with us through the rest of our travels - just under two weeks to go!

We also took some time that day to return to a textile shop we had ventured into on our previous 4 hour layover. This shop was filled floor to ceiling with beautiful and bright Guatemalan woven cloth. The younger of the two women working there pointed out the different patterns. Common were quetzals, ojos {eyes}, las directiones cardinales {cardinal directions}, and volcanoes. Each pattern was specific to a pueblo.

Deciding on a cloth to buy seemed impossible. I liked the bright ones, but they weren't our style. Lukas liked a cream one with earthy colored designs, but it wasn't grabbing us. Then when the woman showed us a dark blue cloth with simple designs we knew that it was the one.

We filled the afternoon taking pictures around town. Lukas tried his hand at panning. Chicken buses were old, tricked out school buses. They were painted brightly with many sporting some chrome at the front and along their sides. When they slowed down to let people on the back lights would flash like they were at a disco.

While waiting for the buses to roll by we witnessed something amazing. Sitting on the back of a moving motorcycle was a woman breast-feeding a baby. I think this puts any discussions of breast-feeding modesty to shame.

After a big, yummy breakfast - included in the price of our room at Yellow House - we were the first people picked up by the shuttle. That led to an hour spent driving around Antigua picking up the other passengers and then returning to their hostel to pick up forgotten articles of clothing.

Finally, we were on the road to Lanquin, Guatemala...

{click here for: Postcards #1 and #2}

*Note: I know when we were planning this trip we were hunting down any details we could find. So, if someone doing the same thing happens on this little blog of mine and would like more information and specific details shoot me an email. I may not have the answer, but I can tell you what we did. megan{dot}a{dot}wenger{at}gmail{dot}com