With our departure date approaching, we realized that we need to weigh our suit-cases so that we do not get hit with extra charges at the airport for suit-cases that are over the 50 lb. limit. We each have two suit-cases to check and it could be expensive if they are over weight. We asked around and didn't find anyone with a scale (pesa in Spanish) in Antigua. One person was pretty certain "La Pradera" in a nearby city called Chimaltenango would have it. So, yesterday afternoon, Rick set off in search of a Pesa.
The ride to Chimaltenango was on a chicken bus. I was happy to get a seat, although I was the third person in the seat, which meant I was half on, half off the seat. The seat next to us had the same, so basically it was window to window people. Fortunately, the ride was only about 35 minutes long and it wasn't too hot. Roads in Guatemala are windy and you have to hold on or centrifugal force will take over and the people with the window seats (best seats) will be squished against the windows "enjoying" the weight of the entire row on the steep turns. Other than that, the ride was beautiful and uneventful.
When I arrived in Chimaltenango, I asked a person on the street where "La Pradera" was. It was about 8 blocks away, not too far, so I walked. La Pradera, is almost a mall. It has a large store, maybe the size of a supermarket. I was hopeful...but it they didnt' have a Pesa. One worker thought that one of the other stores in the row of stores had it, so I left for that store. Unfortunately, they didn't have it either, but suggested another store about 7 blocks away, in the same direction from which I had just come. After finding the store, I asked for a Pesa and you guessed it, they didn't have it, but fortunately they knew where I could find it. Just 5 blocks further down the road was a store that would have it. After walking to the next store, I was disappointed to find out that they didn't have it, but just 3-4 blocks from there was a store that hopefully would have it. Once again I walked and eventually found the store and wasn't surprised when they didn't have it. Of course, they had a suggestion for a store that "would" have a Pesa. While at this point I felt like I was searching for something that just didn't exist in Chimaltenango, I started on my way to the store. I walked onward for another 10 blocks, with a few turns in there and after asking a few people, finally found the store. And believe it or not, they had a PESA!
At this point, I was a little turned around. I needed to find the chicken bus back for Antigua. At first glance, it may not be obvious but buses here do have a route, they do leave from a certain spot and either I needed stand along the route or even better, find where the route begins. I asked the clerk in the store "where is a bus to Antigua?" and to my surprise, it was a a little more than a block down the road. I had walked all over, visited about 10 different stores (in my story, I didn't tell about all of them), been sent different directions over and over again, and finally found what I wanted within 1.5 blocks of where I was originally dropped off.
I was a youth pastor for many years...planned a few "road rallies" in those years. Typically I would send out the youth from one location and they would eventually return to that location. Yesterday, the guatemaltecos sent me on their own "road rally."
This kind of thing isn't uncommon. We miss the days of one store shopping and being pretty certain a store really will have what you are looking for.
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