Festival fun in the park!

7/26/13

Yesterday was a holiday (honoring St. James - I think). There was a parade in the park that lasted ALL day. Music groups playing, fire crackers going off randomly (and LOUD), just a spectacle everywhere you looked. Baylie and I went in the morning with our teachers. I'm sure they had very good intentions of explaining everything to us about the festivities, but it was so loud and crowded that really couldn't happen so we all just watched the parade. After class Baylie and I ate lunch at a little stall with some plastic tables outside that finally seemed to be the most local food we have eaten so far. No menu - just a couple of choices from what they were cooking at the outside kitchen. We had a dish called pepian and some very thick tortillas we watched the lady make. Very good! Like we have encountered in other places where tourists are found...you can get italian food, pizza, sandwiches, thai food, chinese, "continental" cuisine...but good luck finding a restaurant that serves a truly local menu.

We finally managed to all eat together for dinner. Shawn has been off exploring every day so we end up doing our own thing, but yesterday we all were home in the afternoon so we went back to the park and watched more of the festival. The greased pole climbing contest was especially entertaining! After some sandwiches and the one local thing that is easy to find - Guacamole (YUM!), we grabbed some desserts and sat in the park for a while. Some of the most amazing boysenberries grow on the hillsides around here and Shawn and Baylie made the best dessert choices, mine was ok but I should have gone for berries.