My absolute favorite time of day here is the morning. When I left the house to catch the bus, the sun was shining and the sidewalks were buzzing with the elderly inhabitants of La Elipa: little men with canes and berets, bouffant-ed (bouffanced? Can I invent that word?) ladies with shin-length wool camel coats walking arm in arm, women chatting and squinting on benches, old gentlemen holding their wives’ arm as they prepare to cross the street. The morning is the time of the elderly, since the students are in school and the employed masses are in the city or en la tiendas. And so, on quiet sunny mornings, the retirees and I stroll placidly along, feeling the sun on our faces and nodding our hellos.

MJ’s friend Consuela came over to knit today. The two ladies used to work together at a daycare center. They either said they worked together for 20+ years or it had been 20+ years ago since they had worked together. Either way, Consuela is originally from Equatorial Guinea, has 5 kids, 5 grandkids and the best recipe for pollo con peanut butter sauce that I’ve ever tasted. Lunch today was staggeringly delicious. But most of the lunches I record in my journal are epic!

I found a closer post office! It’s in El Carmen, which is about 15 min distance by foot. Maria Jesus set me on the right street, and from there I just walked and asked, walked and asked again. The shortest distance, I think, will be to walk to the church, go dereche up the hill until I reach the playground park, take the street on the left after walking through the park and then it’s near there. I can’t remember the street name (Almada-something-something?) and it’s not printed on the receipt. The way home is easy: there’s a line of golden tan identical apartment buildings, curving downhill towards La Elipa. Life is so interesting when you don’t speak the language! It turns even the mundane task of finding a post office into an adventure!