a visit to the neighbors, for real

Today we honestly did go visit the neighbors! This time, we walked down the road and through Lencho's property (and past the unattended cows that were milling around at the entrance, both inside and outside the gate). We had a nice conversation with Maria Elena, the young woman--and , shock of all shocks, I actually did most of the talking! When she was at our house on Wednesday she had promised that she would give us some milk if we came by in the morning, which she did--fresh cow milk is a treat for us! And so we took her some lemongrass in return. Suyapa, the real woman of the house, appeared a little later and gave us some fresh eggs, too.

And we walked home by way of the creek. I was glad to discover that the place where we had given up and turned around last time was not right around the bend from them! It was about 1/3 of the way back. In one spot, a large tree had been cut down and fallen into and across the creek, filling the canyon. With all the rain and high water we've had, it was full of branches, sticks, and foliage so as to make the creek completely impassable. We had to clumb up the hillside ato go around it. All the while being very careful not to break the eggs or drop the bottle of milk... But we made it! In the end though, we decided that even though it seems more direct to go by way of the creek, it's not any faster and it's certainly much more difficult! Future trips by Prairie and Beth will probably be made by way of Lencho's.