Hot, hot, cold

Today I went to this place called Fuentes Georginas with some ladies from the language school here. It's so nice, the hot water comes out of a lushly green mountain-side and then three pools have been set up to capture it. I ended up having the most pruned up hands of my life. They're still not normal, almost 6 hours later. To get up there, we had to take the bus to this nearby town called Zunil, then find a pickup to take us in its bed up a twisty mountain road for 20 minutes. It's funny all the risks that I'll take in a foreign environment that I wouldn't do at home. At home, I feel antsy if I'm in a car without a seat-belt. Here, hopping into the back of a truck is just a normal way to get around. When we were done, there was a group getting into the back of a pickup to go down the hill, but we didn't realize it was a family group and not a for-hire situation so we asked if we could ride too. One lady was like, "Sorry, it's full" but then the father of the family was like, "Sure!" and it ended up being a pretty crammed ride in the back of the truck down the hill. The ladies were all wearing traditional Mayan clothing, but it's much rarer to see men dressed that way. The whole thing was very generous of them, because they gave us the ride for free and gave each of us a piece of fruit. Now I'm back in town and freezing again. It can be pretty warm on a sunny day but the nights are always cold here. I bought a big puffy down jacket at a used clothing store here. I thought I had found a resale store specializing in clothes ditched out on by travelers, but my maestra said that corrupt officials began a business of importing large amounts of donated clothing from the US and then reselling them. Apparently it started back in the 1970s, when there was a huge earthquake and the US sent large packages of clothing as a donation. Somewhere along the way, the clothes became available for sale instead of just being handed out, as was supposedly the intention of the donors. The tradition continues. Well, it was much warmer than any of the other coats I encountered here, and when the saleslady asked 20Q for it (like $2.50), I said I'll take it, even if it looks pretty 80s.