It gets to be complicated - where to hide the money, passport, tickets, traveler's cheques, etc. In the room? How secure is that? Pretty good I think. With me? What if I get robbed? Where to hide it? What if they take my jeans? I'm going to the bank so my passport must be available. Oh well, If I wanted to be safe I suppose I'd still be in Buna. (As I learned later, Buna wasn't all that safe either! But that's another story!)

Went back to the cafeteria for breakfast. Don't really like repeating myself but they're friendly and I want to see what breakfast is like. ... A lot like the U.S.A. I had scrambled eggs w/mystery meat, bacon (when I asked how to say "bacon" in Spanish the girl behind the counter said very slowly and distinctly for me: Ba-con), refried beans, coffee and water. They were out of coffee, no electricity or something like that so I guess they boiled some water on a gas stove - anyway, the Senor Coffee wasn't working and they brought the coffee out later. They also had the banana thing for breakfast, but I decided to pass.

I had purchased one of the local Spanish newspapers on the way to breakfast. Kind of thumbed through it. Found the table that shows the schedule/timetable for the power outages. Now - If I can just figure out how to read that.

Stopped by the bank again - converted another $50=L468. They recognized me from two days ago. Like I said, some are friendly and some aren't.

I just started walking in one direction - wound up at the place where their Congress meets. It's kind of a brick building on stilts. There was kind of a bazaar going on below it. I got the impression that it was for some kind of charity but I couldn't figure out what it was.

There's a pretty nice view from the plaza behind the congressional building - I took a few pictures from there. One I especially like is the one with the top of a palm tree cut off and the electrical wires just laying across the top of the stub. While I was sitting in the plaza a young lady came up and tried to sell me a lottery ticket. When I turned that offer down she wanted to know if she could come back to America with me. My lack of understanding of Spanish finally frustrated her enough so she wandered off - probably a good thing too. I later saw her giving her money to a cool dude who was leaning against a lamppost. "Quien sabe?"

From there, I could see what was once the home of one of their presidents. It has been converted into a museum. Admission for non-citizens is L15. I paid, got my ticket and guide pamphlet (in Spanish) and started the tour. Unfortunately everything in there was in Spanish. Fortunately, I can read Spanish a lot better than I can speak it. There was some guy who either worked there or thought I was cute. Anyway, he followed me around all during my visit. He probably worked there since they had some pretty important historical items out within easy reach with nothing more than signs asking you to please don't touch. The place had a beautiful courtyard with fountain and statues as well as a couple of windows with nice views of the surrounding hills.

I was thirsty now so I decided to try one of the coconuts they sell on the street. They have a very clever way of getting into them without running the risk of germs. They whack away at the outer covering (Husk/shell) until they actually get down to the meat. Then they will whittle down through it until there's only a thin layer of coconut meat on top. When you purchase one (15-20c) you're given a straw and you puncture the membrane on top. Pretty clever.

That was OK but it wasn't very cold or filling. I'm not sure if I'll try that again.

Time for lunch - walked past a pot of meat pies frying. Sure smelled good and, in that hot grease, I'm sure it's sanitary. Decided that, even though I think it's safe, it would be too long before it was cool enough to eat (I'll probably be back though) Found a "Camida Rapido". It's a lot like the other cafeteria, I had a chicken curry thing, some cole slaw stuff, rice and tortillas. Pretty good.

Before I forget - the floor of the museum and the floor of my room at the hotel are of an almost identical design. Probably built about the same time. I probably shouldn't say anything, they may raise my rent.

On the way back, I stopped at a super mercado (supermarket) to try to get some Contac. No luck. I did find some Anise flavored hard candy (made by Perugina of Italy). It's actually made in Costa Rico. Maybe they will soothe my sore throat some. I don't really care if it gets better - just so my sinuses don't explode when the plane takes off. I also got some chocolate things kinda like Reeces Cups. The real things (M&M, etc.) were in a locked cabinet.

Well, the chocolate things look like Reeces Cups but they taste like a Krackle/Krunch type bar. Still pretty good.

Walked around some more. I really like some of these 4-door trucks over here. So far I've seen Toyotas, Datsun, Subaru, Mitsubishi. Most if not all of them are diesel. I'd like to give them a little closer look but don't want to get shot. I'm not sure how much room there is in the bed. I wonder if they can pass the pollution requirements of the USA.

Ate dinner at a "Mediterranean" restaurant. I wanted to see what their version of Greek food tasted like. It was actually pretty good. I ordered s "Suflakey" (that's how they spell it) sandwich which turned out to be a shish-ka-bob sandwich. Very nice bun. Nice crust. Juicy, well seasoned meat. With french fries and a salad. That and a beer L25 =$2.70.

It was getting pretty dark about this time so I decided to pack it in.

I'm trying to get some laundry done here for 93c. We'll see about the results. I feel a little guilty because I didn't try to bargain the price down. I was just so happy to get it done.

I'm looking for some stuff to bring back with me but can't seem to find anything I'd give except as a joke. The only things I really like are some of the paintings and I don't know of anyone to give those to (to say nothing about packing them) The carvings are less attractive. Some of the Guatemala stuff is nice but then I didn't go to Guatemala.