~día tres~
~ Ultimo Día ~
I awoke from my dreams of ice cream men and cows early in the
morning. That crazy rooster was walking around outside my tent again.
I got out of my tent. Selvin was already up, plowing his fields
with his new bulls. He works so hard to put food on his family’s table. He saw
me and motioned for me to join him. I walked over next to him. He was guiding
the bulls in a straight line so that they wouldn’t mess up the fields.
“Selvin, how long have you been working in agriculture?” I
asked.
“Twenty years, since I was nine,” he said.
He had a job when he was nine years old. Wow. I thought about
it. I’m 13 and I don’t even have a job.
~~~~
Today, we went to the Usulután market place. It was amazing. The
streets were lined with venders selling barrels of fruits and vegetables I had
never seen or heard of before. Slabs of raw meat, along with whole ducks and
pigs, hung from meat hooks under awnings. The air was filled with a constant
Spanish jibber-jabber that I couldn’t understand. When I breathed I smelled a
million smells that I couldn’t recognize. Everything was new and exciting.
Little kids ran around playing tag and selling candy to
tourists. Stray dogs hid under tables and chased bones that people threw on the
ground. Wonderful colors hung from tables and awnings. Street venders
advertised their fresh produce. Tourists snapped pictures of buildings and
statues.
Sadly, it was finally time to go. Selvin drove me back to his
house to pack my things. I got my bags together and walked out to the bus stop.
The whole family said goodbye. I was so sad to go. When the big noisy chicken
bus pulled up, Selvin’s daughter handed me a folded piece of paper. “Thank
you.” She said with a shy smile.
“Goodbye,” I said as I stepped onto the bus. Then the bus drove
off.
I opened the paper and smiled.
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