Well, two things . . . one may not be my "favorite", but it sure happens a lot. The other is actually a favorite. And they both happened on Monday to start my week. So, I'll start with the "interesting, but maybe not favorite thing" and then end on the good note.
Mondays I take a tennis lesson during the morning. This particular Monday morning I noticed that balls started appearing on my court as I was hitting with my coach. There were some little boys walking home from school (guess it let out early for some reason?) and they were "helping" by throwing the balls from the grass onto the court for us. I just laughed and we kept on, but then at one point had to turn around to ask them to please wait to "help" us and that is when I saw it . . . a little boy using the bathroom right there on the lawn -- AND my tennis balls! I had to yell out for him to please stop! "Por favor, no orina en las pelotas!" (translation: Please, don't pee on the balls). This is one I do not understand, but it is very Peruvian--men and boys of all ages peeing on the side of the road, the city walls, the yard, matters not where--they will pee anywhere! I even had a dog pee on a piece of furniture I was buying one time in a market. Indiscriminatory peeing--it makes for interesting ball pick up during your tennis lesson!
After my tennis lesson, I walked to the grocery store on my way home. This grocery store is exactly 4 blocks from my apartment building and I often stop on my way home from tennis to pick up some groceries on the way home. This Monday I had more than normal as I was cooking for some friends that night. As I was leaving the grocery store, I saw Sandi and we proceeded to chat at the front of the store on my way out and her way in. She noticed my groceries in the buggy and the bag boy just standing there and waiting on us to finish talking. She asked, "Is he going to walk those groceries to your house with the buggy?" I answered, "Well, they have before and sometimes do, but I will probably carry them today. It is not as much as it seems." Well, I didn't. As I readied to leave, I told the nice young man, I've got it. Thanks though. But he was not taking no for an answer. So, we leave the grocery store, me, the bag boy and my buggy of groceries as he proceeds to walk me all the way to my apartment building. This time he even took the buggy up the stairs to the elevator inside the building. I thought he was about to come to my door, but I insisted I had it from there. And this is indeed one of my favorite things. Incredible kindness and thoughtfulness from the grocery store bag boy. It is definitely one of the perks of living here!
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