Well, it happened. A piece of our luggage was stolen today. We aren't surprised because the scene at the Xela bus terminal is crazy. There are tens of buses all lined up with drivers screaming out where they are going. It appears to us as chaos. In addition, the terminal is adjacent to the market. So, to say the least, it's a place with a lot of people and A LOT of activity.

Our host mother took us to the bus terminal this morning. Since there wasn't enough room in her car to fit everything, we arrived at the bus terminal in 2 vehicles. Half of our luggage was in Sonia's car and the other half was in a taxi. Suddenly, as we were unloading the luggage from the vehicles, about 5 men showed up to "generously" carry the suitcases to the bus. Thinking all of these men worked on the bus, and not wanting us to miss the bus, Sonia told us to let them take the luggage. Immediately after the men crossed the street with our luggage, another chicken bus drove past and blocked our view of the luggage. Immediately Sonia saw what happened and told us, "check, check." We did see some of our luggage tied onto the top of the appropriate bus, so we thought we were good to go. When we arrived at the transfer point, and asked for the last piece of luggage to be thrown down off the top of the bus, the man said there was no more luggage for us. In the 10 seconds that a bus blocked our view of our luggage, one piece was stolen.

Fortunately, the bag that was stolen was the children's clothing. There were some other items, but they can all be replaced. We have experienced Guatemala in a new way and now our trip is complete.

Today none of us felt much like being tourists, so we took it easy in Antigua. We went out for lunch, walked around the central park, and visited the market to buy a few last minute gifts. We leave our hotel at 3:45 tomorrow morning, so we are heading to bed early tonight.

As I write this post, Daniel is telling me to "sopla, sopla" Guessing that he wants me to blow on him, I asked, "Is this what you mean?" Yes, apparently the verb "soplar" means "to blow." Actually, Daniel taught me how to better pronounce a word in Spanish today too. He said to me, "Mom, don't say _____, say it like this _____."

Ahh...it's a good feeling to learn some Spanish from Daniel as we prepare to leave. Yes, this trip has been successful, even if the kids don't have any clothes!