Sunday in LaPaz

We drove in again today to pick up our laundry and do some more catching up on emails. While Steve was doing his thing on the computer at the internet cafe, I walked across the street to the cathedral, and happened to be there at just the right time to attend Mass. I got there about 15 kminutes early and easily found a seat, but by the time Mass started, the church was filled to capacity. The experience was lovely; it ended up being a High Mass (where many of the congregation's responses are sung, rather than spoken), accompanied by a guitar, an accordion, and a tamborine. There were no missals or hymnals, but everybody seemed to know the words and the tune. It was lovely--happy and reverent and uplifting all at the same time. To my surprise, my Spanish is good enough that I was able to identify which gospel was being read, and even got the gist of the homily. The priest was an excellent speaker--I wish I had understood more.

After Mass, since Steve was still "computing," I asked the girls at the counter where "la tienda de telas" (fabric store) was. They showed me on the map I had,and, since it was only a few blocks away, I walked down to check it out. After consulting my handy dandy phrase book, I was able to ask a clerk to direct me to the "algodon" (cotton), and I picked out a couple of pieces. It itsn't great fabric, but the quality seemed better than the stuff I saw in Loreto, so I bought a meter each (a little more than a yard) for under $2 American a meter.

It's lujnch time, so when I finish this, we'll find someplace to eat. There's a little old lady with a table and charcoal grill set up in the square in front of the cathedral, and she's selling whatever it is she's cooking. Nothing written on her sign rings a bell, so we will smile and point, I guessl. It will be an adventure.