The Flower Debacle

As some of you may remember, shortly after returning to Guatemala I made a list of ways that I wanted to change the ways I live and think about life here. Point five on that list was all about searching out and creating beauty wherever possible. In the weeks since then, I´ve done a pretty good job of bringing beauty to my bedroom, my desk, and even my car. Yesterday, I accidentally (and in the end, fortunately) stumbled into an opportunity to spread some life and beauty throughout this entire windowless office.

It was 7:55 and we were just a few blocks from work. As we passed a big market on the way, I pulled into a parking spot I´d parked in before to buy some flowers for my desk (having previously bought a vase for $6 at a nearby antique store). The first time I did this there was no problem. Bought the flowers and went. This time, for some reason, a vendor had left a significant amount of flowers (exactly 12 vases-worth) wrapped up and on the ground in that parking spot. Of course, I didn´t see them until I saw them under my back tire. I got out and offered to buy them all - which seemed to confuse the vendor. I think she expected me to argue or something. She kept acting mad until a fellow vendor said "He just wants a price and then he´ll buy them all and go." Oh. So we settled on 140 Quetzales (about $18) and I went on my way.

Not sure what to do with all these flowers, we knew couldn´t leave them in the hot car all day. So carrying the flowers into the office, I impulsively offered a couple bunches to a shop/restaurant named Willy who is just one of the nicest guys I´ve ever been acquainted with. He took them and put them out on his dining tables. Boom. Beauty Bomb number 1. Then coming into the office, I arranged, with our office manager/maid, to get a vase together for every female member of the office (plus me at my desk). Everyone was really excited about their flowers and very thankful. There was even enough leftover to bring back home at the end of the day for my host mom´s birthday. How ironic that I was going to buy flowers and ended up running over them. What was at first frustrating turned out to be quite a blessing for the whole office (and Willy, and my host mom).

The whole cache. Proof that I made good on the beauty goal at the office, complete with pictures of friends, a Kansas calendar, a Rilke poem, a few photos of St. Louis sent from an old friend, a paper crane sent from Spain, a drawing of some old guy carrying wood up to a cabin, and of course, the flowers.

Bea.

Delmi.

Miriam.