I was sitting on a small balcony inside a coffee shop when these kids sat down on the curb outside to eat their lunch.  I was enjoying a mango smoothie and my latest book but became fascinated by these kids.  I just sat and watched them for a long time, but they were never aware of me.  The pictures are a little fuzzy ’cause I was on full zoom and holding my phone as steady as I could.

Here is my mostly speculated narrative.  The two younger kids were the younger siblings of the girl on the left and it was her day to watch them.  Maybe that’s everyday.  They had the look of siblings and as the younger kids would get antsy and start to wonder off, it was her that called them back.  Sometimes with a kind of pretend authoritative sternness that was adorable.  The two older girls may be related but not sisters.  They did not look at all alike.

If you look closely you can see that the girl on the left has a green blanket tied across a shoulder.  There was an infant in that cocoon.  No way of knowing if it was hers or another younger sibling.  There are babies having babies all over the world.  As I watched, I was thinking about the contrast between the millions we spend in the US on the safety testing of baby carriers and seats, and the literally millions of toddlers and infants throughout the world who survive and thrive having ridden around in a sling fashioned from just a simple blanket.

You can also see, next to the small girl, tablets of lottery tickets.  This is what brings these two older girls to the street to try to make a little money.  I don’t really know anything about the lottery other than it exists.

As I was leaving I stopped and asked them how much they had paid for their lunch.  Three small styrofoam plates, with a small piece of chicken and some rice, and two orange drinks shared amongst the four kids.  19 quetzals, $2.55 US.  The orange drinks were more expensive than the food.  I gave them a 20Q note and did my best to explain that I wanted to buy their lunch for them.  The quizzical smiles on their faces were worth ten times that. 🙂

I am well and hope you all are too.