Sadly parents use their children to peddle stuff on the streets. They try to sell everything from Chiclets gum (yes they do that here too) to peanuts and trinkets, to home baked breads or tamales. Many are too young to be in school, but it is not uncommon for parents to pull their kids out of school to peddle goods. The poverty here is heart breaking and the parents know that it is harder for tourists to resist a little kid.
The kids are all cute here with their large brown eyes and ready smiles, and some are really good at pulling on your heart strings. Normally I ignore them but sometimes I will give them 5 or 10 pesos just to get them to go away. There is one kid in his teens who has been selling his mother's coffee cake for many years. When his mother became too ill to bake, he tried other products but it did not work out. So he learned how to bake the coffee cake himself. My favorite is the carrot cake. They are about 8 inch long ovals and delicious with coffee in the morning. He now knows me and my preference for the carrot and will seek me out. Sometimes he also works the beach as well, trekking up and own the beach with his basket of bread.
One day I had purchased the bread while at the beach, and usually place it on top of the coffee pot. When the coffee brews in the morning it warms the bread. But before going to bed I tore off a couple of pieces and ate them with a glass of milk. I retied the plastic baggy but I think I left it on the counter. The following morning it was gone! I looked everywhere for it. NO! it was nowhere. Since I have almost no drawers there isn't a lot of places to put stuff. I spent all day trying to figure out what happened to it. I know I brought it home from the beach for I had a piece before going to bed. The half finished glass of milk was in the frig. Was someone trying to "gas light" me or what??
Then I remembered the cat. Although I have not encountered him again, I find dirty little paw prints under the open window so I know he has been here. But that did not make any sense. There wasn't even a crumb left and the whole plastic bag was gone. Could he have jumped through the window with the bag in his teeth. If he was that interested in the cake, what was in it?? I could not come up with another explanation as impossible as it all seemed.
Yesterday I bought another carrot cake while I was at the beach. I left the bag tied up and placed it on the coffee pot. Remembering what happened the last time, I intended to close that window before going to bed. There is such a nice sweet breeze coming down from the mountains and through that window that I leave it open a lot. But that night I had been to dinner with Nancy (my old neighbor from the Little House of Horrors). After three margaritas and a few beers, I forgot to close the window. The following morning as I staggered toward the coffee pot I noticed something on the floor. Sure enough it was the half eaten bag of bread. He had ripped through the bag but only managed to eat a little and with the ripped bag, I guess he could not get it out the window. If he is that fascinated with it, is it made of fish oil or what?
Now, I am assuming it was a cat. The thought of some other kind of creature crawling thought the window and roaming around the house is just too distressing to think about. What is your opinion?
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