Travel Journal Two: La calle y el mercado

First full day in Cholula. I wake up earlier than anyone else in the house. Today, my brother in law Cristian is going to work at a basketball tournament, so it'll be Andréane, Vale, and me for most of the day.

Before we leave, my sister must do motherly things. She dresses my niece and prepares her day bag. I hang out with Vale while she does. I think we've become good friends by now. We read a lot of books together: Mr Messy, Snoopy Counts, Zingy and her favourite, Wild About Shapes.

We leave to go en la calle. My spanish is not bad, but I make many mistakes because of the portuguese, the main one being that I keep swapping necesito for preciso, its brazilian equivalent. The streets here are so colourful, every house painted bright. It warms even a monochrome-loving minimalist's soul.

We purchase some kitchen wares and Cristian meets us at the mercado municipal before returning to work. I go through some confusion ordering some food for my sister and end up waiting 20 minutes for a quesadilla. But all is well and when I return, I eat a monstrous sandwich that turns out to be pretty good.

On our way back home, we stop by the park. Vale plays and I purchase a copy of Isabel Allende's El Amante Japonés from a stall nearby.

Further down, we decide to stop by two different coffee shops. At the first one, Vale, after eating part of a chocolate and strawberries waffle, becomes obsessed with a bicycle hung on the wall. I catch her peeking through the spokes. She eventually tires herself out and starts crying.

We head out and she falls sound asleep in her stroller. My sister is thinking of starting a juice business, so we decide to sit down and sample some drinks at Green Me. I try and explain to her how to build a business that has a clear why, a compelling narrative.

At home, I make spaghetti with a tomatoes-and-cream sauce, but it doesn't turn out as I had hoped.