After arriving in the small town of San Blas, we began exploring right away. The picture above was a neat installation near the ocean: a whale made up of trash found along the beach.
Later, we started walking up and down the streets. Maddie's backpack needed some mending to fix one of the straps that was almost literally hanging on by a thread. We happened upon this market of hand-made "artesanias." One lady there was doing some sewing, so we asked her if she'd be able to mend the backpack.
We offered to give her 10 pesos for the work, but she brushed off that offer saying she wouldn't accept our money, and then got to work fixing it for free. She finished up in about 5 minutes and did an amazing job! We insisted that she take the 10 pesos, but again she refused.
What can we do so she will accept these pesos?!
We had some nice conversation with her in Spanish. Well...as nice as a conversation can be given our limited Spanish skills. And then, in addition to fixing the backpack, she wanted to give us a small bar of handmade soap for free! We were even more speechless than before but adamant that this kind woman deserved the mere 10 pesos. We reasoned that at least we needed to pay for the soap, and she finally obliged.
This short exchange perfectly sums up our experiences in this magical little jungle town.
If you're thinking about visiting San Blas (which you totally should), watch this video before you pack your bags and make the trip!
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@sharingeverybite (Maddie)
@shenanigator (Jordan)
(and Laska the Siberian Husky)