Shopping

I have a new friend.  Her name is Alejandra and she is 14 years old.  I don't know all of her story, but like many here, it is a sad one.  She was abandoned when she was five years old.  She has siblings and has tried her best to care for them.  I am not sure what all she has had to do in order to buy food for these siblings.

She needed some underwear.  So, I was going to take her shopping for those things.  Emily and I left for town and met Marc and Alejandra for lunch.  Then Alejandra left with us. She had decided she did not need underwear, but clothes.

I could tell she definitely needed shoes.

We decided jeans, shirt and shoes.  The jeans were easy.  She wanted a white shirt and there were plenty to choose from.  I would have vetoed some of them.  Emily and I each found a white shirt at the same time.  The one I had was cute, but the one Emily had was far cuter.    Alejandra saw it and just giggled.  She was so excited.  She went running to the dressing room.  Emily and I looked at each other and laughed as she ran toward the dressing room. The shirt was really cute on her.  Jeans and shirt were easy and fast.  Shoes not so easy nor so fast.

We walked through the underwear department and she thought everything was so pretty.  I asked her again if she needed some and she said yes.  She chose a couple of things.  I was going to pay before we went upstairs to look for shoes.

The cashier showed us a small tear in the white shirt.  There was not another.  It was the last one.  The disappointment on her face was heart breaking.  I looked at the tear and was quite sure Anita could repair it.  I asked if I could buy it for less since it was torn.  They said yes, but the amount they knocked off was so small, they should have said no.

We went up to look at shoes.  The first pair she liked was not in her size.  Then she tried on a couple of pairs and sadly shook her head.

There are other shoe stores in the mall.  So off we went.  In the second store, she walked around and shook her head and we left.  I was sure we could find something at Magic Shoes.  She squealed when we walked in and she saw how big this shoe store was.  She found some Puma running shoes that she thought were so beautiful.  She held them up in front of face, pleading with her eyes.  I knew that was more than I wanted to spend, but I was willing to splurge.  She was talking to the salesman about size and color.  I was looking at something else just to be doing something.  The price on this little pair of shoes at which I was looking was outrageous.  I feared the Pumas were far more than I first expected.  I asked the salesman and he told me.  Alejandra heard him and she said," too much.  Let's go."  We turned and left.

We looked in every store in the mall.  Sometimes she would shake her head at the window and not even go inside.  We all know how it is to shop for shoes and not find what we are looking for.

We got to the next to last store.  She looked in the window and motioned for us all to go in.  The ones she really wanted were not in her size.  There was a different color in her size.  She tried them on.  I had read her face all along, but this time I was clueless.  She raised her head, looked at Emily, gave a thumbs up and smiled.  Success.

She hugged and hugged me and thanked and thanked me.  Then we went downstairs and had a granita.

After I took Alejandra home, we saw Anita standing in front of the cafe.  We stopped and she said of course she could fix the shirt and would have it by tomorrow.

This was a delightfully wonderful day in Honduras.

Terri