Beggers Breakfast in the Shadow of the Church

I'm sitting by Santo Domingo church killing time until my "art class" with my art instructor, Humberto (http://humbertobatista.com/) starts.  I just bought a coffee for twenty-five pesos (~$2). My class starts at ten AM and I got donwn here to the centro around nine AM since I walked to school with M & B and then caught the bus from there.
      About eight people sit near me in a group.  Three (or more children), two men, and three women - all indigenous (i.e. non-hispanic, "indians") sit on a blanket sharing a meal.  It looks to be cheese, fruit, and bread (queso, fruto, y pan). My guess is they are here to sell goods to the tourists on the streets. This breakfast  is probably the start of the work day - and if they're lucky one of at least two meals they'll get today....if work goes well for the gang. Typically the women sell small, hand-carved wooden objects such as toothpicks, combs, tortilla spatulas, and spoons.  The children will sell gum, candy & cigarettes.  The men? Perhaps, paintings done on small pieces of found cardboard or maybe woven goods such as hammocks.  Note that despite my title for this blog, it's very unlikely that any of them will beg.  The vast majority of the poverty-stricken here do their best to work for their income.  The job itself may be only a tiny notch above outright pleas for money - e.g. standing at intersection "washing" motorists windshields, selling chicklets of gum for a peso each, selling extremely-cheap, plastic toys they purchased in bulk  - but outright begging seems reserved to those with handicaps (e.g. legless men without wheelchairs, women with retarded children).  I prefer to interpret it as a poor nation with a strong sense of pride and work-duty.    My time-killing cappuccino probably cost more than the meager meal they share amongst eight.

NOTE:  I approached the group after writing the entry above and asked one of the men (as best I could in my crappy Spanish) if I could take their picture.  As best I could understand he wanted 100 pesos (~$10 US).  I declined  - a bit shocked by the price and ashamed I couldn't speak enough Spanish to make sure that I understood correctly).  Minutes later I regretted my greediness.