Today, and this whole week, I have been in a very content mood. The previous weeks I had been feeling very sad about my approaching departure date, but now I think I am finally at a point where I can appreciate this experience for what it has been, and can be excited for more adventures to come after I return home. I think the trip we took this week with the kids to Xela was a sort of capstone experience for me; it was the perfect experience to have with Fundación Salvación to leave me very satisfied with my time here. We have also had a very festive week with our host family, which surprisingly didn’t make me sad about leaving, but all is already starting to feel nostalgic.
Tuesday night our family put together a grand birthday party for Yessi, our host cousin; I think I have helped cook for and have been a part of more birthday parties here in Huehue than I have ever been in the States. I didn’t realize this, but Brooks and I have been around for the birthdays of all three of the adults we live with, as well as the mother of Sheny, and my own birthday. Needless to say, I feel like I have this Guatemalan party thing down. Brooks and I again contributed a dessert (a chocolate cake, sadly somewhat burnt on the bottom) and some mashed potatoes. It was a delicious dinner, and I will never grow tired of sitting around a table here and laughing with my host family. This party plus the Xela trip made for a busy week, and more than any other weeks this one has moved by rapidly.
On Friday night we had another party, a going away party for Katie, a student who had been living with us the past three weeks. Sheny made delicious tamales, Yessi fried plantains, and a student from France, Francis, made an amazing salad. After stuffing ourselves with dinner (which is rare here – lunches are usually the bigger meals), we all took a short nap and then headed out to “enjoy the night life” of Huehue. It was honestly one of the first times I had been out so late at night in Guatemala, and it was refreshing to enjoy this normalcy I took for granted in the States. Yessi, Brooks, Francis, Katie, Lucia and I all walked to the city center around 9pm to meet up with Otto and Sheny (who had ridden by moto) at a restaurant run and owned by a former American missionary turned Guatemalteca (practically; her Spanish is impeccable and she’s really well integrated into the Guatemalan culture). Kayla’s restaurant was a beautiful place with a wide-open courtyard, and side rooms with comfy couches. We all ordered drinks, and sat around listening to some live music, performed by a Guatemalteco that actually goes to Brooks’ and my gym. Ironically, three other Americans came in later, obviously the highest concentration of American’s in all of Huehue that night. We chatted with them only to find out the girl in the group is from Beaverton, Oregon. Small world. The live music was great, the atmosphere was joyful while we watched Lucia and her mom and dad dance around, and I found myself often with a big grin on my face, taking in every moment without sadness about leaving, but happiness that I have had these experiences.
On Saturday I finally had the opportunity to enjoy something of a social life. Saturday afternoon I walked over to our gym and waited for my friend, Gina, to pick me up to go out to coffee. Like most good Guatemalans she was a half an hour, but I have learned to not let things like that phase me anymore. We jumped on her moto (which are SO fun. Wish they were more popular in the States) and headed over to a pizza place in Huehue, which had a very friendly and cozy atmosphere. We enjoyed a pizza and some drinks, and chatted the afternoon away. I don’t know if it’s the Spanish language or the Guatemalan nature, but out of the two coffee dates I have been on here in Guatemala, there has never been an awkward silence to fill. After our meal Gina drove me over to the orphanage, where she came in and met all of the sweet babies and some of the older kids. Brooks and I were planning to spend the night at the orphanage, and had a crazy evening passing out pen pal letters and playing with incredibly hyper kids. By 8:30 pm it was time for everyone to start tucking into bed, and while this was kind of difficult in my Niñas room (because, like I said, they were all pretty incredibly hyper), by 9 pm the lights were out and the girls were silent.
Sunday morning Brooks and I found ourselves at the orphanage again, there to watch a futbol tournament organized another volunteer. She had split the older kids into four teams – Manchester, Rojos, Real Madrid, and Barcelona – and had them all play games of about half an hour. Brooks ended up being the ref, but I enjoyed the game sitting on the sidelines with the younger kids, half paying attention while playing with the kids around me. It was a fun morning, but by the time we walked home I found that I was extremely exhausted. We ate a quick lunch, and then I took a nap before leaving the house again to hang out with Gina. She had invited me to attend her cousins’ babies’ birthday party, and I have learned in Guatemala to hardly ever turn down invitations (unless given by creepy men); although it’s all normal for them, for me almost everything is a fun, new cultural experience. It ended up being a great and extravagant party (extravagant for a one year old at least, who had no idea what was going on); there were two clowns doing funny things with the kids and doing some magic tricks, they had THREE piñatas, and cake and tamales afterwards. Apparently, if I want to recreate a Guatemalan party back home, the only four things I really need to include are clowns, piñatas, tamales, and cake. These four things seem to be a part of every Guatemalan festivity (clowns and piñatas optional at adult parties I guess), and as Gina said, “It’s not a party without a piñata”.
Brooks and I have been talking a lot recently about my impending departure date, and we have decide it is important to leave something like this with both sadness and happiness; if you’re not sad when you leave, it probably means you didn’t enjoy the experience as fully as you could have. And if you’re not happy when you’re leaving, it probably means you don’t have something to look forward to when you return. I am feeling a mix of both of these emotions, which makes me content to know I am probably exactly where I should be.
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