This week I have kind of neglected my blog, and only have enough “ganas” to give a short recap. But as many weeks we have had here in Guatemala, what we expect to be normal and routine surprises us with novelty and excitement. Brooks and I have learned well to expect the unexpected, accept invitations, and approach our days with flexibility and willingness to always try something new. This has served us well in Guatemala.
For starters, when we arrived home Sunday after our long trekking week, our family surprised us that evening with homemade pizza and chocolate cake. Although we have grown quite accustomed to Guatemalan food, and have actually been very happy with our food lately, there were definitely points when all Brooks and I could think about what all of the great foods we missed from the States. This was such a sweet surprise from our family, and such an unexpected slice of home.
Tuesday evening we had four teenagers from the orphanage join us in our yoga class, who battled through and lasted the whole session. They were incredibly sore the next day, but all expressed genuine interest in coming again, hopefully to learn the routine well enough to someday realize Brooks’ dream of running a yoga studio out of the orphanage.
Thursday, after spending a morning at the orphanage, we were informed that that night the other volunteers were planning a talent show for the kids; we did not want to miss out. After rushing through our yoga class (which ended with only ourselves and one other person), we headed over to Telepizza to get some dinner, and then onto the orphanage. They made it through the singing portion Thursday night, which unfortunately consisted mostly of music with words being played loudly over the kids’ voices; it was a great event nonetheless. It was wonderful to see some of the kids come out of their shells to perform, and Brooks and I are both very thankful for the current batch of volunteers at the orphanage that are there to serve the kids wholeheartedly, and to bless their lives. They even set themselves up as a judging panel, telling the kids how great the songs were once they were done. I love witnessing things like this, and it was great to have the chance to just sit back and enjoy it all. Friday morning they continued the talent show with the dancing, jokes, and poetry sections, which just brought us more joy and happiness.
Saturday Brooks and I had tried to plan out a day filled with necessary shopping (for a project at Fundación. More to come on that one later) and a coffee date with our friends Guisela and Ubaldo. But after our coffee date fell through and we realized our shopping needs were not as extensive as we had thought, we were blessed to find out we had been invited by Cony, Brooks’ host mom, to a wedding. Again, any new experience like this is a good experience, and we were excited to see what a Guatemalan wedding looked like. Although the invitation said the wedding would begin at 3:30pm, we showed up at 4pm and still waited half an hour for the ceremony to start; and it did not start like a wedding would traditionally start in the States. It began with a jazz band, followed by a mariachi band, worship music, a duet sung by two other artists, a sermon-like chat from a pastor, and a elaborate procession of the bridal party. Around 6pm the caterers actually passed out tamalitos and juice, a mid-wedding snack. Brooks and I had to leave at 6:30pm to be home for dinner, and still after having been there for 2½ hours, we failed to see the actual “I dos”. Although we were informed this was not a traditional Guatemalan wedding, that this was a wedding of the “ricos”, it was still so unlike anything one would see at a wedding in the States.
That evening our dinner plans included a large cena with our family as well as our host cousin’s brother, wife, and three kids (as well as a Guatemalan ex-Eugenian hippie that joined us from a nearby town). We had a fun dinner of meat, potatoes, beans, guacamole, and salsa, followed by a no-bake cheesecake (which turned out well this time). Halfway between the dinner the lights went out, so we continued eating and listening to guitar music by Juanito, the hippie friend, in the dark. It was another great evening of family bonding.
The next morning we had breakfast with Yesi’s nephews, followed by an acorn searching party outside (the little boys really wanted some acorns like Lucia had, and somehow I was the one that ended up supervising the search). I bonded with the boys at this time, them learning my name and calling me over every time they found an acorn. After the acorn search, the family piled in the car to visit the ruins in Huehue, leaving Brooks and I behind to complete a craft project.
This upcoming Saturday Brooks and I are planning a Thanksgiving meal at the orphanage, complete with turkey, potatoes, green beans, gravy, pumpkin pie, and construction paper turkeys. Brooks and I spent a couple of hours Sunday morning cutting out 84 hands to be made into turkeys, as well as hundreds of feathers, with more to come to make Native American hats for the kids. Our plan for Saturday is to set up tables at the orphanage with a placemat for each kids, listing their name and three reasons that a friend is thankful for them. We will make pilgrim hats with half, Native American hats with the other half, and then have a Thanksgiving feast, precluded by some soccer in the local soccer stadium. It’s going to be a great day, and although we are still working out the kinks, are feeling oddly confident about this big feat in front of us. As we learned from Xela, the kids are always worth the effort, and we are so excited to share this tradition with them, and to spoil them a little with one great big meal.
No comments:
Post a Comment