Guatemala Day 5
I forgot to share another interesting experience we had
yesterday.
As we were heading home through one of the small towns,
the road was blocked for a funeral procession. There were probably 100 people
dressed nicely (I love the vibrant colors and ornate embroidery of the
Guatemalan women's clothing), ALL walking toward the cemetery, many carrying
large funeral wreaths and other flower arrangements, a band playing somber
music and mourners following as a group of men carried the casket. Between this
event and the procession in honor of Jesus we saw on Sunday, I realized how
steeped in tradition this culture is. It is something that is a bit lost in the
States. Being part of this event was just another of the many "love
notes" God has given each of us this week
We are all getting our routines down at
the center and grow more and more attached to our nannies and kids...Thursday
will not be pretty, extra tissues may be necessary! Our "pollitos"
(chicks) were getting bathed when we arrived and this was the first day Tara
and I have helped with this process. Chasing 9 toddlers around a small
bathroom, getting a diaper on them while they are standing ( something Tara
& I have not become very proficient at) and keeping them from sticking the
hands in the toilet or escaping out the door is quite a trick.
.
Many of our kids had runny noses today, but they were all
great about us following them around with tissue. We spent more time indoors
today since they had runny noses. It is so fun to watch each child and over the
week learn more about their personalities, likes/dislikes. There is one little
girl that is our collector.
She gathers several toys first thing in the morning and
spends most of the day making sure no one gets them. We have two little girls
that will spend most of their days sitting in the two big rockers and they can
be very possessive over their particular chair. One of the little girls is our
hugger. She is very affectionate and loves to sit in your lap and climb over
you. We have our "texture issue" guy, who is also one of the biggest
drama queens. There hasn't been a single food the little guy likes yet and the
faces he makes at each attempt always make us laugh. You may be wondering why I
haven't given you names...Orphan's Heart requests that we don't us names of the
kids online.
The highlight of the day award goes to Emma. She is our
children's director's daughter and is 9 years old. She thought it would be a
good idea to bring her loom bracelet supplies for the kids to make some
bracelets, little did we know what a big hit it would be with the nannies and
other women that worked at the center. Mandy, Emma and Alejandra spent most of
the day with a huddle of women surrounding them as they taught the ladies how
to make the bracelets and made some of the more difficult patterns for them.
These women get so little and work so hard that it was
awesome to be able to treat them with this little gift. Emma generously left
behind 2 looms and tons of bands for the ladies.
I have really enjoyed spending time with Susie, our
nanny. She has been very patient with my shaky Spanish and has helped me learn
many new words. We also taught here a few English words along the
way. (Today: spanish-cosquilla english-tickle). Tara and I were very sad to find out that tomorrow is Susie's day off so
she won't be there for our last day. This woman, and all the other nannies have
made a life long impression on me and although I not much of a crier, I wanted
to shed some tears as I hugged her goodbye today.
After we got back to the hotel, we had some time to rest
and then headed out for our big dinner out at a local restaurant for some
authentic Guatemalan food. Best black bean soup ever, ditto on the corn
tortillas. I had a local chicken stew and tamale, both very tasty. Others had a
chili relleno. It was all great. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel with a
young man named Felipe in tow.
The Orphan's Heart staff befriended him because they were
touched by his story. He is 16 and wants to get an education (here, most people
do not go beyond 4th grade). He lives on his own, renting a room from someone
but he must pay all of his expenses ( to attend school he must buy his uniforms,
books, lunch, ect). To fund all of this, he sells scarves and jewelry. We all
did some shopping in La Tienda de Felipe and then headed to bed to get ready
for our last day with the kids. We all anticipate having a tough goodbye
tomorrow. I plan on getting plenty of hugs and kisses!
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