|
Craig woke up wondering how it got to be Thursday so quickly. He said "I woke up with this in my head:" Where does the time go It turns into memories I pointed out that it fit the format of a haiku, and I thought up the final line: Where does the time go It turns into memories That last a lifetime We always get sentimental around the kids. We got up at around 7:30 a.m. and went over to the dining room for breakfast at around 8 o'clock. Humberto had already left for Chichicastenango with a tour group. We had scrambled eggs and refried black beans with cream and coffee. It was delicious. Aracely was writing in her new diary. We dug out a foam alphabet puzzle that we had brought and played with Aracely. She spelled out words and we were very impressed. We spelled out as many words as we could without repeating a letter, and then she put all of the letters back in order. Eddy got up and he and Aracely took showers. Once they were ready, we walked with Paulina, Aracely, and Eddy to the market via Santander Street and the bank. We passed her sister Olga selling juice on the street. Since their father passed away, she had take over his juice stand. It was nice to see it still in business.Then we ran into Paulina's sister Isabela at the bank. It is always so nice to walk around town and see familiar smiling faces. Aracely took photos with the blue camera as we walked past all of the shops and stalls. Paulina put a coin into a vending machine and got the kids some candy, which they generously shared with us. Paulina and Humberto had told us that Paulina's brother Carlos was now driving a tuk-tuk. We happened to see him drive by with two passengers in the back as we approached the market, and he stopped to say hello to us. At the market we got caulifower, corn, cantaloupe, avocados, tomatoes, plums, etc. Craig carried some of the heavier items in his backpack. Paulna bought the kids some sliced watermelon in plastic baggies. We ran into Carlos' wife Vilma while shopping, and she greeted us with a hug. We went to the butcher's stall and the butcher sliced up some thin beef steaks for us and weighed them in an old-fashioned scale. We really like the fact that Paulina continues to shop at the traditional market even as supermarkets have appeared in town. You often see people carrying pre-packaged food, but we like the fact that she still buys everything fresh from other members of the community. It seems much more sustainable. We recognized dried hibiscus flowers, the same kind that had been used to make tea in Mali. The family drinks hibiscus tea ("rosa jamaica", as it is called here), but usually from teabags. Today Paulina bought some of the dried flowers to make it from scratch. As we walked out of the market, I noticed something I hadn't seen before: a lady in traditional Mayan dress was seated on a bench next to a landline telephone, and people were paying her to make calls. Once all of the shopping was done, we went into a nearby shop so that Aracely could buy some barrettes. Then we took a tuk-tuk home. Aracely asked for the key to our room and unlocked the door so that she could get the computer. She plugged it in out in the hallway. Craig went into the room to take a shower. I played with the alphabet puzzle with Eddy. He did very well putting letters into the correct spots, and he asked me what each of the letters was called. Once again we were impressed by his attention span for this quiet activity. When Craig was done in the shower, we switched off and he played with the kids in the hallway while I took a quick shower. Eddy lined up all of the puzzle piece letters down the hallway and ran through them. Yasmin and Yoselin came home from school. We all played together in the hallway. The kids were in a very affectionate mood and we enjoyed getting lots of hugs. Paulina grilled some fresh tomatoes on the grill. We had steak with salsa with fresh home-made guacamole, grilled tortillas, broccoli and cauliflower for lunch. After lunch, Yasmin did the dishes. Eddy went nose-to-nose with Craig, holding Craig's head between his hands and staring straight into his eyes for a solid 30 seconds. The kid can be intense. It was time for another present: a kaleidoscope. The kids loved looking through it and seeing all of the patterns it made. Paulina liked it too. We sat and chatted with Paulina while the kids played. The kids' cousin Laisa even made a brief appearance. We were just starting to think that it might be a nice time to go for a walk with the kids and maybe get some ice cream, when Paulina told us that Humberto had just gone to get some. In a few minutes he returned with a small container of Rum Raisin from Sarita. We each enjoyed a small dish of ice cream. When the ice cream was gone, they brought out some plums. "We just don't stop eating!" observed Humberto happily. While we were sitting outside we saw the hummingbird. Eddy accidentally called it a "coliflor" (cauliflower) instead of a "colibri", as the words are similar. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that. Yoselin and Yasmin were playing with the sticker books. Humberto then headed off to play a game of soccer. Neli came to get Aracely and they went to play at her house. Craig and I sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather. As the sun started to set, we went upstairs to get a view of the surroundings. There were orange and pink puffy clouds floating by the mountains. After taking a couple of pictures we went back down and sat on our chairs on the patio. Aracely came running back from Neli's saying "I scary!" and telling us about hearing some screaming and seeing someone get put into handcuffs. She struggled to find the words in English, but when she then relayed it to her sisters in Spanish, we could tell that she was being a very expressive storyteller. She was obviously a bit shaken up and hugged us. The gate creaked and she jumped. We went inside and the kids played with the computer and camera. Yasmin and Yoselin played with the foam alphabet puzzle. Paola came home from school. Then it was time to try something Humberto had told us about: crazy corn. We had seen it on TV and for sale at the lake, but had never tried it. We were each given a piece of corn on the cob and instructed to slather it in ketchup, mayonnaise, and hot sauce. It was surprisingly tasty. We then had cups of rosa jamaica tea made from the dried hibiscus that Paulina had bought earlier at the market. It was deliciously fresh and reminded us of drinking it ant Daniel's house in Mali. For dinner we had pasta in a creamy sauce with small pieces of ham. We watched videos with the kids on the computer, and the kids played with puzzles. Aracely and I sang "10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." She had learned it in school and was excited that I knew it too. Eddy was transfixed and quietly repeated "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" at the end of each verse. Humberto came back from his soccer game and they showed him some of the videos on the computer. They learned that Yasmin had not done her homework yet, so Humberto helped her with her long division. We retired to our room at around 10:15, so they could finish up the homework and get to bed without distraction. I wrote in the journal and we went to sleep at 11 o'clock. |
 Aracely spelling words  Market  Craig and Aracely  Intense Eddy  Humberto and Eddy  Hummingbird  Crazy corn with mayonnaise, ketchup, and hot sauce 
|
|
 |
|
 |
