JAN/FEB UPDATE

I haven’t updated my blog in forever and it’s a bit overwhelming to think about filling in the gaps between the beginning of January and now, but I’ll do my best to give you a few highlights from January and the first half of February:

Tortuga (Turtle).



With Siempre in Monterrico, Guatemala

We went to Monterrico for our January YAV retreat and there we had the unique and wonderful opportunity to hold the teeniest most adorable baby sea turtles ever! Over a hundred hatchlings were released along with my little guy, who I named Siempre (Always).   About 4.5 seconds after I sent him on his way, Siempre did a summersault over one of his siblings. His fate looked pretty bleak.  However, eventually, the little guy mustered up a giant’s courage and managed to make it to the very edge of the shoreline just in time to be swept away by a gentle wave. To be sure, watching my newborn tortugita make his way through the canyons and sinkholes of sand was an unforgettable experience. 



 

 

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Tortillando (Making tortillas)

Dora tortiallando with her niece, Lupita. 



One thing Guatemalans often ask, when they find out I live here, is, “Puedes tortillar?” (Can you make tortillas?) Thanks to my Guatemalan mom, Dora, I now smile and reply, “¡Por supesto que si, puedo tortillar!” (Of course I can make tortillas!) I can’t exactly explain it, but when someone here finds out that I can make tortillas, they almost immediately warm up to me. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that tortillando has played an integral part in me becoming part of a community here.

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Día del Cariño (Day of affection/love/care)



Valentine’s Day, as many celebrate it in the U.S., is a day of: chocolate, flowers, disappointments, engagements, teddy bears, tears, kisses, and the list could go on for pages. Thank the Lord, February 14^th is celebrated very differently here in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for chocolate and flowers, but the power that one commercialized day has—over the emotions of a good portion of otherwise happy and intelligent single members of our society—is seriously out of control. That’s a topic for another blog.
February 14 2013 was a delightful day, despite the fact that I had amebas and unfortunately spent the greater part of the day hobbling from my bed to the bathroom.  I was inundated with hugs, kisses, and sauldos (well wishes) from my Guatemalan family, calls and texts from several Guatemalan friends, and thoughtful cards, calls, and messages from friends and family at home. The amebas certainly didn’t show me any love, in fact, they wrecked holy havoc on my digestive system, but even they couldn’t ruin my day. I hate to sound cheesy, but  it really was a day of Cariño.

Julissa, one of my cousins, checking up on me that day. :)  

 

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 Pica-Pica! 

I snuck this picture of my family in the midst of a pica-pica battle

I can’t believe I wrote about Día del Cariño and almost forgot to tell you about a Guatemalan tradition referred to, in Chimlatenango, as pica-pica! I’m told that the week of Feb. 14^this always a bit crazy because you never know when someone is going to crack an egg on your head, seriously. For the most part, people smash painted eggshells filled with glitter and little pieces of colorful paper on the heads of unsuspecting passersby, but some people use actual eggs followed by flower or other powders. Because I didn’t leave the house that day, I was lucky enough to only have the glitter and paper-filled egg shells cracked on my head.


(more to come soon!)...