Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma!
Saturday is here, which means workmen at the house. We were excited to get our patio done today and waited for the guy to show. He didn’t. Silly me. When I called they said maybe Wednesday. Bummer. The roofing guys did come, which was probably more important anyway.
In the afternoon, I went to a birthday party for a woman who turned 50. I don’t know her well, but was especially interested in going because she lives in the house we lived in the first time we lived here. It was sentimental going back there, a beautiful house, many good memories there.
At the party I was introduced to someone. His first question was, “Are you gringo or chapin?” Since I didn’t know what Chapin was, I simply replied that my mom was German and my dad Japanese. To which he responded, “So you are one of us.” Never heard that response to my heritage mix, ever. It was quite a lovely experience, one I hope I’ll have again at least once in my life.
Turns our chapin means Guatemalan, from here. I confuse people here when it comes time to box me. I confuse people everywhere. It’s what I do. They are rifling around in their boxes looking for one fits who I am. I usually just end up with in box “other.” It’s a cool box that I’ve grown rather fond of.
There is a transparency that is accepted here. People ask the questions they want answers to. Very little seems off limits or rude. It does shorten the amount of time it takes to like or dislike a person, which I for one, don’t mind one bit.
The people at the party were what I would call the power women of Pana, mostly women who own businesses in town, but in their 40s and 50s. There is also an older group of business women, but they weren’t present. This group were mostly ladino women, not gringos. I’ve learned there are many of classifications and boxes here. No different than anywhere else. I’m troublesome in that I’m an American living in Canada with European and Asian roots. Whew. Where are they going to put me? I should have saved them some time and handed them the “other box”. I’ve put stickers on it.
After the party I walked with a friend to the grocery store. It was raining. When we got to the store I bought another umbrella. I left mine at the Porch after the movie. Clearly I need an umbrella to help me retrieve umbrellas I’ve forgotten around town.
We saw some friends at the grocery store and they were throwing together a games night, so we both got an invite. I love playing games. I went to that for about three hours, had a great time. My other two friends who were invited declined, so I met up with them later. We listened to Marco Trio at the porch, enjoyed the music. A lot happened today with two of my friends, so I listened and processed. Good company, good live music, good hot chocolate. Great evening with lots of interesting people I have gotten to know, some of them extremely well in a short amount of time.