Red Suitcase and Guate Gorillas

Still struggling with this cold, but it wasn’t bad enough to keep me from getting things done today. We were almost out of food, and water for that matter, so after the girls went to school I restocked. I also went out for breakfast since I hadn’t eaten much the past couple of days. When I got home I rested.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling up to going to San Pedro today. I had an invitation to go one of the villages with a medical brigade. I was looking forward to doing that, but it would have been too long of a day and I don’t know how much walking was involved. I just couldn’t swing it. I also had to pass on an invitation to go to Santiago, another village across the lake, to hear a band this evening. Hopefully those opportunities will come again, I’m bummed that I had to pass on them.

The older two girls went to school in the morning, had play practice all afternoon. In the evening they went to see a dress rehearsal of another play that is happening in town called the Red Suitcase. Two of Madi’s friends were performing in it, so she was excited to go. Apparently this is the same play that our little choir is supposed to sing in tomorrow evening. After the play Kier went out with her friends. They were going to eat somewhere, then go out dancing later.

After Cali got home from school she said we had to go to the dollar store pronto, that her friend had brought her stuffed gorilla to school. She is difficult to derail when she has her mind set on something. We tuked into town, she walked to the back row in the store, right where her friend informed her the stuffed gorillas were. Only they weren’t gorillas, they were slighly deformed teddy bears that said, “baby” on the belly, not “te amo.” So it wasn’t Madi’s and Kier’s fault they couldn’t find it yesterday, it wasn’t a gorilla, but don’t even try to argue with Cali on that one. “That’s how gorillas look in Guatemala, mom.” Regardless of the species, Cali was over the top ecstatic to have it.

Then we got ice cream, bought some more groceries at PanaSuper. She likes going there because the owner gives her chocolate. If it takes me the entire weekend to get over this cold, at least I have food and water in the house for the kids to survive. This single-parenting thing is a different ballgame if you’re sick. Don’t have back-up.

Cali’s friend called to set up a sleepover for tomorrow at our house. They are more direct here, which I don’t mind. She called, said can I come over at 11 a.m. tomorrow and stay until Sunday afternoon? Yes? Done. This way you don’t have to guess what people want to do, they are more likely to forgo all the time-consuming niceties and just straight up ask you. I like it. Cali was going to go over to the family’s house to make tortillas in the afternoon, but we’ll have to reschedule that.

Kier and Madi have silks and trapeze class in the afternoon, something they are doing for the play. The director of their school went to circus school and is teaching them how to do trapeze and also silks. We will have to reschedule Kier’s guitar lessons since those conflict.

Tomorrow will be a full day. I hope I’m up for it. If not, as I said, there is food and water in the house, and money for tuk tuks. What more do they need.