Valentine’s Day in Pana starts with many firecrackers exploding on the streets, at 6:30 am. Generally any special day deserves firecrackers. I picked Kier up from her friend’s house, went for breakfast.
Cali went to her friend’s house for the day. Kier and Madi stayed home and did their homework.
The director of the school and I decided to do something together since both of us are alone this Valentine’s Day. Her partner is in Vermont, so we are in the same boat. First we went to the Galeria to see the exotic art show, which is a tradition on Valentine’s Day. It simply means the content of the paintings may (ok, do) have nudity. The exhibit is set up in the back area of the galeria, a beautiful spot. We saw a number of people that we knew. We saw a group of 4 boys from the school. That was funny. The one boy said, “Okay, this is kinda awkward to see your teacher here.” I thought is was more awkward for them to be there than their teacher. After all, at least we are adults, they are teens.
After the art show we stopped to see some friends, then we went back to her house where there was a spa day going on in her complex. There are four little houses in this complex. The director of the school lives in the main house, one woman in each of the other three houses. It’s ideal in that each woman has her own place, but she isn’t totally alone. They share a beautiful yard, lush garden. Like a little slice of tropical heaven. We had a lunch with about 10 other women who were there either for the spa day or just to have the lunch. Lots of great conversation, quite a few retired teachers or women who have started different programs in the city to help the Mayan children. Conversation is never dull here.
We went to church, it started pouring mid-service. When we came out, Kier’s friends were gathered at the coffee place, so we left her there and she came home a little later.
It was a different kind of Valentine’s Day. My observations are that first of all, almost all of the gringos here are single. Kier has one friend who has married parents. Seems like most of the indigenous people aren’t spending money on gifts for their significant other, money is tight, candy of flowers aren’t in the budget. My sense is most people see it as a day of annoyance and cynicism, talking about that illusive love that isn’t happening for most people here. But for the women who have some disposable income, it’s a great excuse to get a pedicure. So be it.
Cali’s frog blog: Today I had lots and lots of fun, because today I went over to my friend’s house. When I got there we played that we were princess witches. Then I went to the washroom. Then she went to the washroom. Then we both dressed up and played the same game except that we were dressed up and with wands. Then we asked the nanny to make us lunch while we watched Wizards of Waverly Place, the movie. Then we had lunch on the bed. We had macaroni and cheese and pickles with the shaky spicy stuff on it. Then we played house. Next we had the weirdest dancing contest with music. Then my friend was playing with a stick and guess what happened, she hurt herself by running into the wall and the stick hit her tummy. She started crying. Then my mom picked me up and we went to church. It started raining when we were at church, a really hard rain with lightening. We came home in a tuk tuk with plastic over the doors. Then we ate supper and I went to bed listening to the rain and the church together. P.S I love you all very much.