Since the last entry we returned to Canada for six months, and returned to Guatemala in mid-December. The 2010 blog adventure ended abruptly without any sort of closure. My apologies go out, mostly to the grandparents who have been patiently waiting for the return of the blog so they can keep daily tabs of the grandgirlies. In the past I was more religious about blogging because that’s one way in which I kept Paul up to date if he was working in Canada. But I got a blackberry this time around and now Paul and I message for free all day every day. I suppose it’s shirking responsibility to totally blame RIM for the demise of my blog. It’s safe to say I’ve been more into living mode than reflecting mode. I was more in a living mode and not feeling reflective enough to blog. But I think I’m ready to get back onto the blogging horse, we’ll see. I don’t do guilt, but I’ll post when the blogging spirit moves. There are a few entries which follow this one, but not as regular as the last time we lived here.
Nutshell update. We returned to Guatamala in mid-December, had a Guate Christmas including one week in Monterrico, a small beach town on the Pacific coast. We rented a house on the beach and were happy lazy bums, with black volcanic sand in our underwear, releasing baby turtles into the ocean, jumping off the second story of the house into the pool, snoozing in hammocks, and watching crazy beautiful sunsets nightly.
January was all about getting Cali and Madi back into school. Cali returned to the same Spanish school she went to last year. Her best friend moved to Mexico, but that didn’t seem to effect her social life. On the first day two girls were eager to set up play dates and sleepovers, and Jose Pablo still hasn’t lost interest in “bothering me to death,” as Cali puts it. Cali is one of the most adaptable people I know, of any age. You basically can plunk her down anywhere, she doesn’t even have to know the language, she doesn’t complain, just makes the whole thing work. Love that about her. She also goes one step further than simple adaptation, she always manages to have lots of friends anywhere she goes.
Madi is going to the same school Kier has been attending. It’s a variation of the school they attended last year, but it’s only grades 7-12. It’s in a beautiful natural setting on the outskirts of Jucanya, about 25 kids, a bunch of teachers, North American curriculum. Kier has discovered her love for Physics, and Madi continues her writing. She is being presented with a literary award of somekind on April 1 for one of her short stories. Some author is coming in from out of town to present it to her, a big deal.
Kier continues to dedicated to her school work and will graduate in June. Wow. Done. Here is where you insert all the cliches about where did the time go, seems like she was just born, can’t believe she is about to leave home, sniff, sniff, kleenex, long long mama sigh. Occasionally I step back and try to look objectively at the person she’s become. I love what I see, particulary her sense of humor, her adventurous nature, the way she jumps in to connect with people here. She has always been eager to have the job, but never had the time. Now she has two. Understanding the value of money=good thing. She also teaches English in the local elementary school, K-3rd grade, twice a week.
People sometimes ask what the differences are raising kids here, in contrast to raising them in Canada. Kids and the concerns attached to them remain the same. But often these things come with a twist. For example, here the girls want sleepovers just like in Canada. But a recent one we had here came complete with two three inch scorpions who also came to the party. Luckily this was Madi’s sleepover and not Cali’s. So those girls were able to kill them, and it wasn’t solely my responsibility to be the scorpion exterminator. Those little suckers can scoot, freaky, didn’t like it! There aren’t the same extra-curricular possibilities here, which I actually find beneficial. At home I was often overwhelmed with the options and found it easy to slip into over programming. Not an option here.
I’ve been having a great time here. I have a number of established friendships and places I plug in to. I do volunteer work with The Porch, which is always varied and there whenever I want to participate. There is a small church I’ve apart of that meets in a bar (yes, there is a bit of a bar theme here). It’s an eclectic little group, kinda like a house church plus a few drunks. Seriously. Never a dull service. I have a few work options to teach which I may pursue in the future. I joined the gym, something I haven’t done in 14 years. Dad, you’ll be happy to hear I’m part of a little singing group. We sing here and there at different venues. For me it’s the perfect mix of volunteer work, friends, community, church.
So this is my little bridge entry, to bring you to the here and now.
Cali’s frog blog (8yrs.): Today I had lots and lots of fun. We are back in Guatemala and so is the frog blog! I love it in Guatemala. I love being back here. It has changed a little bit. I now have two friends who only speak Spanish because J. (best friend from last year) is now in Mexico. School is the same except now I’m on the second floor, but I have almost all the same people as last year in my class. Now we have two clubhouses in our yard. We have a little platform in a tree and a little clubhouse that we painted. It’s the thing that holds up the water tank. We have a table, chair, and mirror in there, all the things we need. When my friends come over we run up and down the round staircase outside to the other balcony and spray each other with the hose or play Wii. I love eating the mangos and jocotes (little sweet fruit that look like miniapples). Guatemala winters are very different here because we don’t have snow or skiing. I also take a tuk to school everyday instead of a big yellow bus. We also have a dog here who is has chocolate colored curly hair. I don’t like that the Mismo Precio closed (Guatemalan dollar store). I do like that I get to see my friend again. Everytime they come over we walk to the tienda and buy gummies, chocolate bars, or bags of chips. It’s yummy. But that’s all for now. P.S. Love you all.
Cali’s quote of the day, “Walls are good for dumping dead baby birds over. Then you don’t have to be so sad that you found it, and you don’t need to make a funeral. It’s just gone.”