For the third year in a row, we spent our 4th of July holiday with our “family” in Guatemala. After a couple of highly stressful flights (circumstances conspired to bring us within 10 minutes of missing our connecting flight in Miami – which would have meant we would have had to wait until the next day for the next available flight), we arrived in Guatemala City 2 hours late. Humberto, Paulina, their six children (Vanesa, Paola, Yasmin, Yoselin, our godchild Aracely, and baby Eddy), Humberto’s mother, Humberto’s sister Juana, and her daughter Rocio took the three hour drive from Panajachel into Guatemala City to meet us.
This was the kids’ first trip to Guatemala City, and it was very exciting for them. Prior to picking us up, they had gone to the commercial center of the city, where they were impressed by the skyscrapers, and the kids and Humberto’s mother got to ride escalators for the first time. The kids poured out of the van to give us hugs and kisses. We hadn’t seen them in a year, and that was way too long. Aracely was no longer a toddler; she was now a little girl who talked much more than she had previously. And we got to finally meet 8-month-old baby Eddy, whom we had previously seen only in pictures.
We hopped into the van and Aracely sat in my lap. Baby Eddy was very happy and friendly. All of the girls were very excited. We went to Pollo Campero for lunch, a very popular fast food fried chicken franchise. It was raining when we arrived, and the staff met us at the van with large umbrellas and escorted us to the door of the restaurant. Now that’s service! We enjoyed our chicken lunch.
It was Humberto’s birthday, and we got him to wear a paper Pollito Campero crown (much like the crowns Burger King used to give out to kids). The restaurant was full of families and had an indoor play area which the girls utilized after they were done eating.
Humberto had planned for us to all visit the zoo, but the rain persisted after lunch. The kids were disappointed, but took the news quite gracefully. We drove back to Panajachel in the rain, and the girls slept most of the way. When we got back to the house, we toasted Humberto’s birthday and played with the girls. It was so nice to be with them again. They are so loving, and we always had at least one of them giving us a hug or sitting on our laps.
Baby Eddy was an absolute joy – very happy, no stranger anxiety, etc. He would talk (“ba ba ba!!”) and sing to himself, smiling at everyone. He’s very strong, and we predict that he will be walking very soon. He also has excellent fine motor skills, and can manipulate things very adeptly with his hands. He is probably the best-behaved baby we have ever encountered. Several weeks before our trip, Humberto surprised us by asking us to be Eddy’s godparents as well, and we are honored. We were so happy to get to meet him!
Over the next few days we enjoyed the day-to-day routine of life in Panajachel. The older girls went to school, and we would go to the market with Paulina, Eddy, and Aracely. Paulina prepared delicious fresh meals for us. We walked with Humberto, Paola, Eddy, and Aracely around the corner to Lake Atitlan and enjoyed the view of the gorgeous crater lake surrounded by volcanoes. We taught the girls how to play Uno, and that provided hours of family fun. I was able to practice my Spanish with the kids, and while I still have quite a ways to go, there was definitely an improvement since our last visit. The girls will be starting English classes soon, so little by little our communication is improving. But we are always able to communicate via laughter, smiles, and hugs.
Humberto surprised us again by saying that the whole family (grandmother, Juana, and Rocio included) would go with us to Guatemala City to see us off on Sunday. We left the house bright and early to try to make it to the Aurora National Zoo before we needed to be at the airport. We arrived at the zoo at around 9:30. Luckily, the airport was right next door to the zoo, so we were able to spend a good hour at the zoo before taking the short drive to the airport. Aracely was literally jumping up and down with excitement as Humberto bought the zoo tickets and we entered the turnstile. The zoo was quite nice, with pleasantly designed animal habitats. We saw elephants, bears, monkeys, kangaroos, giraffes, meerkats, lions, tigers, a jaguar, hippos, zebras, buffalo, and many other animals. We were there early enough to beat the crowds, so we were able to see everything we wanted to. Rocio stuck to us like glue, knowing that we would soon be leaving. At 10:30, we said our goodbyes to the family. It is always hard to say goodbye – we love the kids so much and wish that we could spend even more time with them. But this was a good way to do it, as the kids could continue to have fun at the zoo while the van driver took us the short distance to the airport. We got an excellent group portrait of the family right before we walked to the van.
We look forward to returning for Eddy’s christening, which will most likely take place in January.
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