Our First Quinceañera in Guatemala

Vanesa at her quinceanera party

Our dear friends Humberto and Paulina in Guatemala have five daughters and a son. Their eldest daughter, Vanesa, turned 15 last Sunday. In Latin American cultures, a girl's 15th birthday (or quinceañera, in Spanish) is her coming of age. We knew that we wanted to be there to help celebrate. Because of the timing of her birthday, we weren't able to take advantage of our 4th of July Independence Day holiday, as we usually do. But we were still able to take a 5 day trip, which meant that we would also be there to celebrate Yoselin's 9th birthday on Saturday.

Yasmin, Paulina, Eddy, and Yoselin

Our flight to Miami was scheduled to take off at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. This meant that we had to wake up at 1:30 a.m. and get ourselves to the airport. It was a rough wake-up, but it meant that we would arrive in Guatemala City at 10:30 a.m., which is about 4 hours earlier than usual. This would mean that we would be able to make the most of our first day there.

We arrived in Guatemala City on time, and were picked up by Humberto's colleague Benjamin. Benjamin drove us to Panajachel, and we arrived at around 1:30 p.m. We like to visit as often as we can, but a year had elapsed since our last visit. It was amazing how much everyone had grown and changed in the past year!

Steph, Craig, and Aracely

Loren and Craig

All of the girls looked beautiful. Vanesa was now slightly taller than her mother Paulina, and her hair was a bit shorter than usual. Paola was taller, and had lightened her top layer of hair. Yasmin and Yoselin were looking almost like twins, both having grown taller. Yoselin had gotten her hair cut. Yoselin made sure that we realized that Saturday was her birthday. Our goddaughter Aracely was still petite and adorable. She had just finished a full year of kindergarten at the English Language Atitlan Multicultural Academy. Our godson Eddy, the youngest at 2 1/2 years, looked like a little man. His hair was now cut short, and he neither looked nor acted like a baby. He could now pronounce both of our names. Although he was a little stand-offish and shy at first, he soon got comfortable and climbed on us as much as the others did.

Family Dinner

Cousins Josue, Neli, Loren, and Yesmy were around at various times. Josue, once a silent, shy boy who wouldn't sit on our laps, was now talkative, outgoing, and asked us (by name) for piggy-back rides. Neli was much taller and more mature. Loren and Yesmy were as sweet as ever.

Humberto had hired 3 workers to finish the construction on the guest rooms. The four downstairs rooms, each with an en-suite bathroom, were completed. They were now working on the four upstairs rooms.We thought back to our first visit four years ago, when we slept in their dining room and the guest rooms were just in the planning stages. It has been a very productive few years! Humberto has been very successful growing his home and his business, and we are very proud of him.

Paulina and Humberto recently decided to start hosting students from the Jardin de America Spanish School. Students taking a week of Spanish lessons can opt to spend their week doing a homestay with local families. The students eat their meals with the families and learn about local customs and lifestyles. Their first student, Mario, had arrived two days before. He is a French Canadian doctor from Montreal, currently traveling around Latin America while on a 6 month sabbatical. It was a pleasure to meet Mario, and it was obvious that he had already made a connection with the kids. He was great with them, and they enjoyed playing with him and helping him with  his Spanish.

Josue and Mario

On Friday the older girls needed to go to school. Aracely's school is on the US school calendar, so she is currently on summer vacation. We went with Paulina, Aracely, and Eddy to the market. When we ran into some of Aracely's young cousins on the street, Aracely wanted us to pick her up, to show off that we were her godparents. We bought some meat, fruits, and vegetables at the market and then took a tuk-tuk back home. We had brought some toys and games for the kids and we enjoyed playing with them. Aracely can now write her name and has the fine motor skills to draw more complex pictures. She can count past 20 in English and uses various English words in context. She can follow directions when playing games and take turns. She has really learned a lot in her first year of school and we are very proud of her.

Steph and Craig with godchildren Eddy and Aracely

Paola

Eddy

Saturday was Yoselin's 9th birthday, and she was very excited. She and Aracely came into our room first thing in the morning, and we presented her with a card and a couple of small gifts. Aracely was almost as excited as Yoselin. Yoselin was gracious and let Aracely open some of the items. We noticed on this trip that she has become very generous, and always shares what she has with others. Mario had given her a pink teddy bear, and Paulina took Yoselin and Vanesa to the market to buy them each a new outfit. We held down the fort while Paulina was gone. The weather was unseasonably warm (no afternoon showers to cool things down) and Yasmin and Aracely had a water fight.

Craig, Yoselin, Yasmin, and Eddy watch videos on the netbook

Sunday was Vanesa's 15th birthday, and the day of the big party for both birthday girls. We gave Vanesa a crystal necklace and matching earrings. Then Humberto took some of the kids shopping for party supplies. They decorated the hallway between the guest rooms with streamers and balloons, and set up tables and chairs. We went to the 6:30 pm Mass, and the Mass was offered for Vanesa and Yoselin's birthdays, which were announced at the beginning of the service. After church, we returned to the house where both Humberto and Paulina's families had gathered. Humberto gave a nice toast to his daughters and then proceeded in English to introduce us to everyone present. It was really fun for us to see all of the kids whom we have met over the years. We recognized so many of them...little Isidro, whom we had met when he was 15 days old and is now a stocky toddler, Allison Margarita who is no longer and infant and walks around, Nidia who is dressed as usual in a beautiful traditional outfit, sisters Laisa, Yesmy, and Loren, Pamela and Odilia, Julisse, Alex, Neli, Josue, Luis, Junior, Adrik, and Mario. Paulina's sisters Estela, Olga, and Isabela were there, as well as Humberto's sister Juana and their brothers. Paulina's brother Carlos was there with his wife Vilma (we had attended their wedding several years ago). We met Vilma's daughter Erica. Humberto's mother was there, and Paulina's father was missed (he passed away earlier this year). We felt totally accepted by the family and we felt like we knew everyone. Panajachel is our second home. We met some new people as well, including incredibly outgoing 3-year-old cutie Briseda who came right up to us, extended her right hand, and said in Spanish, "I'm Briseda, who are you?" and another adorable little girl named Fatima.

 

Birthday girl Vanesa with Eddy

Humberto and birthday girl Yoselin

Paulina and Vanesa

The women served dinner, which was chicken and rice in a mushroom cream sauce, served with beets and tortillas. It was delicious. After everyone had finished eating, the it was time for the piñatas. Yoselin's was shaped like a white kitten wearing a pink dress (vaguely reminiscent of Hello Kitty), and Vanesa's was a more traditional 7-pointed star piñata. They didn't blindfold the girls but they spun them one time for each year and then let them loose on the piñatas, first Yoselin's and then Vanesa's. Children scurried along the ground, picking up hard candies and lollipops. Yasmin, Yoselin, and Aracely gave us each some of their candy, which was very sweet of them. When Vanesa's piñata had broken open, they tore off the points of the stars and wore them as hats.

Humberto's family

Paulina

Yoselin swings for the piñata

The spoils of the piñatas

Next it was time for cake. Each cake had fruit slices on top and the girls' names were written in frosting. They put nine candles on Yoselin's, and put a candle shaped like the number 15 on Vanesa's. Both cakes were lit and the crowd started off by singing Happy Birthday to Yoselin (in English, surprisingly). They followed that up with "Queremos pastel" (we want cake) sung to the same tune. Then they counted to 9 in Spanish and Yoselin blew out her candles. Caught up in the moment, Eddy blew out Vanesa's candles, and everyone laughed. They re-lit the candles and sang to Vanesa, after which she blew them out. Then the girls had to take a bite out of their intact cakes using no hands. Yoselin dove right in and came up with a moustache of frosting. Vanesa tried to be dainty and just licked a bit of frosting, but the crowd was not satisfied. She bent forward to take a bite and her cousin Alex pushed her face down into the cake. The crowd approved, and she stood up with frosting on the tip of her nose. But they weren't completely satisfied until she bent down a third time and took a full mouthful of cake. The cakes were then  sliced up and distributed to the guests.

Cakes

Family members enjoy the party

After everyone had enjoyed the cake, some of the tables and chairs were moved to make a dancefloor. Humberto had setup his computer outside and some of the young men acted as dj's. Mario had been about to head to bed, but couldn't pass up an invitation to dance. Kids and adults, men and women, all danced and had a great time. Craig honed his new-found dancing skills (from our recent trip to Ecuador) and danced with the women and kids. People popped balloons and lit firecrackers. It was a lot of fun for everyone.

Dancing

Steph participates in folkloric dancing

Eddy was whining a bit and was staggering around very tired. I picked him up and danced with him and he fell asleep on my shoulder. I brought him into our room and put him to sleep. At the end of the night one of the men taught me a traditional Mayan folkloric dance. The party broke up at around 1 o'clock in the morning. The next day was a school day, after all!

Aracely

Eddy and Loren

On Monday morning, we went for a walk with Paulina, Humberto, Eddy, and Aracely. We went to see Aracely's school. Unfortunately, it was not open, so we were unable to go inside. We stopped in to visit Olga and Estela, and brought Isidro and Loren with us to visit Mario at Jardin de America Spanish School. It was a lovely school which offers one-on-one private instruction. We may decide to take classes there sometime when we are visiting. Then we went to Sarita and got some ice cream. We dropped Isidro at Olga's house and then went back to our house for lunch.

After lunch Humberto and Paulina wanted to take us to see his mother's farmland in the nearby village of San Gabriel. It was difficult to get there because there had been a mudslide on the back road out of Panajachel. Humberto, Paulina, Yasmin, Aracely, Humberto's mother (called Abeula), Craig, and myself piled into the back of a pickup truck, which took us to the landslide. All of a sudden the road in front of us ceased to exist, it had been swallowed by the mountainside. We crossed a temporary steel cable bridge which had been erected. It had wooden floorboards that had holes in some places, so you had to watch your step. And the whole thing swayed back and forth as people crossed. On the other side of the bridge, cars were waiting. We got into a van that brought us part of the way there, and then we took a chicken bus the remainder of the way. We walked through the cornfield, and Humberto explained that they harvest the corn on a single day in November, and it yields about 500 pounds of corn which his mother will use to feed herself and her chickens over the course of a year. They also have coffee plants there. They sell the coffee beans rather than processing them themselves. There was a small shed on the property and Humberto said that is where they seek shelter when it rains and they are working in the fields. When he was young, he and his father and brother would spend the night there sometimes. It was interesting to get an insight into this part of their lives. Though they live in a small city and most of their activities are urban, there is still a rural component to their lives which is integral to their being. Humberto finds solace in the fields and feels close to the spirit of his deceased father. We felt honored that he wanted to take us there and share it with us.

Bridge across the landslide on the road out of Pana

Paulina, Yasmin, and Aracely in the cornfield

Humberto in front of his father's shed in the cornfield

After walking among the cornstalks and coffee plants for a while, we took a tuk-tuk followed by a pickup truck followed by a van to get to the landslide bridge. We had to wait a few moments before crossing cue to a lot of foot traffic in the other direction. We took a pickup truck back to the market, where Paulina bought a pumpkin to make soup for dinner. We piled into a tuk-tuk, and after a brief stop to buy a cake for dessert (rumor had it that there was not enough cake for everyone at last night's party) we arrived home. We ate dinner with the whole family, including Mario, Olga, Yesmy, Loren, and Josue.

The next morning we woke up early. The older girls stopped into our room to say goodbye before heading to school. We ate breakfast with Mario, Aracely, Eddy, and Vanesa. Our van arrived just before 8:30, and the kids, Humberto, and Paulina walked us down the alley to the street. We said our goodbyes, and said that we look forward to the next quinceañera (Paola in January of  2014) but that we would visit long before that. After hugs and kisses, we started our long journey to Guatemala City, Miami, and finally Boston, touching down at 12:15 a.m.

As usual, it was a wonderful visit, and we can't wait to return.

Eddy, Vanesa, Paulina, Humberto, Aracely, and Josue