Felices Fiestas 2018

After a frenzied few weeks it is as quiet as it ever gets in Antigua this Christmas morning. The locals party most of the night and the local, very Guatemalan, grocery store closes its doors for the only day in the year. Earlier in the month we made the annual trek to the Christmas tree farm and, apparently, this year's tree was a bit too big for the stand as it fell over twice. It is now tied to a wall mounted light fixture. I went to dinner with a friend the evening that we brought it home and Diego phoned me at the restaurant to tell me "the tree fell down again but we put it back up."

And then there was a day of baking cookies. They seem to enjoy the process as much as the product.

There was a birthday party for Joaquin, a friend of Cristofer's on the 21st. Next to Diego is his girl friend of over a year now, Mia. Her mom and I keep pretty close tabs on the two.

A Christmas party found Cristofet in charge of the children in the basement. We moved the microwave down there and gave him a Costco-sized box of popcorn, guacamole, chips and Christmas flavored movies.

And then, at last, the big day.

Liam, son of Jackie, aged 5 1/2

Beyker, son of Astrid, aged 2 1/2

Cristofer, 12 in January

Late in the day of Christmas Eve I delivered all of them to their homes for their family celebrations.  Less than an hour after arriving at a dinner party Diego phoned and pleaded with me to come and pick him up on my way home as "there is no one my age here." There was no one in my house his age either. I guessed that, after spending much of his time at my house, that he couldn't make it back over the cultural divide. I collected him and he went with a group of elders to see the Christmas lights in central Antigua and look in on a couple of Christmas masses.

All seems fairly well at the moment. Astrid will graduate from the International School in June and plans to enter medical school at the public university in Guatemala City. She expects to be there for ten years emerging as a pediatrician. Diego and Cristofer can't wait for school to start again in January. Under new direction their school with its focus on green, sustainable, project-based learning is a pretty exciting place to spend their days. Mishell is going through some pre-teen angst no doubt compounded by pressure from her mother who may be leaning on her last child and only daughter to stick around and take care of her. She tells Estela my housekeeper that Diego has abandoned their mother which may, in fact, be the other way around. I don't ask questions as I don't think they have the answers. Everyone, except Denis, returns to school on the seventh of January. Jackie as a teacher for the Montessori pre-kinder program.

Best wishes for a prosperous, peaceful and, hopefully, sane 2019!

Beyker, Astrid, Denis, Cristofer, Mishell, Jackie, Liam and Diego