Rice, Beans and Tortillas: Felices Fiestas 2020!

On the one hand I thought 2020 would never end; on the other hand it is ending and with a glimmer of hope in the form of vaccines for the Covid-19 virus. Maybe by this time next year things will be closer to normal. Curfews have gone away in Guatemala as have closed borders and travel restrictions. The airport is open although inbound passengers have to provide a negative Covid test in order to board a flight into the country. Miraculously, cases here have not increased as a result of easing the restrictions. That is likely the result of several possibilities: the government is lying about the numbers although it is a fact that the biggest public hospital in Guatemala City is less than half occupied, we live outdoors for the most part and/or the virus has not been politicized thus most everyone wears a mask because they don't want to die. Plain and simple.

The three children who have been living in my house since March seem to be thriving. They all ended the school year successfully. Mishell, 12, had an "outstanding" progress report after two years of possibly being held back. She is a budding pastry chef and, as I write, my kitchen is covered with cookies and the refrigerator is full of dough for the next batch. They eat the cookies almost as fast as they make them which means they just have to make more. A year ago Mishell did not have much to say and was hiding inside of a hoodie. Today she is a very different person and was very proud to graduate from primary school last month.

Mishell receiving her sixth grade certificado.

Diego turned eighteen in November and we celebrated his transition to being an adult. He has now received his DPI which is the national identity card and has opened a bank account. As of last weekend he is working as a waiter in a beer garden run by the father of the fellow he traveled with last year. Diego is quite charming and social so he has already gotten good reviews and good tips. And he is seeing that being bilingual is a huge bonus too. He is depositing his earnings into his bank account.

Sebastian and Diego slaving away at the El Azote Beer Garden

Cristofer, now fourteen, has leaped into adolescence. A year ago Mishell was a head taller than him. He is now even with her and his voice has changed. He helps Mishell in the kitchen. He is just generally very helpful. One night over dinner I asked the three how they would feel if they spent a couple of hours in the kitchen cooking dinner every night while everyone else was in the living room, on the internet, with the doors closed. Cristofer quickly responded with "really bad." So, now they cook three nights a week and it has been mostly edible. I print recipes for things that are of interest to them (forced reading in English). I am regularly surprised at how competent these one time toddlers have become. Cristofer was four when his father (who in reality was not much of one) walked out of his life and into prison. That is an especially tough age for a kid to lose a parent as they can't really understand much. I worry that in his soul Cristofer thinks that his father went away because he was a bad boy. He is actually a very good boy and falls apart at the suggestion that he might have erred in any way so I am very careful.

Cristofer helping with the Christmas cookies.

Since March their mother has passed by once for about four minutes to see her children. I don't ask any questions. All I know is that they seem happy in my house. A friend who used to arrange adoptions and has a slew of kids as a result of the adoptions being stopped told me, "you don't know what they left behind and they do." They talk to family members on a regular basis and occasionally their mother will leave something with the guards for them. But, she doesn't make any effort to see them. Is it Covid or is it something else? There is a lot that I don't understand. Mishell just asked if they could spend New Years' Eve at their aunt's house with their cousins and their mother. I would rather they did not but have reluctantly relented and will keep my distance after they return. Diego has been to the aunt's house a couple of times with no ill effects.

An out of work physical education teacher comes three days a week and all three are now ready to swim competitively. A year ago Cristofer would not venture into the deep end of the pool and would only swim across the shallow end. Now he is beating his siblings in swimming competitions. Once a week I pick up Beyer, who is four, and Liam, who is seven. They too are both swimming much to the surprise of their mothers and grandmother, none of whom can swim.

Fearless Beyker

Since school ended we have been able escape our confinement with several days at Lake Átitlan and a couple of days at the beach where the ever reluctant Cristofer got up on a surf board on his first try.

Diego and Denis kayaking on Lake Átitlan

Surfing lessons at the beach

We were able to do our annual trek to get a Christmas tree. This year we went to a place that was more of a family operation than the somewhat slick place we have gone to in the past. Everyone agreed that the family operation with the not quite perfect trees was just fine, even better. The tree only fell down once this year but Denis raced over on his motorcycle and, with the help of some wooden blocks donated by neighbors, got the thing upright again. Beyker wanted to know "exactly" when Santa Claus was coming. Santa Claus is a neighbor who suits up and reports after he gets a WhatsApp message. This year we are privileged as Santa has declined all of his other gigs because of the virus. I promised him homemade eggnog with a shot of rum, endless Christmas cookies by Mishell and Christmas face masks for all.

Guatemalan Christmas tree farm

Beyker decorating the tree.

Beyker and Liam taking their work very seriously.

Vaccines are due here during the first quarter of 2021 and I am hoping that my age will push me towards the front of the line. Schools are going to reopen on the seventh of January in a hybrid format. The school that the five younger kids attend will have the first two weeks online to ensure that the holidays have not caused a spike in cases. Following that the hybrid format will involve two campuses thus the kids will all go to school every day but in two different locations. Half will be at the school campus and the other half a quarter of a mile away in the same coffee farm. Gladly, the school has a lot of space and many classes are held outdoors. Fingers crossed.

Astrid, who works for a call center in my basement most nights, has shifted gears and now hopes to start law school in January. That is a three year course versus the ten years needed to become a doctor. Perhaps, she has finally realized that she has a child that she is not yet supporting. Denis was hoping to start studying physical therapy in the same university in January but the program was oversubscribed so he will have to wait another year. Denis is a wonderful tío, uncle, to Beyker and Liam. He is everything their mothers are not: tranquilo and patient. The boys adore him.

Maggie the goat has become very well known around Finca La Azotea for her antics. Recently, another goat arrived and the two were quite obviously thrilled to have another goat companion. It remains to be seen what kind of trouble they will get in together. Only this morning they were found eating the flowers in one of the finca's gardens. Gladly, they don't like coffee plants.

Maggie, in her holiday finery, and her new pal, Snow White

It is difficult to see the poor waving white flags indicating that they are hungry and need food on one side of the street and a Ferrari parked across from them. My hope for 2021 is that we can start addressing the issue of inequality which seems to be rampant. My other hope is that the virus denying politicians who insisted on having the vaccine before front line health workers will have to answer to karma very soon.