I had briefly mentioned in my last post of our trip to Guatemala. We have now returned after 8 days in the warm, happy, somewhat filthy land. We had a better time than expected (keep those expectations low!) and are twinged with somewhat sadness to be here in the gray, frowny face northwest.
Ezra was absolutely showered with love and affection from his father, grandparents, great grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and females everywhere. He officially has more friends in Chiquimula than I do. Every where we went the ladies swarmed. The frequent comment was that he looked like the Gerber baby. Also, many mentioned how precious he was and then after looking at both me and Cristian, noted that he looks nothing like his father. Ha! Well, he certainly didn't get those long, dark, thick eyelashes from me.
The week wasn't especially eventful, we spent most of the time going around town visiting family or eating out at restaurants. We stayed at Cristian's house which is a bit of a zoo, and that was fun for Ezra. They have pigs, chickens, pigeons, cats, dogs, and an animal I had never seen nor heard of called the piriguat. I just googled it and found nothing helpful. Here is a picture of this mysterious animal (wearing a swimsuit).
Yes Ezra loved the animals, and loved his Father to take him around and show him all the fruits and trees and neighbors. We had lunch with his Great Grandmother. She is an adorable, tiny woman who wore a switch around her neck in case any grandchildren got out of line. Here she sits with her granddaughter draped in her lap. I have met her twice, and both times she has had someone or something on her lap. Last time she had a kitten on her lap, two dogs around her ankles, and a bird propped on her head. I kid you not. She is a comforting soul.
After lunch Ezra's cousins crawled all around the house with him. He was in heaven. I was pinged with some sadness that these kids can't get together more often. Here is a brief video of the crawling party.
We went to Copan, where I taught second grade last year, unfortunetly only for one night. We didn't get to spend very much time with friends or my students because I was ill. I won't go into it too much, but I ended up sick not from any of the common ways one gets sick when visiting a foreign country. So, I love drinking fresh coconuts. Cristian stocked the fridge for me, and in one day I drank three! I suspected that the water might make me ill, so decided to drink coconut instead. For the next two days I could not stay off the toilet. What happened? I couldn't figure it out. Then finally Cristain remembers that coconuts are a natural laxative. Cripes. No more coconuts. Good to know.
We did briefly see my students, and it was very sweet. Their English has improved so much, and their teeth have all grown in! Last year nearly everyone was without their two front teeth. They look so aged with them. They had made a bet about the sex of my baby, the boys betting it would be a boy and the girls betting it would be a girl. If it turned out to be a girl, the boys had to pay the girls one lempira each and vice versa. Well, the girls paid up. Ezra loved playing with all the children. On the way home we stopped at the hot springs and stayed for hours. Ezra loves kicking the water while eating fresh bananas and watermelon.
It was wonderful to have so many people helping with Ezra, especially having Cristian around. He was great with Ezra, always wanting to hold him and kiss him. It was really special seeing them together. I feel sad that Ezra doesn't get this man love everyday, but I try to be thankful for what we have. Cristian and I got along really well and I am looking forward to our next visit.
Here's some more shots from our trip!
With Great Grandma in the garden (with car).
Action shot with cousins.
Bathing himself in the pila. Good boy.
At the pool with Papa, eating delcious watermelon
Riding the mechanical dinosaur at the popular restaurant Burger Diner.
Ezra's Grandfather during his younger days (center photo).
Playing with Papa makes him soooo happy.
Grandma Aura and Ezra give each other the once over.
Grandpa Ervin shows Ezra and Cristian the perriquito that prefers men to women.
Another shot of the mysterious animal, eating grapefruit rind.
Cousins tormenting poor, mysterious animal.
Friendly pig off to the river for the day.
One eyed chicken! Look close, it's just a white spot, not an eye. Yeeks!
Ezra loved to throw the straw into the water and have Cristian pick it up. He did this probably 25 times. Good thing for Papa, I do not like these repetitious pick it up/throw it down games.
Here's Ezra's aunt, Aurita, with the same perriquito. She shows us the bird can like woman after all. She is very sweet and is always smiling.
Attempt number one for a family photo.
Attempt number two. Look at his little boob. Aww.
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