Hangin Out with Papa

Sorry about the lack of pictures, tales, and videos as of the past two weeks! I think I might have forgotten to mention that we were going to Guatemala for 2 weeks. We left the 18th of August and came back the first of September. It was a little long to be honest, but we did have some fun. A favorite outing was to the local swimming pool. In the above photo Ezra (Diego as he was called there) and Cristian relaxed on the swings. I did not relax on these swings because they're really freaking uncomfortable.

POOL SIDE

The boys do have similar tastes in footwear. These were left pool side along with Mama, who took the opportunity to take in some sun (and some pictures).

Will he catch him? He looks a little unsure...


He pulls it off! Ezra is completely fearless when it comes to jumping in water. That's a good thing, but a little scary. He also has no fear of any dog, no matter how large and barky. I haven't discovered many fears of Ezra, besides the absence of his dear, sweet Mother.

Here Ezra holds on solo. He really thinks he's 8 years old and can swim. He's always pushing me away in pools like, no Mom, I can swim, scram.

This is what happens when you believe him that he can swim. He pulled him up real quick like, don't worry. Ezra thought it was funny. Oh fiddlesticks.

Here's a little video of the boys in the pool, complete with excessive volume radio announcers speaking in Spanish. The one draw back to this pool is that they play the worst music really loud. Even worse news: Ezra liked it.

WATER VOLCANO

Getting out of the city, we headed to the Volcano de Ipala. This volcano is full of pristine, very chilly water. I have been here a couple of times before, but this was the first time with the Bunny Boy. The hike up usually takes about an hour, but this day it took about three. Ezra was not having it. I think he was just bored of being in the pack so he kept whining and wanting to get out. Once we got to the top and he saw the water he was all smiles. On the trip down we planned it better and he slept.
They've built a new road that goes all the way up to the top, but we opted for the hike. I think it is part of the experience. To really appreciate the lake, a sense of accomplishment is key. Not to mention being really hot and sweaty from the straight up hike.

This is a little fuzzy, but I still like it. Here's Ezra feeling pretty content after the dramatic climb.

Here's Ezra enjoying the clear, cool water with Papa handing him stones to throw and Anna, Cristian's Siberian Husky puppy, looking for chickens to chase.
(You might be wondering what a Siberian Husky is doing in Guatemala- sweating.)

We took a short hike up the the overlook. Ezra rests his eyes from the gorgeous vista.


Taking in the sights with some dirty little fingers.


We spent the night in a very comfortable little room. There were four beds. We used three and Anna (the dog, remember?) used the fourth. We brought up some food, and in this picture Ezra is enjoying some toasted bread with cream cheese. Papa looks on with a mix of amusement and disgust.

He really likes cream cheese apperently.

MOTO MECANICA
(Papa's work)

This is the only picture we took at the motorcycle repair shop where Cristian works. Here Ezra prepares to tour around with his father on a Choppy moto, a darling little thing that can climb mountains when needed. Buenicima moto, as Cristian would say.


THE NIECES

Cristian's older brother William has two daughters, Julie and Angie. He also has a son who was born the day after we arrived in Guatemala. I met the tiny guy once and he looked like a tiny, new baby. The grandma was excited to show off his "big" part in the nether regions. I took more notice in the extreme amount of hair that covered his arms, legs and head.
Anyway, back to Julie and Angie. Above is Julie, who is 7. She is crazy. She looks rather sweet here, hanging out in the hammock with her uncle.

However this photo illustrates her true nature. She always wants to wrestle. You'll be relaxed, maybe even about to fall asleep and she barges in and jumps you! I did not put up with her shananagans. Cristian is very patient with her, and pins her again and again until she gives up.

Here we see Julie (taking a break from the wrestling ring), Ezra, and Ezra's second cousin whose name I didn't catch. This second cousin is of course Cristian's first cousin, the daughter of his mother's sister. The sister's name is Lola, and she is the proud mother of NINE children. Her oldest is nearly thirty and her youngest just turned four. She had the youngest when she was 48. I think that's the last one.
The house where Cristian lives is always full of people going in and out. I didn't know many of them, and figured they were friends or something. Turns out that they are all children of Lola. Everytime the door opened it was another of her young. She's a woman of basic pleasures, telling me she is poor but free, and finds happiness in having a tortilla and some beans. I'd assume that to mean some for all of her herd as well. Oh Lola. Always with a smile. And some sound advice about raising children.

Here's the other niece, Angie. She is older than Julie by just one year. She is much more tolerable than Julie, but not by much. She doesn't listen, she buys Ezra horrible food (lolipops, chips that seriously smell like poop, pure sugar drinks), and she's a little liar. Sorry Julie and Angie, but it's the truth. I don't know how Cristian puts up with these little sasafrases.
A little bit about why they are such the way they are: their mother is not around. I've never met her but apparently she has no interest in raising her children. She prefers to hang out in the street. What that means exactly I don't know, but the girls spend the majority of their time with William, their father, who is constantly leaving and coming back, leaving and coming back, to where I don't know. He jets around all day and all night.
The girls do spend some time with their great grandma as well. She cracks the whip on them and is, in my opinion, a glimmer of hope. She has them washing dishes and sweeping the floor. She wears a switch around her neck if anyone misbehaves.
I'm sure that they will turn out just fine, but I found them particularly irritating.

ANTIGUA

Antigua, Guatemala is a lovely little tourist town just outside of the capital city. We stayed here for two nights before we flew out. It is very conveniently located near to the airport and there are dozens of shuttles one can take to get there. It used to be the capital of Guatemala, but when the volcano that you see in the above photo erupted, it destroyed everything.
Antigua has been rebuilt is an antique style, with all the buildings following the style. See an example of this here and here.
I'm sure you can google it if you're interested, but basically there's tons of gringos, tons of overpriced restaurants, and really bumpy, cobblestone streets. It's lovely!
The above photo (and those to follow) was taken from an overlook. You can see the whole of Antigua and the volcano towering over it.

Here's Ezra being a little super model. His hair is getting so long! In the background you will see some gringos making out. On Ezra's feet you will find the hideous shoes gifted to him by his great grandmother. He loves them, it kills me.

A rare shot of mother and son, with Ezra taking a little ride on my back. (Did I tell you I cut my hair? I did, on my birthday.)

We had to do some more of those take a picture of yourselves with your arm stretched as far as possible. It's just hard to get everyone in the shot. Remember this from last time?

Doubly difficult to get everyone smiling.

Cristian doesn't like the up close shots so he requested a man to take this shot of us from a distance. I don't like these kinds of pictures. Sure you can see everything, but you can't see anything up close! Cristian and I have many differences. He likes tortillas, I like bread. He likes to eat the tongue of pigs, I don't. He wants to gain weight, I want to lose weight.
We have some similarities too, I suppose. We both like beans, salads, beets, lemonade, nature, The Simpsons, hammocks, and are both madly in love with Ezra (Diego to him).

Yes everyone called Ezra Diego while we were there. It was a little confusing for him. Well, quite frankly he just didn't pay any attention to them. They were concerned that he couldn't hear initially, but then I explained that I indeed don't call him Diego, but rather Ezra. They can't really say Ezra comfortably, the letter combination just doesn't jive for their articulation. So Diego was in Guatemala. I'm happy Ezra is back.

I face the challenge of helping him to unlearn some unfortunate habits picked up down there. One day he was throwing rocks at the neighbors' faces. Just as I was about to reprimand him, they started laughing! And they handed him more rocks! Just what he needs.
He also enjoyed slapping his father's face, and Cristian laughed about that too. He know slaps me, but I scold him. Oh Diego, just go away.

We're headed out to Minnesota for two weeks, leaving next Tuesday. I have five weeks off from school so we're getting around to see everybody. I'm really looking forward to going to the home land and relaxing in the hands of my parents. Fridges full of food, shimmering lakes, ready and willing hands to play with the Bunson Burner, ahhhhh yes.

More news sooner than later. Happy September!