I think it's bittersweet. My kids are just bitter. They are READY to be done with school. I told them they only had 7 more hours so they could suck it up.
They had panqueques for breakfast because Mayda offered to make them before she left last night. Jake says he prefers her pancakes to Tim's. Grace said Mayda is her favorite person in Guatemala. I have to admit, I kind of agree. :)
I headed to Dona Luisa's after I dropped the kids off to pick up some banana bread, galletas, and buns for Gabi's family. Guillermo's driver is picking us up here at 12 so we can see the progress of the Ninos facility and to see Gabi's home. I wanted to have something to bring them. Unfortunately, Tim has to work so he can't come with us. I did send him to get the kids though so that I could get the stuff we have for Gabi/Gabe packed for when our driver shows up.
For some reason, our drivers are always EARLY. That is UNHEARD of in Guatemala. I was making the kids quesadillas and the van showed up. I heated the last two up in the microwave and we headed out.
Ninos con Bendicion is a facility (Lesbi and Tino's home) in San Antonio Agua Calientes. It's about a 15 minute drive from Antigua. We pulled up to the facility and I can't believe how different it looks! When we went last time, you walked into the facility and there was a bathroom on the left and some steps that you could sit on and watch the children's performances. Then there was the area the children performed, and behind that some little rooms and an outside cooking area. Not much space at all. This time? They have a lower level that we were able to go down into which is where the "theater" will be. The main level will have the dining room, kitchen, computer room, and some bathrooms. The upstairs will have more bathrooms and showers, and some living spaces. They were so excited to show me the progress and I was so excited to see it. The $1000 Brick by Brick left last year and the $1000 we sent down this year (from putting a rock wall up in a church), was used towards this building fund. I didn't take much for pictures. The more I go down to Guatemala and visit, the fewer pictures I take. I think that's a good thing. I don't take pictures when I go to my friend's houses because I'm enjoying the moment. I tried to balance that this trip. I wasn't visiting to document, I was visiting because I genuinely was excited to see them.
We hopped in the car and all drove to Gabi's home. She lives a ways outside of San Antonio Agua Calientes and Tino told me that she has to make that walk to the children's center every day. We pulled into a clearing that was a soccer field....Tino motioned that we should go through the goal. I thought he was kidding. Nope. There was a path right through the goal. We parked the vehicle and walked down a path through a cornfield to Gabi's house.
We have been sponsoring Gabi since late 2012/early 2013. This is the third time I've seen her. My brother-in-law sponsors her brother Gabe. We have seen pictures of their home before and bought them a propane stove last year for Christmas. This was our first visit to their home. Some of the other sponsors were in the process of building a new home for her family, so we were able to see both the old home and the in process home.
First of all, the family was amazing. Happy. Welcoming. They had a snack for us. It was a sandwich with (I think) spam. My kids, who can certainly do plenty wrong, had the graciousness to accept the snack and try it. It's one of those parenting moments where in your head you are thinking (please kids...do the right thing here). Always amazed when they do.
Gabi's mom just had a baby that week so we were able to hold him. So sweet. I had a book for Gabe that was written in Spanish about the new baby. I told him it was perfecto. He loves his little hermanito though. Gabi showed up after we'd been there for a bit because she'd been at school. She ran over and gave us a hug right away. She is SO much more outgoing than she used to be. It was nice to be in there home.
They have chickens, ducks, dogs, cats...you name it and it's roaming around the yard. When they trilled their r's, all the animals came running to eat. They got a kick out of Lily trying...and failing.
This is a photosphere which will let you see the whole property. I need to figure out how to make it actually work.
Their new house is beautiful. It's about the size of the houses we build with De Casa a Hogares, except it was split into 2 rooms. It also was drywall on half of it rather than cinder block all the way up. I don't know if one is better than the other, it's just one of the differences I noticed. Their previous house was one room. The walls were corrugated metal. They had 1 bed. Remember they have 4 children. There were no dressers. All of the clothes were on the one bed. I should have known, but didn't realize, how little they had. It took me by surprise. They do have running water. There is a spigot in the middle of the yard. They do not have electricity.
The building you see in the pictures belongs to Gabi's abuela. She has a son that is 3-4 as well. I had originally asked if it was a primo, but she said no...TIO! Crazy. That threw my kids for a loop. They wanted to know how an uncle could be so young. :)
We left around 1:45 because Tino and Lesbi needed to get back to Ninos for when the kids showed up and my kids needed to get back to finish Spanish school! I had the driver drop us at La Merced, I dropped the kids off, and then headed home to wait for Mayda. She was coming by to drop off something she needed me to mail in the United States. While she was there, she also cut up the watermelon I had bought. She's too sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing her when we go again.
I met Tim and the kids on the main street to pick up some last minute gifts and a blender. When I asked Lesbi what Gabi's family needed, she told me a blender and a dresser. I stopped at the Bodegona to get a blender and we got back to the house around 6. Tino, Lesbi and some of the kids from Ninos (including Gabi) were going to come for dinner! Mary went out to get Little Caesers and we waited for everyone to arrive. Marcia and her group got home after Lesbi and Tino showed up, so we moved the party to our house. The kids had extra swimsuits for all the kids who had come and they had a blast. Again, it was hard to take pictures, but it was so nice for the kids to be able to swim and play with Gabi and spend some time with her.
