This One’s for Lisa
Posted on August 16, 2010 - Filed Under Friends, Fun, Kids | 1 International Amigo Said
On Friday, we met up with a blog reader in the park. She’d brought us a suitcase for our trip and some dehumidifying crystals to help keep mold at bay. Dorian and I had already met her before when she brought down some books, but this time she got to meet Dante, too.
You were right, Lisa, the boys came up with plenty of uses for the suitcase! Thanks again!
ABC Meme
Posted on August 16, 2010 - Filed Under Fun, Simple Life | 7 International Amigos Said
I just found this meme over on Now Don’t Get Me Started and thought it would be fun since I haven’t done one in a while.
A- My AIR CONDITIONER is: A fan set on high.
B- My BEDROOM theme is: supposed to be Indonesian, but it’s more like whatever-happened-to-be-on-sale.
C- The CAR in the driveway is: my father-in-law’s.
D- My DESK looks: Like someone drinks too many diet Cokes in this house! Lids everywhere (I keep thinking I can make something with them)
E- The EXACT time I wake up daily is: 2:30 am
F- The FIRST thing I wash in the shower is: my arms.
G- My GARAGE is filled with: absolutely nothing but dreams, since there is no garage and no car.
H- My HOUSE is: a little too cozy during the rainy season when kids are trapped indoors.
I- If you peeked INSIDE my bedroom you’d see: a room that we live in even though we now have two other rooms in the house. It’s the bedroom, office, school room and playroom.
J- My favorite JUICE is: banana strawberry.
K- The best part of my KITCHEN is: hard to choose! I love my cupboards, I love the sink tucked into the corner and I love my stove!
L- The LAST person who visited my home was: Michelle and her hubby and some members of his family. Yes, that was back in May. We’re loners. Plus, our house has a tin roof and no one wants to visit us because it heats up like an oven. 
M- The last piece of MAIL for me was: a package of bras that came from the US, ordered on Ebay because no one sells anything bigger than a B cup around here.
N- My NEIGHBORS think I’m: a white she-devil who is stealing their flesh and blood.
O- If you OPENED my fridge you’d see: diet Coke, leftover cabbage rolls and that’s about it because my kids have eaten me out of house and home.
P- My last house PARTY was: when I lived in Antigua 8 years ago, after a rather successful theater production that I was part of.
Q- A QUICK meal I like to fix is: a fried egg sandwich with tomatoes.
R- My favorite ROOM of the house is: my bathroom, because . . . hello, RUNNING water, HOT water, my own toilet and a TUB and space to move around in! Plus, it’s blue.
S- The SHAMPOO brand I use is: Herbal Essences when I can.
T- My largest TELEVISION is: 21″.
U- UNDER my bed you will find: Ants occasionally. Nothing else fits since our beds have no under the bed space.
V- The last time I VACUUMED was: Over a decade ago.
W- Looking out my WINDOW I see: Nothing but a dimly lit wall at the moment, since it’s 3:30 in the morning. During the day, banana and jocote trees over the same wall.
X- I wish I had X-TRA: cash so some things weren’t so stressful.
Y- My YARD is: in dire need of being filled in so we can plant grass.
Z- ZZZZZZZ My bedtime is: About 8 or 9 at night, depending on how grumpy I want to be when the alarm goes off and how much work I have to do.
Dante’s Been a Busy Boy
Posted on August 13, 2010 - Filed Under Kids, Simple Life | 8 International Amigos Said
Dante has had a fascination with construction for quite some time. We encourage it, buying him tools, keeping him supplied with nails and such and letting him take apart our broken things. And he thrives on this. Lately he’s been very busy “fixing” things around here.
First, while the concrete was out for the washing machine pad, he took it upon himself to mix up some concrete and do a little plastering.
Note that he needed not one, but TWO of my spoons for this complicated task.
He was so proud of his work, though, how could I be mad? At least he didn’t eat the concrete this time.
I didn’t realize how severe his lack of fashion sense is until after I took these photos.
Then, just a couple of days ago, my little carpenter decided that the gap in the pallet that we have in the entry area of the house was just too big, so he patched it for us.
I have plans to apprentice him at 4, so he can do the rest of my kitchen cabinets when he’s six.
He’s also collecting odds and ends for his construction. I have no idea what this is going into, but he muttered something about an airplane as he took off with it.
The Story Behind the Price
Posted on August 13, 2010 - Filed Under Culture Clash, Guatemala, Simple Life | 4 International Amigos Said
I was in the market today and was buying my potatoes and realized that I love hearing the vendors give a reason for their prices to their clients. For example, the exchange I heard today:
Buyer: “How much for the bananas?”
Vendor: “Twelve for the dozen.” Lifts the bananas up. The buyer turns away. “But for you, ten. What? You don’t like them? These are beautiful bananas, no?”
Buyer: “It’s too much.”
Vendor: Lets out a heavy sigh, “Vaya, eight for you. Come on, you need them, what are you going to eat for dinner?”
Other bits that I’ve heard from vendors:
“Alright, alright, I’ll give you the potatoes for 2 (Q) a pound, because I have hungry children at home and have to sell something, even if I lose money.”
“The garlic is seven quetzales (for a 3 pack) because the storms have ruined the crops. I’m not making a single cent off this sale!”
Sometimes they try to make your mouth water . . .
“Look at these lovely eggplants, just think, you could fry them up in oil with some chicken, delicious!”
Or appeal to your parenting skills . . .
“Ay, your son is so skinny! He needs potatoes to grow big and strong, come, I’ll give you five pounds for ten quetzales.”
And my favorite . . .
“Ay, yes, the tomatoes are very expensive right now. I have to charge 5 a pound because the box costs me 60!” (I always wonder, are we supposed to know how much comes in a box? I’m sure not doing the math!)
Who Cares About the Washing Machine?
Posted on August 12, 2010 - Filed Under Fun, Kids, Simple Life | 3 International Amigos Said
. . . when you have the box it came in?
Not to mention styrofoam that just happens to be in the shape of machine guns!
It’s Been a While . . .
Posted on August 10, 2010 - Filed Under Guatemala, Simple Life | 13 International Amigos Said
since I washed clothes in a washing machine. As in, almost a decade. To be perfectly honest, I have had someone else washing for me for the past six months or so. And way back when I lived in Antigua in a shared house, we had a teensy machine, which I used exactly once because there were eleven of us in the house and it was always in use.
But now . . .
I guess I should start at the beginning. We had a pila, a big concrete sink for washing outside. It worked, but since the levels are all wonky here, we had to install drainage and then lift the sucker up onto a concrete pad. Irving hired some very stupid people to build the pad. They came one evening after work, threw up a concrete block square, filled it loosely with assorted junk and a bit of dirt and smeared concrete on top.
I actually took photos when the guys returned the next morning, about 8 hours after doing all this and heaved the pila up onto the still soft concrete, gouging a big hole in it, but they are on the dead laptop.
After ignoring my polite suggestion that they wait until the concrete was actually hard, they shoved the pila into position, then proceeded to cover everything with more concrete. Oh, and they accidentally put the drainage pipe and holes too close to the wall, so they didn’t line up with the actual pila drainage. Hmmm, that seems familiar . . .
Anyway. Within a week, the concrete cracked and the pila began to sink. We lived with it for months. My maid mentioned one day that she could not wash clothes very well anymore because the pila was tilted so far forward, the water didn’t drain at all. We shoved a piece of wood under the front and decided to get a washing machine when there was more money. Meanwhile, the front wall fell down, the dirt and concrete chipped away until there wasn’t much left in front of the pila.
Fast forward to last week when we finally sold the car. Irving was in a panic when he examined the concrete base and realized that the pila was mashing the drainage pipe (which is also the pipe for the shower). We decided to speed up our plans, use the cash from the car to purchase the cheapest machine we could find and get rid of the pila. The plan was to remove the pila, put down another layer of concrete and install the washer.
The best laid plans, they say.
It was rapidly evident that this was going to be a serious endeavor and since we had planned originally for the washer to go in the corner by the bathroom . . . we decided to just fill that area in instead and put it in its permanent home right now.
Irving got our maid’s husband to help him out and put in the concrete pad.
Yesterday we went to buy the washing machine and at the last minute, Irving decided to irritate me and insisted on going to yet another store, even though we’d already found the cheapest washer in Antigua. Or so I thought! Turns out the place he wanted to go had capital prices! We ended up paying Q72 more for a washing machine that was considerably larger than the one we had intended to buy.
This morning, my handy guy read the instruction manual, watched videos on YouTube and set to work fixing up the plumbing to work with the machine and installing it. As we speak, the very first load of wash is just finishing up!
And now the pila sits, awaiting its banishment to my mother-in-law’s house.
Out of the Mouths of Preschoolers
Posted on August 9, 2010 - Filed Under Kids, Simple Life | 2 International Amigos Said
Yeah, it’s that time again . . . more stuff my kids say. By the way, feel free to skip these posts. I do put them here more so I have a way of remembering the stuff my hole riddled brain lets slip away, as opposed to entertain.
After lunch today, Dorian turned accusingly to me and said, “I’m too really tired now! You see? That’s what happens when you feed me potatoes!”
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Overheard one morning:
Dante: “Oh, no! He broke his legs!”
Dorian: “Is he dead?”
Dante: “Nope, but he’s got two broken legs.”
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Also overheard during a particularly rousing battle in the living room:
Dorian: “Call in the warriors, we’re gonna have to attack!”
Dante: “Ok. Here they come.”
Dorian: “It’s an AMBUSH! Mayor Dante, Mayor Dante, what are we gonna do?!”
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Dorian, looking at the upside down Wii box the other day said, “Hey, that’s an MMMMMM and EEEEEEE. It says ME. So it’s mine?”
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Dorian: “Mama? I’m gonna adopt a baby dinosaur.”
Me: “You are? You think it will fit in here?”
Dorian: “Yeah, it’s just a baby. I’m gonna give her water in a sippy cup, cuz that’s how dinosaurs drink when they’re babies.”
Me: “I see.”
Dorian: “And she can sleep with me in my bed. But maybe she’s scared of the dark. How about she sleeps with you instead?”
Me: “Well, if you’re adopting this dinosaur, I think you should look after it. Does your dinosaur have a name?”
Dorian: “A name? Yeah. Her name is . . . Dinosaur.”
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The other day, Dante was very upset about something, throwing his tools down, wailing and finally running into his room and slamming the door. While we can now understand him when he talks to us calmly, it’s virtually impossible when he’s crying. Fortunately we have an onsite translator. This time, however, when I asked Dorian what his brother wanted, he looked up from his toys and said, “He wants pizza.” Ummm . . .
My Kids Are Bonkers
Posted on August 7, 2010 - Filed Under Kids | 2 International Amigos Said
Here’s proof . . . I tried to take some photos of them while we were waiting for their dad in the street.
Of Little Boys and Growth Spurts
Posted on August 6, 2010 - Filed Under Kids | 4 International Amigos Said
Ever since I wanted kids, I wanted boys. Only boys. I grew up with three sisters and I’m tired of girls. And let me just say, PMS in a house full of adolescents . . . not so much fun. My dad used to joke that if the army really wanted to be successful, they just had to lock 500 women up until their cycles were synched, deprive them of chocolate and then turn them loose on the enemy.
So, we had boys. And I was thrilled. Except, I didn’t really know what to expect with boys (and probably still don’t since I’ve only reached 4.5). A few things have surprised me. Such as the innate ability to make a gun out of absolutely anything from a piece of toast to a seemingly innocent pile of discarded bits of pipe (which they somehow duct-taped into the shape of a gun!). And the fact that even an 18 month old boy gets that farts are funny and can learn to do them on purpose. Or the fact that boys have a built in ability to fake burp. Who knew?
However, it’s the growth spurts that have thrown me for a real loop. I do NOT remember growing like this. I did grow fast, I guess, since my knees kept popping out when I was about 8 or 9, but these kids astound me!
They always do a back to back growth spurt, so first one shoots up, then the other. Usually, Dante catches up to Dorian in height, then Dorian shoots ahead again.
Last week, for a few days, Dorian was hungry every HALF hour all day long. He’d wake up looking for food, go to sleep practically with a sandwich in his hand. We went through almost a week’s worth of food in two days for him. It was insane and I didn’t get a lot done because I was constantly trying to keep the kid topped up. Then he slept in for a couple of days and . . . poof, none of his pants fit anymore. EVERYTHING is too short for him. We had to go to the market and buy the kid some new clothes!! Fortunately, the last time there was a sale on shoes, we stocked up on bigger sizes because his feet grow even faster than the rest of him.
Then Dante had a week of being very grumpy, two nights with fevers and was just a horrible child to be around for three days. Then one night, he crashed at 5:30 and slept a full 12 hours (after having eaten half a dozen eggs for lunch!) and bam! He shot up overnight, too.
I serious do not remember this from when I was a kid. I swear they both grew several inches in one night. Now, if I were an organized mom, I’d have a nice little growth chart, but as it stands, I have no clue how tall my kids are, I just measure them by household things. “Oh, Dante’s getting tall, he can see over the cupboard door now.” “Hey, Dorian can reach the bottom shelf of the trinchante, he’s grown.”
Imagine when they get to those teen growth spurts? I think I’m going to need another job.
Conversations with an In-law
Posted on August 6, 2010 - Filed Under Culture Clash, Guatemala, Kids | 8 International Amigos Said
Yesterday, I took the boys out to see some friends. We left when it was still hot out and though I knew it would likely be raining out by the time we got back, I didn’t plan to be out for long and figured the kids would be fine in tee shirts.
We were a little bit later than anticipated, but it wasn’t raining. We met Irving coming out of the house, so the four of us headed off to get bread and some beans for dinner and then hiked up to the house. The boys were running back and forth and leaping around . . . so they stayed nice and warm and I didn’t think anything of it. Until we had to pass my sister-in-law on the way in to our house.
SIL: “Oh, my goodness, you really have to put jackets on the kids!”
Irving: “Yeah, they’ll be in the house soon.”
SIL: “But Ana’s son JUST died!”
Me: “What did he die of?”
SIL: “Chickenpox.”
Me: “Oh. Um, so where does the jacket come in?”
SIL: “Well, they could get chickenpox and die if you don’t keep them warm.”
Me: “Actually . . . I’m pretty sure they can’t. They’d have to be exposed to the kid with it. And they’ll probably get it anyway at some point . . . but most kids don’t die from it.”
SIL: “AY, que horror!”
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