Strange Conversations
Posted on July 3, 2010 - Filed Under Kids | 4 International Amigos Said
Some of the odd convos going on around here:
Dante: “Dis bottle is too really wheeeee!”
Irving: “What?!”
Me: “He means slippery.”
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Me: “Dorian, why do you have oatmeal in your hair?”
Dorian: “It fell.”
Me: “What fell? Your head? Into the bowl of food?”
Dorian: “Um, yeah.”
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Dante had a series of nosebleeds the other day. After one particularly bloody episode, for which, I should mention, I was not even in the room for . . .
Dorian: “Papa! Mama made Dante bleed!”
Irving: “How did she do that?”
Dorian: “First, she hit him in the face, like this!” Demonstrates slapping back and forth many times.
“Then she threw him up on the wall!” Mimes choking and hurling someone against the wall. Um . . . should I be worried?
You Might Be a Long Term Expat if You . . .
Posted on June 30, 2010 - Filed Under Culture Clash, Guatemala | 17 International Amigos Said
. . . . . . use your lips to point at things
. . . . . . whistle back when someone whistles at you (signature whistles, not a catcall)
. . . . . . actually enjoy tortillas with your beans now
. . . . . . don’t think twice when no one gives you cutlery at an event and you need to eat with your hands . . . that’s what tortillas are for, right?
. . . . . . think salad dressing is dull, pass the salt and lime!
. . . . . . answer your phone with “allo?” or “si?”
. . . . . . sometimes forget a word in English, but remember it in Spanish
. . . . . . are no longer phased by the traffic that once horrified you
. . . . . . ignore most stomach aches because they’re probably just amoebas
. . . . . . have long since stopped looking for cream of chicken soup, molassas and other first world ingredients
Got your own? Play along in the comments!
Gotta Love Those Saints!
Posted on June 28, 2010 - Filed Under Fun, Guatemala, Kids, Simple Life | 12 International Amigos Said
Here in Guatemala, they enjoy any reason for a celebration and there are days for all the saints, which are considered holidays. Since most of the towns seem to be named after some saint or another, all the towns with that name celebrate on the saint’s special day. San Juan or St. John was celebrated June 24th, so all the towns with San Juan in their names had ferias or fairs.
This year, our fair was HUGE! We even rated actual rides this time!
Usually we miss out on that because the big feria in Antigua (otherwise known as Santiago) is in July and they have all the good stuff there from mid June onward.
I will apologize in advance that my pictures are not of great quality. My poor little camera does NOT like twilight.
Our town square is actually on three levels, with the school and basketball court on the upper level, the church parking lot on the second and the third is the actual square in front of the church, with a fountain and cross. This is what you get when you build a town on the side of a volcano!
The rides were on the first level, along with the “professional” food booths. The third level was where all the women who make tostadas and tamales were hanging out. There was even Q5 mole, but I missed it.
This is looking down from the edge of the first level.
This family was watching the ferris wheel go around.
Here are all the people waiting for the music to start.
Finally, the band!
We headed to see the altars set up first.
Looking up from the lowest level of the park.
Then we hit the rides. We told the kids ahead of time that they could have two rides and a game.
Dante has watched too many action movies lately, so we enlisted the help of his cousin to keep him from throwing himself out of the car on the second ride.
Right after this, we got the boys down and Dorian and Zanelle headed for the games, holding hands.
Dante got off behind them and started screaming as we led him toward the games. I was disappointed that he didn’t remember our deal and reminded him, only two rides and a game. I told him we were going to the game, but he kept pulling back to the car and screaming his head off.
Finally, through the tears, I made out one word, “Dowian!” and promptly realized that he didn’t know where his brother was. He thought we’d left Dorian on the ride! We hurried up ahead where Dorian and Zanelle were and the boys hugged, Dorian gave his brother a kiss and assured him he was right there, then grabbed his hand with his free hand and all was right with the world again.
The boys played the marble game and then we headed for some food. This is my absolute favorite street food, the gringa!! Which brings on no end of jokes about how I’m a cannibal. 
It’s layers of meat and onion on a metal stick that is roasted over a long period of time. They cut it off and fry it on the hot grill, then melt a chunk of cheese (that’s what really makes it!) and slap it all on a couple of flour tortillas. Then you dress it up with the goodies in front. They are absolutely delicious! Though I did get an upset stomach not once, but twice from eating them this year. Oh well. It was worth it!
The boys weren’t interested in gringas. They wanted churros and these odd fried . . . things. I have no idea what they are. But they liked them!
Dante was more interested in his game winnings.
We actually managed to bypass the peanuts this time around!
As it got dark and the band started up, we sat down in the lowest level of the park and ordered atol (a thick, warm drink) de elote (corn) and a round of tostadas. The girl thought we were a bit odd since we ordered one tostada with avocado and salad on top, as is the norm, one tostada with just beans (for Dante) and one with absolutely nothing (for Dorian, the master of plain food). Irving had dobladas.
When we’d finished and it was about 7:30, Dorian suddenly got up and said, “Ok, let’s go home. I’ve got to get to sleep.”
Canada, The Other Side of the Galaxy
Posted on June 25, 2010 - Filed Under Kids, Travel | 10 International Amigos Said
I think my kids have been watching too much sci fi. While talking to Dorian the other day about traveling to Canada in September, he asked if we could go on Wednesday, instead. I explained that it is very far away and is going to take at least a whole day to get there. I also explained that we can’t go immediately, because there’s a question of money.
He thought for a minute and then asked, “Is Canada on the other side of the galaxy?”
A lot of conversations lately have revolved around our upcoming trip. Dorian is very concerned about certain things, namely bathrooms. He told me sadly that he wouldn’t be able to go to Canada because he was certain they didn’t have bathrooms at Gramma and Grampa’s house. My dad promptly sent him a photo of their bathroom, which thrilled Dorian.
Next, it was a worry that there wouldn’t be a bathroom on the trip. I assured him that planes have toilets too. In fact, I told him, pretty much everywhere you go will have a bathroom. Now his big goals in life are to pee on a plane and build a snowman. Shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish both!
The Boy Talks
Posted on June 24, 2010 - Filed Under Fun, Kids | 1 International Amigo Said
Some of you might remember that I was worried about Dante not talking for a long time. Well, he’s over that hurdle! Here’s a video I did of him trying out his new tools.
No Happy Customers
Posted on June 22, 2010 - Filed Under Guatemala | 17 International Amigos Said
I was SO excited to finally have internet that worked. I didn’t give up my 2 am work hours, though, and now I’m glad for that because I won’t have to readjust to that weird schedule.
We were bopping along, I was working all day and very happy. Then today I heard voices outside, looked out and saw a couple of guys from Veridas out there, doing something on the roof. I asked Irving what was going on and he said they’d called a little earlier and told him that they needed to do an upgrade on our antenna.
A little later, they had to unplug the internet. I was working on some things for a client online and promptly lost some of my work since they didn’t bother mentioning the fact that they were about to unplug. Bygones. Nearly two hours later, we looked up to see this:
Uhhhh, that’s an upgrade? Looks suspiciously like a relay tower to me. I sent photos to an expert and he confirmed that it was indeed a relay tower. Which they drilled holes in our bathroom roof to install. Irving asked the guy about it. “oh no, this is just to make sure you get better signal.” he said. Right.
I was furious that they would come in under a pretense and install something that will make them money at our expense (it may not be much but we have to pay the electric to fuel this sucker and then there are the holes in the roof) . . . I hate being lied to and the fact that we weren’t informed or asked for permission and THEN were lied to . . . that’s not acceptable.
I wrote an email to the owner of the internet company, asking why he didn’t feel the need to say anything about the fact he was planning to put this up. Then we discovered something else . . . the internet speed had dropped again! It was back to the crappy way it ran before they did the last tune up.
Irving called the tech who was useless, then the owner who said he’d send some guys over. The whole crew showed up and proceeded to tell us that this was “normal” speed. Irving remarked that this was the speed it had been before they fixed it so how could it be normal?
“Well, there’s a lot of people using it right now.”
“We used it for nearly a month and never had this issue until you stuck the tower on there.”
“Well, that’s because we put the wrong equipment when we fixed it . . . that was a more sophisticated equipment. We had to remove it and give you a more economical piece.”
Right. Apparently in this case, it’s a matter of “holy schmoly, we made a customer happy?! Quick, get your butts over there and fix that pronto!!”
Most of this could have been avoided if permission had been asked and the truth been told.
Drool!
Posted on June 22, 2010 - Filed Under Food | 9 International Amigos Said
I’m trying to lose weight so I look semi-decent when I head up to Canada in a couple of months, but these came up on the menu at a restaurant I visited with friends the other day and I couldn’t help but try reproducing them at home . . . and they turned out delicious!!
These are dessert chimichangas with a cream cheese filling and sweet strawberry topping, just like you find at Ta’Contento. If you want to try making your own (SUPER easy to do), the recipe is here and it includes folding instructions.
My Little Construction Worker
Posted on June 21, 2010 - Filed Under Kids | 4 International Amigos Said
I had to get some shots of Dante the other day. He just got some new tools from his grandparents (my parents) and was outside fixing the bathroom wall. I managed to get him to stop for a minute and grab these shots.
Oh, and the hammer he’s using in these shots is his old one . . . which he broke both the front and back off off.
My absolute FAVORITE!
The Book of Eli
Posted on June 20, 2010 - Filed Under Fun | 2 International Amigos Said
Yesterday, I was reading a favorite blog of mine (don’t click that link if you’re opposed to zombies) and there was a short review of the Book of Eli, which we had borrowed from Irving’s family but still hadn’t watched. Dorian came in right then, saw the poster and decided we must see it.
So, I left the computer (actually, I went offline for most of the day!) and we sat down with Irving to watch it. I’m a big fan of apocalyptic movies and so is Dorian. Irving watches them, but he was more interested in seeing Denzel than actually fascinated with the plot idea. Dante finds anything more serious than Wall-E to be scary, so he headed outside at the first scene, which is a cat getting shot with an arrow.
The movie was interesting . . . far more so than anticipated after reading the various reviews on it. Everyone says it drags. It doesn’t. It’s more of a tranquil movie and if you’re looking for non-stop action, then this is not the movie for you. That being said, the fight scenes are awesome. And, surprisingly, not that gruesome, considering how many movies get these days. There is blood, but it’s nothing like 95% of the other flicks out there.
The basic storyline is that Eli, Denzel Washington (who is getting OLD, btw) has in his possession the last remaining King James Version of the Bible, which he has to get to a safe place. At first you have to kind of wonder about that. I mean, yes, the Bible is important, but enough to kill a couple dozen people over? Anyway, it turns out that he’s not the only person after the book. Apparently, all the Bibles were burned after the big apocalyptic event that scorched the Earth, since people blamed religion for the war that started everything off.
Along the way, Eli shows a remarked restraint when he sees others in trouble. This is no “I gotta be a hero” guy. He has a mission and doesn’t stop for anyone, which is a refreshing change from the usual movies, where the hero frequently puts himself in danger for people who either double cross him or die anyway and take a few of his friends with them. Ahem.
Is the movie worth watching? Yes. If you like end of the world flicks and aren’t opposed to some seriously awesome knife fights.
This is Not a Nudist Colony
Posted on June 18, 2010 - Filed Under Guatemala, Kids, Simple Life | 8 International Amigos Said
At 3, my youngest son is a nudist. I should have seen this coming, having been one myself at that age, but since Dorian was deathly afraid of even wearing shorts and refused to strip even to bathe for many years, I thought the gene had safely been buried.
Today, I was typing away and I heard Irving’s sister calling him from the other house where the boys were playing. Irving went out to see what she wanted.
“Dante has no pants on!” She called, thoroughly disgusted.
“Put them back on him, then.” Irving told her.
“You shouldn’t let your kids run around naked!” She scolded, shooing our very un-embarrassed child back toward our house, in his birthday suit.
What she doesn’t realize is that it’s not really a question of “letting” him go nekkid . . . he leaves the house wearing pants and shoes, I make sure of that because I KNOW the in-laws (and neighbors) will be offended by the sight of a bare little butt racing through their yard.
The problem is, he frequently sheds said clothes shortly after rounding the wall that separates our property from theirs. We don’t currently have a gate, so it’s pretty hard to keep the boys contained and truthfully, if he were to stay clothed, he would probably not draw much attention since he’s mostly stopped destroying other people’s property these days. Alas, it looks like the days of super close supervision are still not over.
Anyone have tips on how to keep pants on a small child?
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