Where to begin? When we arrived in Guatemala, his foster mom was there to meet us, and I snatched him right up--politely! We gave the gifts we had gotten for his f/m, her family, and our facilitator to them, and then boarded the van. Owen's Grammy, Ida, who was meeting him for the first time, was immediately smitten. They laughed and giggled at each other until we finally got under way and headed for Antigua. Once the van started moving, Owen promptly fell asleep!
From Sunday till Wed., it was just me, Owen and Grammy. We shopped a lot, since she'd never been there before, and even though she was struck w/some sort of tummy issue (no doubt because of the unfamiliar food/water!), we had a great time reading to Owen, playing w/him, singing to him, walking w/him. Our jogging stroller did not show up that Sun. at the airport as it was supposed to, so I lugged Owen around in a "sling" that the native Mayan women use down there until Thurs., when Shannon arrived w/our stroller, which was at the airport. It was hot!
The four of us really got into Holy Week. The celebration of Jesus' trial, sentencing, death, and rebirth are celebrated and revered there, and made our little church-attending/Easter-egg-hunting traditions for Easter here in the USA seem paltry and commercial. In Guatemala, and specifically Antigua, there are processions days and night with men and women in robes, carrying huge platforms (some weighing up to 7000 lbs) through the streets. These depict stages of Jesus' days through trials to his death, in steps and in detail. Some of the platforms have been around for hundreds of years, and some were hidden ('buried') when Guatemala was invaded. There is incense, and weeping, and the magnificant churches in Antigua are decorated gorgeously. The streets are covered in alfombras (carpets) that are made of dyed sawdust, and/or coffee beans, loaves of bread, flowers, pine needles, and other beautiful things. The processions walk right over these, day and night, and the alfombras are rebuilt, usually in a different pattern than the previous ones.
So Antigua was packed on Thurs. afternoon, when I saw Shannon coming down the street with our stroller, walking w/another husband of a woman who is fostering their son there. We were outside helping w/the alfombra of the B&B we were staying at--and there he was! It was so wonderful to see him coming, how he stands out above the shorter Guatemalans! :)
Above is a picture of one procession and some participants.
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