March 9th, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Today’s quote by Alistair:
We were talking about how Anson is getting big- soon he’ll be walking and be big like Alistair, and Alistair will be even bigger- “Big like a cow!” exclaimed Alistair. Well, let’s hope not that big!
Yesterday we went to the big park in Orizaba, while Adam went to pay bills. Alistair had his first experience in a “bouncy house.” Oh my. He LOVED it. There was another little girl who had a huge tantrum when her dad said it was time to go. I started thinking that I would be glad my son wouldn’t have such a reaction when I said it was time to go. But boy, it was close. When the attendant told me his half hour was up, and I told Alistair it was time to get out, I could see the wildness growing and growing…fortunately, we got it under control, and he got out without the whole park knowing about it. Ah the hard life of a 2 year old.
I am actually looking forward to the trip up to the US. I get to spend hours on end with my family with no cares of housework, food etc to distract me. It’s just us playing in the car. It will be tiring, but I always feel like I get to know Alistair better.
Saturday we held our first kids’ class. Five kids came, actually not that bad I thought. Inviting kids is a little more challenging than it was in La Perla, where there were always lots of kids in the streets or hanging around outside their house. In La Perla, people had like a hundred kids, so they sort of spilled out of their house. Here, families are a lot smaller, and the kids don’t hang outside as much. (Of course, in the end in La Perla, it didn’t matter how easy and accessible the kids were to invite, when the priest told the parents not to let them come to the class). One of the teachers said that the best way to get kids to come is to get a few to come, then they will invite their friends, and it will grow that way, rather than us going out inviting kids that we don’t know.
I forgot to take photos, so I don’t have any to show how cute the classroom looked all decorated and the kids enjoying the class. We are doing the wordless book for the first 5 classes.
I was on the verge of getting “culturally stressed out” because of all the problems we were having trying to get stuff ready. For example, I never know if the tasks I delegated are actually going to get done. So I am always tempted to do everything myself. But, by Saturday, the little hearts I needed cut out, were done- and not by me. The guys who were supposed to go out and help me invite kids never showed up on Friday, but the few I invited myself came. We had little chairs for the kids, despite the chair delivery guy not showing up twice in the week. We had to borrow chairs from church, but they were there in time (10 pm on Friday). What I have to constantly keep in mind, is that eventually, somehow, it works out. I try to organize it all, with lists and timetables, but mostly they only serve to stress me out because no one follows them. The important stuff always gets done, usually at the last minute, but it gets done.
And another cultural tidbit, Adam’s addiction to “picante” (hot pepper spice) has reached a new level. If a food does not have chili in it, it is just too bland to eat. Eggs must have a big heaping of salsa on top and meals I used to make must now have chilies added to them. Now all he has to do is pour salsa on top of pizza and sprinkle chili powder on fruit and his palate will be completely Mexican.
Well, my littlest Mexican is awake and “calking” (Alistair’s made up word for a combination of talking and calling. Me: Do you mean “calling” Alistair? “No, Calking, like this, AHHH!” Me: “You mean ‘talking?’” Alistair, “No, not talking, calking“). So the calking boy is getting into trouble, and as usual, marks the end of my writing.