We had a great visit with our friend Raquel, who left this
afternoon to go back to the hustle, bustle and noise of Managua. Raquel is the director of CINAFE and what was
once a working relationship has developed into a wonderful friendship with
her. She has said many times that we are
like a second set of parents to her and think just as highly of her. We spent hours just yakking with one another
and the time passed far too quickly. We
shall miss her...once again, the house seems inordinately quiet...that always
happens after our guests leave. I love
to have company but because we are now off the beaten path, I want to cherish
every moment that someone is here since I have a feeling that opportunity won't
come nearly as frequently as it did when we lived in Managua.
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| A quick photo before taking Raquel to the bus station |
Last night, Christmas also paid a brief visit to our house
and we exchanged presents with Raquel.
That was also a very special time...I was feeling doubly blessed since
we had received our package of cards from the States earlier in the day.
This morning, we took her to get some Somoto rosquillas
which is almost a rite of passage for everyone who visits Somoto. Turns out that those are her parents'
favorite cookies and she bought 5 big packages of rosquillas to take home with
her.
After that, we went to Los Pipitos. We were just going to stop by and say hello
as they were having their Christmas party for the children today. We had donated some big bags of candy for the
event and the director of the center, Cecely, invited us to come see the
recipients. The place was packed! The business community donated gifts so that
each child who is seen on a regular basis received a Christmas gift. There were almost 200 gifts and each one was
wrapped with a child's name on it. The
center also provided a sandwich and a bag of cacao (to drink) for each child
and a parent...plus a handful of candy!
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| Some of the families at Los Pipitos waiting patiently |
Our plans were to just stop by for a few minutes and then go
on. Well, it didn't work out that
way! Cecely introduced us to a full and
overflowing room of families. There were
streamers and balloons and thankfully, a good, strong wind which helped keep
the room actually quite comfortable.
Cecely then asked us to help her distribute the gifts. I told her that we needed to take Raquel to
the bus station so that she could buy her return ticket for the afternoon bus
and Cecely immediately called over Wilfredo, one of the men who helps there,
and asked him to take care of getting the ticket. I wasn't sure what that actually meant but
the next thing we knew, Raquel was gone!
Wilfredo had taken her on his motorcycle to go get her ticket and Raquel
agreed, thinking it was a great idea so that we could stay and help pass out
gifts. She had no idea that I was
worried that she had just disappeared on us!
Not at all what we had planned to do nor is it a way we like to treat
our guests! But it all worked out.
So, for the next 2 1/2 hours, Jim handed out sandwiches, I
handed out gifts and gave hugs and said "Feliz Navidad! hundreds of
times...literally! And once Raquel returned
and my mind was put at ease that we hadn't allowed our friend to be kidnapped
right under our noses after all, :) ,we had a blast!
Most of the morning was great fun, but there were moments
that really touched my heart. Los
Pipitos is a center for children who are physically or mentally
challenged. Knowing this intellectually
and seeing such a great number of these children gathered together are two
entirely different things. It's
impossible not to be impacted by the struggles that some of these children and
their mothers, fathers, grandmothers or grandfathers face. These are very poor families but their love
and commitment to care for their children as best they can is so evident. Many walk up to three hours to get to the
center, sometimes carrying a child the entire way. Some of the parents and grandparents look so
frail themselves that it's hard to imagine how they are physically able to care
for these children.
Some of the children had Down's Syndrome, some had painfully
twisted little bodies due to the effects of cerebral palsy, some were blind,
some deaf, some epileptic, several were amputees, many were unable to walk,
most are very thin...but the one thing they all had in common was that look of
great anticipation in their eyes...they were all so excited to receive a
gift...even those who were a little apprehensive to get so close to a
gringa!
One of the older children, actually more like a young adult,
had been given a 5 gallon plastic bucket filled with something very heavy...I'm
assuming bags of beans, rice and other food items. But the young lady wasn't able to carry the
bucket and so her mother, who was fairly advanced in age, was responsible for
carrying the very heavy bucket (I know how heavy it was as I had to hand it to
them!). They also had a small child with
them and the older woman was trying to keep him close by her side. I asked Cecely where they lived and she told
me it was quite a distance away. She
said that sometimes they walk to the center and sometimes, they are able to
take a transport (a big privately owned truck that gives rides to people...some
have benches in the back, many don't).
About that time, the lady and her family got up to
leave. I quickly excused myself and
followed them out the gate. Raquel went with
me. I went up to the lady and pressed
enough money in her hand and told her that should pay for her trip home. She was so very grateful, thanked me
repeatedly, hugged me, kissed my cheeks and then holding tightly to my hands,
she said something but I couldn't understand what she was saying. We said good-bye and as we were walking back
in to the center, Raquel told me that she had invited me to come to her house
some day, that she would be honored for me to visit them. Wow.
Now that's a humbling thing to hear.
By 12:30, the center was all but empty with only the staff
and a few stragglers still there.
Children were happy, parents were grateful and the staff at Los Pipitos
were exhausted. All in all, it seemed to
be a very successful Christmas party!
After a quick trip to show Raquel the Mirador (the scenic
overlook), we came home so that she could get her things packed. Not long after arriving home, we heard
someone at our gate. It was our landlady
with her sister, her niece and nephew who were here visiting. Yelenia, our landlady, wanted her sister to
see our house. So, I gave an impromptu
tour of the house, which obviously didn't take long. I thought it was odd that she would bring her
here and even more odd that the sister was interested in the bathrooms and the
closets. After they left, Jim and I
wondered if the reason they came is maybe that the sister would be interested
in moving here with her children. Raquel
said that we needed to quit making the house look "attractive". It's true that we have a year's contract so
we shouldn't have to worry about anything for awhile, but I really, really,
REALLY am hoping (and praying) that this visit was all about nothing and that
we won't have to be looking for another place in a year. I'm ready to stay put for awhile!
Well, that was about the only shadow on the day. The temps have been cool and the winds very
strong...I wonder if we could qualify for a wind chill index??? Probably not.
We got Raquel on the bus this afternoon and haven't received any phone calls
indicating that she has had any problems going home, so we're assuming all went well. So thankful for the time we had with her, the
time we had with the people at Los Pipitos, and the time I have with my
husband. He's such a good guy. But that's for another time. Just feeling very blessed tonight.
