Christmas activities...

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.

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! 

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.