The Lord giveth, and He taketh away... on the same day

Efraín gets a new grandson
Lucki, Efraín's daughter, gave birth to a 9 lb boy on Monday. I met the family at the hospital Monday after receiving the call. However, the hospital would not give us any information nor let us in. They said to call back Tuesday morning. Finally, on Wednesday, we got word that they would let her and the baby go home.

Wednesday, I left early from Antigua as soon as I got the call. They would finally let Lucki out of the hospital. I arrived at the hospital to find Ligia, Edvin, and Dianita waiting. After about 3 more hours, Doña Ana, Lucki and the baby came out.


What a cute baby, don't ya think?

Anyways, this baby doesn't even have a name yet. At the house, I think Dianita is starting to get a bit jealous already - since she used to be the only child, and she gets a bit excited at times, and doesn't realize a newborn baby is much more fragile than she is... I think in time she will learn to be a better big sister. After all, she's only three!



Evelyn loses her grandma
Efraín wasn't with us. He arrived at Lucki's house and only had about 10 minutes to enjoy the baby and make himself a whiskey drink. We got another call, this time from teary-eyed Evelyn, the secretary. Her grandma passed away just moments before she called asking permission to go home early. When these Guatemalans (at least in my town) have a wake, they don't mess around. Everyone in town is usually invited, and they are AWAKE all night long. Free food and drinks, usually coffee, are reason enough for the masses to arrive. They usually have some praying and singing going on, but most people are just sitting around in small groups chatting away, mostly of how good the person was and what they will remember about him or her. We rushed back to Oratorio, and had a late night at the wake held at her house. This was followed today with the trip to the cemetary. I should've had my camera, but just to explain, the whole town walks to the cemetary when someone passes away, with some carrying the casket and the many others singing. The larger the crowd, the more popular the person was. It was pretty crowded that day.

Once again, in retrospect, this is one the most amazing parts of the culture. The fact that they call me to witness the birth of a newborn in a family, and even to attend the wake in another, these are privileges allowed only to those who have successfully integrated with local community members.

Yet still I find it somewhat strange that Efraín, although too macho to have tears in his eyes, was so happy as he looked at his new grandson he slammed his whiskey; and the secretary was in tears because she lost her grandma the same day.