Rosalba

Probably you figured out that this is not a real tiger.

We have talked about our trips to the zoo in the past, but this is not so much about the zoo as it is the people with us at the zoo. The photo above is missing Rosalba, who is the link between us, but don't worry, there is a picture of her below.

About a year and a half ago we entered into what is possibly a most typical missionary dilemmas - do you hire someone to help you around the house? We do not have a big apartment, and for a year and a half we managed just fine. Okay, let's be honest - Richard managed just fine as he cleaned and I read him books (best.arrangement.ever). After Nora was born, however, we were feeling a little overwhelmed. We weren't sure what we were doing (and we had not yet acclimated to that perpetual reality), we were dead-dog tired, and we weren't feeling up to the challenge of the daily January dirt dusting that comes with the blessed breezes of the North Coast. In talking through things with someone from the church, she suggested Rosalba just come by and give us a hand one day.

I have never seen a person clean so thoroughly as Rosalba did that day. I have heard tell of people moving furniture to clean before, but I have not really had them take every item out of my kitchen cabinets, wipe down each item along with all the shelves, and replace everything (resulting in fun hide and seek games once she left, but whatever). Perhaps even this seems normal to you, but may I just show you one picture which further underscores my point? That cow (which is our water filter) had spots before Rosalba came. I am not kidding you. Richard painted spots on that cow with what we considered to be permanent marker. That was evidently inaccurate. When she left that day (approximately 10 hours later...) we marveled at how clean our home could be. We relaxed. We walked around barefoot. We went to bed early. We were hooked.

Rosalba

Rosalba usually comes once every 2-3 weeks (or just before our parents come to visit) to get the deep down clean that our (Richard's) sweep and mop doesn't quite cover. Over time we have gotten to be friends. I am finally not just "Señora" with a name too hard to remember. I have heard about her life and she has lived some of mine as she has watched Peanut grow up from 4 months on. I think the first real break was when we invited Rosalba and her two youngest daughters to the Nutter's birthday, getting that same invitation in return to her grandson's first birthday this past February. Every time she comes I make us all breakfast and for lunch she either tries out "an adventure" (read: what we usually eat at home), or I go buy something for us at the corner store that is more immediately recognizable.  Each of her kids has come to our house with her and played with Peanut, to her everlasting delight. We are grateful for their presence in our life.

And yet...because isn't there always an "and yet" to a dilemma?

And yet, Rosalba works for us. Can't get around that. She does not come clean out of the goodness of her heart (why would you do that?), and, apart from the meals we fix, we do not help her out while she is sweeping, wiping, mopping, etc. We have the luxury of paying her to come do what she also has to do at her own house because...well, it is her house. We live fairly simply, yet with a "home computer" and a "work/travel computer" while her kids (she notes) don't even know how to turn one on. We pay her better than she expects to be paid, but again, we can. We took she and her family out to the zoo just to have fun, because we can. 

I am not putting the dilemma forward very clearly I don't think, but it revolves around whether, if you can, you choose to ask someone else to come in and do work that you could do, or not. If not, we would have never met Rosalba or her wonderful kids. Peanut would have a smaller world, whether she knew it or not. And sure, Rosalba and her family would not have the still meager income we provide her twice a month. But because we do are in each other's lives doesn't mean we can pretend that making breakfast or a birthday invitation puts us on equal footing in the world or that other choices we make (or don't) serve to maintain or even widen the gap between us. 

And yet...we will still treasure our trip to the zoo

We are ostriches, can't you tell?

Deep in the Heart of Texas

In May we took a brief trip to Texas to see Richard's family. It was a great escape from the heat (can you believe it?), and we had a wonderful time. Between time in Dallas, at the house in Pampa, and on the ranch, we felt good and family-filled. Below is the book we made on Shutterfly to commemorate our experience. I was so proud of it I just wanted to share (no other compensation beyond joy and pride). 

Note: There are not so many pages as it seems when the book is loading, but you do have to have a little patience, and once it does load you will see extra Shutterfly logo-ing, etc. That is what you get when you take an embed code from a commercial website I do believe...but whatcha gonna do?

 Click here to view this photo book larger

 (and you are totally going to want to see it larger...)

¡Feliz Día Papi!

To our ready, sure, and steady in the midst of the wackadoo of life.

To the one who will hold us tight, but always go on our adventures.

 To a silly spirit

 

























 

To the one who has our back, whether we realize it or not.

To our quiet but constant cheerleader.

Kick back and relax Papi...

 

It's your special day!

We love you!

Their Fault

I mean seriously, I haven't written since MARCH? Good Lord. Peanut could be fifteen by now, and you all would not even know it.

Okay, perhaps you would know if she were suddenly fifteen. I probably would have found time to write about that. I pointed out on our other poor, ignored, sad little blog that we were not celebrating May in Colombia this year, but that still leaves April unaccounted for here. I blame it on Matt and Emily.

The truth is, they came down to Colombia to visit (sans the Satch-meister, sadly) and they infected us with their devil-may-care attitudes and their general zest for life and their departure left us depressed and bereft. Come to think of it, perhaps it was they who took away May here too...this is all starting to come together now that I am back into the swing of things... I mean really, just look at these sinister faces. Yeah, you see what I mean.

Before they arrived, we had talked a lot about Matt and Emily coming, so when we went to the airport in Cartagena to pick them up she kept looking through the window as if she would pick them right out. Since 8 months had passed, almost doubling her actual age when she saw them last, we thought we should stay vigilant as well. Plus, you never know what Matt will look like at any given time. (Tell me I'm wrong.) Though she was quiet an observing at first (as is her way), it was not long before Peanut woke up asking for "At" and "Emi" as soon as I walked in her room. (Okay, full honesty, it was mostly for Emi. That must be tempered, however, with the fact that "Emi" seemed to apply to either Matt or Emily.)

We started in Cartagena with carriage rides, cold drinks, walks through the old city and the fort with a great city view and stayed in a hotel with a pool on the roof and a double-decker bedroom with great peek-a-boo stairs. We got to open presents that included new clothes and shoes from Satchel, a puzzle, and fine imported food stuffs like JIF peanut butter and rice cakes (we ask for only the best). In Barranquilla we visited the (well air-conditioned) Caribbean Museum, ate the required Crepes and Waffles meals, and headed out to the beach - as well as dancing it up a bit with the neighbors and taking our afternoon park walks. 

We don't know if At and Emi had all the vacation they might have wanted, but we had the visit we desperately needed. Thanks y'all. Except for that ruining our blogging part. That was not cool.

Peanut Program at Progresar

Our neighbors, the Smiths, are the greatest blessing we could possibly have here in Colombia. They have been family to us and helped us navigate this whole parenting thing in innumerable ways. They have taken us to appointments, brought us the occasional meal, invited us to holiday gatherings, and taken Peanut away from us for a few hours to make all of us better people - to name just a few. We could not be more grateful for all they do for us.

So, you can imagine that we were all ears when Fanny came to ask if we would do her a favor. "¡Con mucho gusto! ¿Cómo te podemos servir?" With pleasure! How can we be of service?

After having worked in a bank for many years, Fanny decided to follow her true passion and go into education. Rather than becoming a teacher, however, Fanny decided to open her own school. It is called "Progress", and is located in the town adjacent to Barranquilla, Soledad. The center has both a pre-school and a primary school and serves a vulnerable population of kids on a shoestring budget. We had been invited to visit a couple of times, and I even gave the reflection at last year's graduation service. The school is Fanny's passion, and she takes it very, very seriously.

"Could you do me a favor? It has to do with the school", she said.

"Oh, sure. What do you need? How can we help?"

"Well, I was just wondering...would you all allow me to use Peanut's name as the name of the program I want to start for the kids to help them develop their values and strengthen them as people?"

"Umm...yeah. Sure. Wow."

"Thank you."

That is what we could do for Fanny. She loves Peanut so much that she wants to make sure that she is remembered whether she is around this place or not. She wants to to have Peanut's name on a program for her kids so that Peanut will always know she was important to her. So no, thank you Fanny. Thank you. 

Birthday Baptism Bash - Part 2

Birthday 2 - The Day After, and the Day Before

Though we began our celebrations on the actual day of Peanut's birth, there was too much goodness (and too many presents) to be contained in one mere day. 

We only opened two presents on the day, so the 23rd and 24th were spent mostly doling out the birthday love from abuelos, tías, tíos, amigos, and more. We basically opened two presents in the morning and two in the afternoon because more than that and Peanut started getting a little wacky. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest hit was still the bag and tissue paper. Luckily one-year-olds don't know or don't care that you are using the same two bags for every single present...

Before this grand occasion, Peanut had a number of books a few stuffed animals, and a little cube of toys. We felt like she had enough to do a toy change up, but not so much that we would be overwhelmed. Still, she was privileged. Blessed to have books; they are very expensive here. Blessed to have new things. Blessed to be the sole owner of all these things. While we have tried to give things away as she gets older, inevitably the amount of "stuff" she has is increasing. Some of it is hand-me-downs (Thank you McCavits!), but a lot isn't. We want to make sure Peanut has everything she needs to learn and grow, but we also want to remember not to get sucked in to the hype. It helps to realize that the Nutter is getting as excited about the wrapping as the present, and to realize that she can make fun and learning out of even the strangest things.

With blocks, books, and a band (oh my!), we should be all set through Christmas and beyond on gifts, but what we could not have done without was family. It would have been awesome to have everyone together, but we were thrilled to have Abuelita, Grandad, and Nanny in our midst. Peanut was so excited she even started walking for everybody...my girl's got nothing if not good timing.

The night of the 24th we made sure to get Peanut home and in bed early, but the abuelas had other plans. Jacky and Fanny invited them to go get their hair and nails done at a place nearby. I was tired (and I needed to put together the sugar high gift boxes we were giving out the next afternoon), so I chose not to go with them. Luckily, I did not miss out on the action. Why you ask? Because due to the high number of hair dryer, straightener, curler thingies that were being wielded in the beauty shop, the power blew in mid-style. Not to be daunted, our neighbors just piled everyone into their (teeny-tiny) car and brought them back to our home to finish up the job. I may get in trouble for this, but it might be worth it...

 

 

 What was worth it was the effort - on everyone's part - because the next day was big. 

I mean, big.

Birthday Baptism Bash - Part 1

Birthday 1 - The Actual Day

It started with a crown.

My mom, heretofore known as Abuelita, came the day before in order to be with Peanut on her birthday start to finish. As soon as she heard Peanut's stirrings, she ran in to sing Happy Birthday and so the celebrations began. Allowing her to finish her breakfast, in short order Abuelita had pulled this lovely topper out of her bag and Peanut went straight to royalty. 

Now I didn't think it would last. 

We can put a hat on Peanut's head to protect her from the sun, and if she is not immediately distracted that hat is off within .25 seconds. In fact, we can barely comb the girl's hair without her reaching up and grabbing to use the comb herself (which, perhaps deeply surprisingly, rarely results in combed hair). So I figured this crown, made of curly ribbon and wiry stars was a fun gesture on Abuelita's part, but one that would require some lightening fast fingers on the shutter of my camera to catch an actual photo of it on her head.

I could not have been more wrong. Peanut kept that thing on allllll day.

Sometimes she would toy with it... 

 

And once in a while she would lend it to someone else...

But by and large the girl kept that thing on all day - fascinated I tell you.

Most of the morning and early afternoon were spent doofing around (in a crown), waiting for Papi to get back from Cartagena with Nanny and Grandad. When looking at herself in the mirror got old, climbing in and out of and on top of Abuelita's suitcase became the order of the day. Because Abuelita's bedroom is also called the living room, there was not a lot of space for her to be private, but the upside was that she got to introduce Peanut to the wonders of make-up brushes.

Since Peanut's mom does not actually know what to do with a makeup brush, 

someone was going to have to step in at some point. 

 

 I will note that it is possible the lesson did not fully take as 

"brush-cap-as-musical-instrument" was an equally popular choice.

Once Nanny and Grandad arrived, we deemed it time to celebrate. And what better to celebrate with? 

Why, Cheerwine, of course. 

She looks like she just loves it, right?

 

We talked a lot about what happened a year ago on the 22nd, and noted that Peanut was way to big to return from whence she came, hard as she might try.

And even though the official party was scheduled for the 25th, no one wanted to miss out on this special day. 

We donned the birthday girl shirt and obviously requisite tutu and invited over the rest of the family. 

 So with Tía Jacky (also fondly, and very appropriately known as Tía Mala...), 

Abuelo Alex and Abuela Fanny, we cheered for the birthday bean.

Papi made a scrumptious flan, we sang, we clapped, and we laughed and laughed and laughed. 

Though the prize was well worth it, I am giving September 22, 2011 significantly higher marks than 2010.

But it ain't over yet folks. It ain't over yet.

5 - Party Preview

You may remember that I was fretting here earlier about first birthday parties and all the hoopla surrounding them. Let me be clear that if it were up to Richard and me alone, we would have a small cake, invite the neighbors, sing, and voila - first birthday. However, much as we might like to think so, it is not all up to us.

Peanut is very much a child of the community here, and as early as six months Doris was asking me what I was planning for Peanut's cumpleaños. At the time, I laughed (choked?) and said that I had not even considered it given that it was double her lifetime away, but Doris was in earnest. She began making suggestions and contacting others so they would be ready when the time came.

Well it has come.

The 5 for today are photos of the 5 different hand-made (not by me) invitations that each child (all 30ish of them!) will receive. We have either a zoo theme, or a farm theme, depending on your point of view. Whatever we have, we do not have a Disney theme which, in this context, I consider to be a rousing victory.

Each part individually cut from foam and pasted together. Oh yes friends, this is an EVENT.

Along with these animals will be an balloon archway consisting of animal faces as well as stand-alone balloon animals. There will be a banner with Nora's photo, a styrofoam fence (farm-leaning...) plus, of course, palm trees. I believe I heard something about face-painting, a sing-along, individually made foam animal visors as party favors, and I am sure I am missing something. If you can think of it, it is probably happening. 

The thing is, I am doing fairly little all in all. This party is much like the gift of my wedding. After a week of rain and last minute changes to make an outdoor, backyard gathering into an indoor, fellowship hall celebration, my family and friends transformed a concrete slab room into a sacred space. It was the greatest gift one could receive - all that work with no one even really telling you how much work it was. Peanut's birthday has been a cause taken on by a variety of people that jumped in and said, "You know, I would love to do invitations." "I have a decorating business and I want to do this, this, and this for Peanut if that is okay." "Of course you can use the church, it will be such fun." So while I am sure that next week will be a little more stressful than normal, it may only be as hard as getting a little cake, inviting the neighbors and singing a song. And I can do that. 

Now tell me, you can't wait to see the photos next week can you? :)

Oh, and in case you didn't see the announcement for Peanut's baptism and birthday, here it is. You are all invited!

Making Possible the Blue Cocoon

Sometimes God puts people directly in your path.

When I wrote to ask her if she might be willing/interested in coming to Barranquilla to help us with the birth of Peanut, I wasn't sure what she would say.  When we met in February I had confided that I was pregnant (mostly to avoid eating too near any provocative smells), and sparkly eyed she had confided that she was sort of a birth nut.  She was available to talk if I needed to do so, and she wished me well in the coming 7 month journey.  It wasn't much to go on, but, following Ed McMahon's logic, I figured "Heck, if you don't enter, you can't win" and the email shot into cyberspace.

Her response was quick, thoughtful, and lengthy - a preview of all the emails and communications to come.  :)

Susanne is here working with the Mennonite Central Committee for three years, and aside from concerns about whether she would be able to take the time away from her work, she and her family were committed to making this crazy request work...all the way from Bogotá.  So she packed a bag (before we did I think), put it by the front door, and faithfully checked email, text messages and voice mails to see if she needed to hop on a plane.

In her words, "I would love to make it to the birth itself, but if circumstances/timing doesn't work out right...I could bring some recipes and cook a little" and "I'll just be there to clean the toilets and do some laundry for you all."  There may be no one who has undersold themselves quite so impressively.

What we did not know (remember?) is that Susanne is actually a child specialist: birth to age three.  So aside from making it to the hospital by 5pm (plenty of time...) and helping convince Dra. Lucia to let me get on that darn ball to help Peanut turn over, she stayed with us for 4 more days and helped us get our sea legs.  Having eaten together twice and spent a total of 6 hours together previously, Susanne saw more of me than most people ever even wanted to - on the surgical table and afterward as I worked to get the hang of breast feeding and hurt in places I wasn't even aware existed.

Besides cooking some of the best food we have had this whole year, doing the laundry and bringing recipes (we did manage to keep her from attacking the toilet), she stayed up through the night with us to help us figure out the first nights with Peanut.  Susanne helped us remember that Peanut's crying was not a personal attack but rather part of the work she was doing to try and get it together in this new place.  She brought a sense of calm to a household that was feeling more of the storm, and she allowed both of us to hole up in the blue cocoon so that we could sleep, cry, smile, and stare in wonder at this new arrival.

In short, she helped us move from people to parents, and for that Tía Susanne, we can never thank you enough.