I arrived home at noon, just in time. I had been in Xela that morning, getting a replacement credit card as the week before, again in Xela, my wallet disappeared. Kata sat me down at the table and put a plate in front of me. As I looked around, I couldn't help but notice that only men sat at this table. As I glanced over my shoulder, I saw the women kneeling near the house eating. I wanted to be with the women. Some of the men I knew, most of them I didn't know. They spoke in K'iche, but by a few token words and names, I knew they were talking about me. After lunch, the tables were cleared out and the speakers were set up and turned to 11. This Catholic service was to bless Kata's new house.
We spent all this week painting and cleaning Kata's new house.
Yes, those are firecrackers. Probably about 20 feet of them. The men are giddy when they lay them out, but not as giddy as the kids who raid the area after it is lit, collecting all those that escaped the fuse.
The service was outside and people sat on a bed of pine needles. Women cried and mumbled. Here, an old Mayan women stands during a time of prayer.
The service was long enough. I sat in the back and caught the glances of all the kids as they looked over their shoulders at me. This little girl started a game of toss the balloon with me about half way through the service. We played for probably 20 minutes; standing 2 feet apart, tapping a balloon back and forth. It was a welcome stimulation from the preaching in K'iche. Then the inevitable happened. The balloon hit a pine needle just right and this little girl got the saddest look on her face. She went to chat with her friends who, after an appropriate time of giggling and looking at me, sheepishly offered a hand to me. I opened mine and she deposited three cheesey crackers into my palm with a smile. They were gratefully accepted as I was pretty hungry at the time, smelling the strew coming from the house.
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