Halloween - The Day of the Dead.

Halloween seems to be a big day here - people really go all out! Town was absolutely heaving with people - and the outfits were pretty cool. People managed to get the best of me, creeping up behind the foreigner with the backpack, scaring the crap out of her at the exact moment the power went out. Hilarious- muppets!!:) They had super elaborate paintings on the street that look like carpets that have just been rolled out- all made out of shredded painted wood. Check them out.

Continued...

This morning, i got up at 5:30 to goto the cemetery with my family. Apparently, the 1st November is known as "The day of the dead" - that's where the whole family goto the cemetery, clean out the graves and put fresh flowers. Then they have a big giant party, food, warm apple drink (yukh). I skipped a couple of hours of school to go there - i figured this is probably the only time i would probably ever do this in my life so i should go. It was so so cold this morning that Dona Blanca and I were holding hands on our way there just to keep each other warm.  Her legs are too short and she was slowing me down - i just wanted to carry her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes to speed up the process but i thought i better not. No need to offend the locals half way through my trip - i still need a home.

I have never seen so many people in a cemetery before!! I was getting knocked left right and center as people carrying crosses covered in flowers kept smacking me round the head with these wooden things! Ouch!!! It's only cos i'm taller than them that this kept happening - not fair!!! There was some free food too which i dared to try with no consequences later so that's pretty exciting. It's sort of morbid putting pics of graves on here but it was just so pretty that i have to. The graves were pretty impressive - one of them looks nicer than the place i live in now so if it doesnt work out for me, i just may move in with him or her. Check it out.

We then had a nice ol' party where some of the family turned up. There were FIVE generations there - starting with the great grandmother who was 94 and finishing with a 2 year old - it was incredible to see them all in one place! Here's a pic of the family - it was v sweet that they included me in this. Well technically i did ask to go but still, they could've said no!

Let's step away from death for a minute and talk about life! I've been sitting here thinking about ways that i can help Christian long term. And....it's work in progress but...I put a preposition to Dona Blanca this morning: What if i were to give her a monthly allowance to take care of him, would she accept the responsibility of adopting him? I explained to her that he's a real good kid and all he needs is a chance so she said she will discuss it with the family and get back to me. Her only stipulation was that he doesnt give her any trouble and is a good kid - cos she's an old lady and wants an easy life yet would like to help. Understandable and fair.  Unfortunately i can't really guarantee that...

Adoption is pretty difficult no matter where u are but i wanted to understand what the process is over here - so I went to the shelter this afternoon and talked to the director lady. I think she's finally beginning to warm upto me....Christian was brought over by the police who had been alerted by the nearby church that there's a kid always sleeping on the street. They don't know who his mum is - they think she's an alcholic but they don't know. They don't know who his father is at all. To cut a long story short, there's a hearing on the 15th of November, in a city an hour away from here, to figure out what they're going to do with Christian. If there is no one at the hearing who wants to look after him, he'll get moved to Guatemala city. But if there is someone there, then he will be available for foster care - no adoption as he technically still has a mama.

 My family's fear is that they care for him then the mama comes and takes him away - as that happened to her a few years ago... But, by law, the mum would have to prove that she has a job, isn't an alcoholic and has a house. Part of me is fearful that she comes back for him but it's been 2 months and she hasn't come to get him, so why would she suddenly turn up? Maybe she doesnt know where he is? or maybe she hasn't been looking for him? It's hard for me to know from Christian what happened - did she abandon him or did he run away? And if he did run away was it cos he's being a stroppy teenager or was it cos something happened? I wish I had all the info before involving the family... That's my only hangup about this...

My family now has all the info and is gonna think about it so it's in Allah's hands now...May he guide us towards what's best. I feel time is of the essence and i don't know if this could possibly happen or not but we'll see...Due to my prior experiences in life, I've chosen to be the type of person that assumes a "can't do" attitude a lot of the times cos I prefer that to being let down but just this one time, i'm gonna step outside my comfort zone and try a diff outlook. I'm gonna keep thinking that this is possible...I hope that this is gonna work and that I won't be disappointed..:-(

To be continued....These were some of the cute kids that i saw - i just wanted to eat them up! (except the dog obviously)