Children's Day

On days like "Secretary's Day" or "Grandparents' Day" or "Mother's Day," I always used to ask when was "Kids' Day"?  And my parents only laughed.

Well, here in Guatemala, they actually do have a "Kids' Day," and it is celebrated in grand style!  Our church had a special service complete with clowns, piñatas, and games.

Worship time

Piñata

An evangelistic drama and dance

A happy dance

And clowns (the girl clown is Dasha,
one of my dancers).

Sweet lady in town

This sweet little grandma, named Anastasia, sits in her wheelchair in town most days, watching people walk by.  Some people give her food and some give her small coins.  I have made a habit of stopping by to give her a quetzal (equal to about $0.13) and talk to her a bit in K'iche'.  People stop and gawk as I have my conversation with her in K'iche', but what they don't know is that I always say the same thing every time:

"¿Xeq'ij, la otz awäch?  Ën otz, maltyox.  Jwert q'ij chanim.  Dios katutewchij.  ¡Ena!  ¡Cha'ana kwenta!"  which means,
"Good afternoon, how are you?  I'm fine, thank you.  The sun is hot today.  God bless you.  Good-bye!  Take care!"

Veronica and Anastasia

She especially loves Veronica, who always gives her a hug!  Some day soon hopefully my K'iche' will improve to actually be able to carry on a conversation, but this lady's smile is great big, even at our small interaction!