Our Guatemalan Family

Even though we had our brakes fixed in Chichicastenango we still needed some repair on the truck. We stopped at the nearest city. A local mechanic showed up at the service station and directed us to his house. We couldn't understand him at all. We followed him to his yard and the entire family came out to greet us.

He told us it would take a few days for him to fix the truck. He had to take the bus to Guatemala City and get the correct parts. We were to camp in his yard. I immediately started socializing with the family. It was difficult to communicate with my little Spanish skills but we managed. Mama had seven children from a different husband who is not in the picture. In order to support her children and mother she married the mechanic and had one child. She has sacrificed alot for her family.

I taught the kids how to make bracelets and played with them all day everyday. Mama made us breakfast, lunch and dinner. She would feed us before her husband. Then her husband and their child would eat. The other children had to prepare their own food in a separate kitchen. The mechanic didn't seam to want them around.

Dorian became friends with the two sons. They practiced their Spanish and English together. He also learned how to fix the truck with the mechanic. He had an amazing experience with our new Guatemalan family too.

Dorian and I would lay at night in amazement of this family. We were so thankful of their acceptance. I tried to help out like everyone else. Mama was shocked when I started doing all the dishes after dinner. Eventually she just started treating me like another daughter. She asked us several times to move in for one year.

I fell in love with Grandma. She is ninety and so sweet. I would sit as close to her as possible on the ground while she sat in her chair on the back porch. She thought it was amazing that I didn't need a hair tie to put up my hair and how blond my hair was. She would put her hand on my leg and smile by the end of the night we were basically cuddling on the porch. We loved hanging out together.

I became really close with this family in just a few days. We taught each other so much. Mama gave me a ring to remember her by. A storm hit us as we were packing to leave but we didn't want to stay another night. We were warned not to walk around the town and the mechanic didn't even want the locals to know we were at his house. This is not an appropriate place for a gringo to live but we enjoyed every minute of this experience. Meeting this family was the most significant part of our journey.