Homeward

Hello everyone!

We find ourselves packing today, the 13th of May. Hard to believe how fast the time has gone. It has been one fun adventure after another, but now it is time to move forward, and come home.

We started this blog, more than anything, in order that people at home might be able to follow along, get to know Clara as she grew, and in some ways help us stay connected. Now we find ourselves telling people here in San Lucas that we have a blog for all of the same reasons. The friends and family we have developed here will be dearly missed, but we hope in many ways will be able to connect in the same way that our friends and family from the USA have stayed connected while we´ve been in Guatemala. Clara will keep growing, of course, and we will keep having adventures, God willing, so I imagine that, at least for now, we´ll keep this business going. Thanks again everyone for following along; your love and support have often been what kept us going when the going got tough. We can´t wait to see you.

Hasta pronto!

Dan, Lois, and la Clarita

Clara and Her Friends

Showing her affection for her friend Elianah



Listening to music with the hospital staff


Dancing with Roberta by the lake

Earthquake!

We were sitting in the living room today when the house started to shake for about 5-10 seconds. Turns out there was a somewhat major earthquake in Guatemala today. No worries, we´re fine.


In other news, Clara is pulling from sitting to standing and is quite certain that she is the center of the Universe.

Making Lists

As our time in San Lucas comes to a close, we find ourselves identifying parts of our ordinary daily life here that we will miss when we return to Minnesota. And a few parts we won't miss, too.

We will miss....

Eternal Spring

Godparents

The Church

Fresh Local Produce

Walking Everywhere

The pila
(don't mind the little girl in front)

We will not miss....

The pila
(No, it is not by accident that this photo showed up twice.)

Tuc Tucs
(Most drivers are too young to be driving motorized vehicles.)

Frequent power outages

Sleep Scenes

Remember the Drawer Bed?

We wanted to document how much Clara has grown since she first came home with us...


THEN: Sleeping peacefully, all cuddled up in blankets.





NOW: "What am I doing in here? This is TOO small!"

Toys

Playtime

Good Friday

We have had a really good, but really busy week. We were both kind of expecting a week off, but didn´t realize how much actually happens here during Holy Week. Good Friday was busy and powerful. We started the day by going down to the Parish for breakfast and watching the cross procession leave the church, which represents Jesus carrying the cross to the Crucifixion. They go all around town with about 24 people carrying a giant float with Christ and a cross on top. Then at 10 was the Good Friday service which was very solemn. After the service we had about 30 minutes to just hang out in the church yard with everyone. Then the cross procession came back just before noon.


Procession of the Cross returning to the church


The whole churchyard and church were packed with people, and then Christ was crucified just in front of where the altar normally is. He was hung up on a 20 foot high cross and all the kids use noisemakers to make it really loud and uncomfortable and awful. Right beforehand Fr. Greg read that part of the Passion.




After that everyone goes home for a special Good Friday lunch. We went to the Hernandez family lunch. We´ve come to know their family really well and it was a really nice time. After lunch everyone hurried down to the churchyard to start working on the alfombras, which means "rug" literally, but they are these huge works of art that are put on the ground made of flowers, or fruit, or dyed sawdust.


Lois and Clara Working on Alfombras



Dan and Michelle Working on Alfombras


Finishing a Design


Alfombra in front of the Parish


We helped at first with the two right outside of the church in the churchyard. At 3pm Fr. Greg read another reading of Christ giving up His spirit.



Taking Jesus from the Cross

Then they take Christ down from the cross and put him in a glass coffin on top of a new and bigger float, and then about 50 people picked up the float and carried it outside. They march over and through the alfombras very very slowly.


The Procession leaving the Church

They left the church at about 4pm. As they walk over the alfombra it is destroyed. It seemed like the whole town was following along in front, behind, around. Kids dressed in purple and black robes continue using the noisemakers. And people walk ahead to see the beautiful alfombras that are taking shape along the route.


Lois and Clara ahead of the procession

You can´t start an alfombra too soon because the wind or the dogs might destroy it, so there is an element of working against time as the procession slowly works its way towards you. By 6pm they had gone about two blocks so we ducked out and went home to eat a little dinner. At 7:30 we came back and they had only gone another block. We walked the whole route of alfombras which is probably about a half a mile or 20 blocks or so. There were maybe 20 to 25 alfombras in total. We made it to the Hernandez family spot at about 8pm or so and they were just starting. They had asked us if we would be willing to help, so we gave Clara to Flori and worked with them until about 10:30. Theirs was maybe 120 feet long and 6 feet wide. Pure sawdust and sand. It had a representations of all 12 apostles, various faces of Jesus, and lots of flower and fish scenes. Afterwards we went over to their house to celebrate finishing it and picked up Clara. We were pretty tired, so we decided not to wait for the procession to come. We went ahead and found the Tun family working on a different one that they had just started. We turned in at about 11pm or so. We heard that they procession came and destroyed our alfombra at about 1am.

Its kind of hard to describe the atmosphere last night. It was a mix of mourning, celebration, county fair after dark, and hard hard work on your hands and knees attending to the details of your alfombra while the rest of town walks around either approving or disapproving your work. This is a place that truly acknowledges the death and suffering of Jesus in a way that we do not do in the USA. We wonder if it is because they can relate to it a little bit better. The alfombras are both a symbol of profound respect for the body of Jesus as it is being carried to its tomb as well as a symbol of our time and lives on earth, worth our very best, but ultimately to be lost and blown away in the wind. We will wait and see what Saturday and Easter day are like, but it looks to us like the Friday is the biggest day of the week.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the Fultons! We are resting up a bit today after a whirlwind of a Holy Week. Expect photos and stories soon...

Bathtime

Clara loves bathtime. And she loves it more to have a toy to bonk around while she does it. She just recently learned to sit up well enough that she can hang out in the plastic tub. We hope that she is having as much fun as we have with bathtime.

The arrival of April

"I love this book!"


How can you not smile back at this face?


Clara welcomes the month of April with new crib bumpers and taller railings. She has begun rotating in her crib and kept getting her feet and legs stuck out between the railings. When we put her into the crib to check out her new environs, she immediately pulled up into kneeling and almost toppled over the side! Needless to say, the railings are secured at their highest position now.



This one is actually from March but too cute to let pass by.

¡Tios!

Meeting Aunts Anne, Mary, and Jane, and Uncle Robert

Four of Lois’siblings came last week to meet Clara, and she LOVED meeting them. They just left on Sunday and Clara is pretty disappointed today to discover that she is alone again with just Mom and Dad to play with her. We had a great week together, showing them the mission and San Lucas, putting Jane to work with Lois’ patients, and enjoying some family time for Clara with her aunts and uncle.

Uncle Robert is great at helping me eat!

Out walking with Aunt Jane...sideways, sorry.


Boat ride!

Yum!

Hello! It feels like it has been a long time since I last updated the blog. We have less access to internet these days so it takes a bit longer to put up posts. We are all doing well, though, and Clara has been busy growing and changing. It is hard to believe the laughing little girl sitting at the kitchen table with us at meals is the same person as the tiny baby we stared at sleeping in our arms almost 6 months ago. For one thing, she rarely falls asleep in our arms anymore! And she’s huge! Recent height and weight estimates are 24.5 inches and 15.5 lbs.

Clara started eating solid foods a couple weeks ago, and now has avocado, carrot, rice cereal, and sweet potato in her repertoire. We thought avocado was a great first food, but when women in town found out, they were concerned that avocado was too cold. One friend even brought over a squash that she recommended as a more appropriate first food, with instructions on how to cook and prepare it. Clara is a pretty messy eater, and I am beginning to wonder if the resistance to feeding a baby avocado has more to do with the stains on her clothing than the temperature of the food. 

February 14th

Today is a special day in several ways. Clara is now 5 months old. It is hard to believe how fast the time has gone, how much both she and we have changed, and how much we are still baffled by this new little person that is living with us full time. 5 months to us means: better naps, longer naps, falling asleep without help, better eye contact, fun sounds, louder sounds, sitting by herself kind of, and the terror of imagining trying to feed her real food. Today is also Valentine´s Day. Cassie, our old Newton House floor mate and now volunteer coordinator at the Parish is babysitting for us. We had a wonderful lunch just the two of us and decided that we really wanted to try and catch up on some email stuff since the computer has fried. A lot of our work here is with coordinating visitors, donations, and ideas from the States via internet, so its been kind of challenging with no computer in the house and also having Clara around to actually get to a computer together and work. Its nice to have a little while today. And finally today marks the beginning of the 3 month count-down. We are planning on returning to the USA on May 14th. We´re trying to not think too much about that right now, but we can´t help but be both excited, terrified, and nostalgic when we think about the major life change that is just around the corner. Life here has been so fulfilling, but there are so many people in the States we miss and can´t wait to see.

Catching up

Hi again. It has been a while....combination of the death (rest in peace) of our computer and a great visit with friends from Minnesota.

Clara continues to baffle and delight us. She is fascinated with her feet lately and working on some interesting new sounds. She has also started "standing" with a little help. Super cute. Here are some photos.
'

More Fun

Sadness and Disbelief

It is with great sadness and disbelief that we read about the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. Thousands of injured, hundreds of dead. I read with new eyes about the deaths of children as I hear Clara playfully sucking on her hands next to me. I try, but fail, to imagine what it must be like to be trapped in one of the most densely populated areas on earth, Gaza, while death and destruction rain from the sky. Surrounded by the wall and unable to run to anywhere safe, starving, without power or water, what would we do? I simply cannot imagine. I would hope that Clara would be too small to know what she is seeing and hearing - but how can we know what war does to the soul of a child? The thought brings tears to my eyes.

We are saddened to know that the USA is in part funding this war. We thank God that our government does not sell Hamas the hundreds of rockets that fly into Southern Israel, but our government does sell or just donate a huge majority of the bombs, weapons, and concrete that are used to kill and imprison Palestinians. One third of all US foreign aid goes to Israel, and the majority of that is in weaponry or wall construction. How can this be? How can we support this?

We cannot believe that despite the innocent dead and injured, the blockade of humanitarian aid, medicine, food, electricity, gas, and even journalists, our elected officials refuse to demand anything of Israel. We have called our senators and congressfolk and president, begging for a response, for humanitarian aid, for anything resembling human decency - but it seems our words fall on blocked ears. Are our voices too small, or perhaps our petitions for food and medicine are too great for a government only able to sell and give the bombs that fall?

Clara now has somehow got her stuffed bear balancing on the top of her head. I thank God that we awoke in a land whose US funded 36 year civil war ended 12 years ago. But thanking God for our own good luck is not enough. Not when we are citizens of a nation whose tax dollars pay for bombs and barriers, not when our privately spent dollars support companies complicit in the oppression of people in Guatemala or Palestine or anywhere. We struggle to know what to do from here, or maybe more importantly, what not to - in the meantime maybe we'll call our senator just one more time.

To Mexico: There and Back Again

We headed out for the Mexican border on Thursday morning at 7am. We were driven by Gino, who has worked for the parish for over 20 years. We took his small 1970's car. Supposedly if a Guatemalan owns their own car, they can get 72 hour passes into Mexico. We planned to head to San Cristobal in Chiapas, Mexico - about 2 hours inside the border.


Road trip!

Clara tests out her carseat.

We made it to the border after about 7 hours of winding roads through the highlands of Western Guatemala. At the highest point of the journey Gino told us that they call that part of the country "Alaska" because its so cold.

At the border we found ourselves in a bustling town called La Mesilla. We came up to the customs building and I headed in with Gino while Lois and Clara waited in the car. It turned out that Gino could cross the border with his car, but only if he stayed in the town on the other side of the border, he wasn't going to be able to travel. I guess we were supposed to pay a bribe at this point too, but we had already decided that we weren't going to do that. So now what? I asked the customs officer how long we had to stay in Mexico before coming back for a renewed visa. He asked why we needed to come back so soon - when I explained that we had a 4 month old in the car, that our driver couldn't continue, and that we were volunteers and preferred not to travel anyway, he said, "Just head over to Mexico, get your stamp, pay your exit tax, and come on back. Thanks for being a volunteer."

So we did just that. Between the two customs areas there was about 2 miles of road, so Gino was able to drive us into Mexico, where we filled out our customs forms, got our stamps, went back to the end of the line, waited, and then paid our "exit" tax, got an exit stamp, and back we went to Guatemala. Our 20 minutes in Mexico.

(A quick aside - the only other time I've been to Mexico was about 5 years ago when I accidently ended up in Mexico City while trying to get to Bolivia - long story. Regardless I flew in from Miami, had some problems in customs and with my seat on my connecting flight, and ended up flying back to Miami after about 8 hours. If the Mexico government ever were to look into my travel history, they might wonder at my reasons for visiting them.)


We made it!

By the time we got everything arranged and stamped and paid, it was about 3:30pm - so we drove back as far as Huehuetenango, spent the night in a hotel, and eventually made it to San Lucas at about noon yesterday with another 90 days of legal immigration.

The Good and Bad of Guatemala City

On Monday I headed into Guatemala City with two goals. The first and most important was to pick up Clara's passport. Back in mid-December we brought Clara to the US embassy to register her for citizenship and get her documents. That was actually our second attempt to register her. The first time we made it about an hour down the road, only to be stopped by roadblocks and protests at our intersection with the interstate - absolutely no way through. So we had to reschedule. Regardless we finally made it to the embassy, only to be locked out for another hour due to more protests at the embassy. People were protesting what they see as the US taking advantage of their economy via "free trade". So we finally made it in, and after being made to feel like criminals in our own embassy, Clara's registration was accepted - then we had to wait at least 2 weeks to pick up her passport and birth certificate.

So, on Monday we went to pick it up. And, Success! It was much less of a hassle this time with no protests and no needing to prove that Clara is actually our daughter and a US citizen. Her passport picture is very cute and kind of funny to see with all the offical US embosments, etc. It is good for 5 years. We are imagining traveling when she is 4 years old and showing them a passport with a 3 month old picture on it!


Yay! I got my passport!

The bad news is that we went to Guatemalan migration to see if we could get an extension on our visa. The Guatemalan travelors visa is only good 3 months, so we either had to renew or leave the country. We renewed back in September after our first three months, and we had heard you could only renew one time. But because Clara is still pretty small and because we are volunteers and because the bishop of our diocese down here wrote a very kindly worded letter, we thought we might be able to renew again. But, Denied! They wouldn't do it. Some people told us that we should have handed them an unmarked envelope with money in it for a bribe and it would have gone fine. But other people have told us that the Colom government hired all new officials in migration to cut back on corruption. Rather than risk time in prison or encourage a system of bribary we accepted our fate and began planning a quick trip to Mexico.


Yay! My first trip!

Clara's Keys

Our Laughing Lady