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.
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