July 4th 2010 in Guatemala

Deja was recently Baptized when we went to Guatemala. Her aunt was her Madrina (Godmother) and although her aunt was in Rhode Island awhile we never got around to baptizing her when she was an infant. By then, her aunt had gone back to Guatemala to care for her own daughters-so we decided to take the plunge and head to Guatemala for the Baptism.

The week prior to the ceremony, the Padrinos (hubby's brother and sister) and hubby and I had to go to a class for 3 hours. When I walked in, it was funny-all heads turned and focused on the Gringa who just walked in the door. The guy who did the class was funny,and made it go by quickly. He also spoke English to me, and I let him for awhile, not telling him I understood everything he was saying in Spanish of course. Plus, I figured he enjoyed his English lesson as well-because he continued speaking to me in English long after he discovered I knew his own language.

On the day of the Mass, we woke up early. It was already hot, and knowing my daughter, she was not going to last long wearing gloves, nylons, a slip and a dress. To make matters worse, as we headed into the church, I noticed there were no ceiling fans. No air conditioning. Nothing. This was NOT good.

Hubby quickly shed his jacket and loosened his tie. I began to look for anything that might be used to fan my daughter and myself. My daughter, in spite of all of her Central American genes, does NOT do well in hot weather. Seeing her cousins run around in long sleeves and jackets in 60 degree weather while she was wearing a tank top and shorts was quite a shock.

As the Mass went on, the sweat started dripping off us. I prayed for a breeze, and miraculously, once in a great while, I would feel a slight breeze from one of the open windows. But it wasn't enough. My daughter managed to survive most of the Mass, but towards the end she told her father she was nauseous and needed to leave NOW. Knowing her as we do, they hurried out and by the time I made it back to my mother-in-laws house down the road, she had already kicked off her hot clothing and changed into something more appropriate.

While it was hot, it was lots of fun. We partied all day and all night, and while Deja didn't want to dance she certainly enjoyed watching everyone else. The best part for her was the pinata and the presents of course... and the cake we got was delicious!

I've put up a few photos of the party, to share with my readers. While they don't celebrate Independence Day in Guatemala until September 15th, our July 4th was just as special with the party, her daddy's birthday and lots of fireworks too!