Traditional Mayan midwife in Santa Cruz La Laguna, Solola
About one month ago I received phone call from Elaine, a
woman who moved here from Colorado with her husband 9 years ago (This is the
couple that we brought the car part for and they let us borrow their cell phone
when we first arrived). She and her husband have rental property and they were
having a nurse from the states stay with them who was going to bring medical
supplies to one of the traditional midwives in Santa Cruz and they were
wondering if I wanted to go along.
I did go and it was amazing. She asked to examine me, which
was very unexpected. I had thought I would simply be tagging along to meet this
amazing woman. She was excited to hear that I was living at the lake and that
the baby would be born here. She offered to attend my birth as well as to do
prenatal care. I thanked her and informed her that we have secured a midwife
for the birth. She understood and still told me that I was welcome to come
visit her for a checkup anytime. Her name is Benita and she has been a midwife
for over 40 years. She shared that she believes that she has delivered around
4000 babies.
This spontaneous experience is a large part of what I love
about not having a scheduled life. I feel so lucky that we are able to say
yes to experiences and opportunities that come up at a moments notice.
Kite festival
Lee and Elaine called us again and invited us to go with
them and some others from Santa Cruz to the All Saints Day Kite festival in
Sumpango. This was the first outing we went on with other expats that live in
Santa Cruz. It was fun to meet them and
to learn of what has them at the lake.
The festival was about a 2 hour drive away. Brandon and I
are not big fans of crowds or events that resemble the Minnesota State Fair in
anyway but we knew that this was what the event was going to be like (Brandon
researches everything!!). Sure
enough…huge crowd and who gets separated 10 minutes after arriving but me! I was able to find two of the women from our
group and finally was able to get reception on our high tech (HA!) cell phone
to call one of the men that Brandon was with to let him know that I was ok (we
only have 1 cell phone at this point in time).
We eventually met up and enjoyed the rest of the day together.
Despite the crowds, it really was a beautiful day with
people enjoying one another and paying their respects to their ancestors. They
build and fly kites as a way to connect to their ancestors and they also spend
much of the day brining offerings, having a meal, and just connecting at their
ancestors grave in the cemetery.
Here is a link to an article about the celebration:
XOXO,
Katie and Brandon
I love kites! what a beautiful and colorful setting. Your adventure is fantastic. You both look great!
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