Did you know.....

...that effigies of Judas are burned on the night before resurrection Sunday all over Guatemala? "Judas" is hung up on Friday (here, on a lamp post behind my house), and then taken down on Saturday afternoon and taken around town with loudspeakers, all the while decrying local and national corruption and misuse of power (a little ironic?).

...that mango skin has urushiol - the same irritant that is in poison ivy - in it? Well, I know that now. Turns out that that annoying little blister phenomenon that I thought was just mango acid drying out my lips actually turns into a huge, scaly, red, itchy rash all over one's face and neck, when one persists in eating mangoes. Oh boy, Guatemala, what do you have for me next? (ok, knock on wood - I have not had worms or tuberculosis yet, and for that I am truly thankful.) Sorry guys, no picture of the rash - there is no need to make a photographic record of it.

...that Mother's Day is HUGE in Guatemala! Below I have pictures from one of the (many) celebrations I went to, including mothers playing games and their children performing songs, dances and dramas for them. The first week of May is spent in preparation of these celebrations (which also include lunch for the mothers prepared by the young women who are not yet mothers), and the second week is chock full of the parties. Most of the celebrations also have raffles, and try as I might, I could not convince anyone that I am not a mother, and so was also given the lunches and general favors that they received.
"But, senyo, how old are you?"
"Well, I am 23, but I'm not a mother yet."
"But senyo, how can that be so?"
....who can argue with that? Especially when women younger than me were cheering their fifth grade children on, with another strapped to their backs, another sitting in their lap, and three in grades in between.

All in all, the Mother's Day celebrations in the schools and in the community were very entertaining - complete with the most adorable children in the world (the tiny preschoolers in traditional dress) performing dances for their mothers. :)

On Mother's Day, I invited my original host family out to have lunch at my house, and they accepted! It was such a pleasure to see them, and fun to show them around town and finally prepare a whole meal for my host mom who seems to never stop working around her house.

Above: preschoolers
Below: Host family from training (minus brother who is taking the picture)

Fourth graders "playing" their instruments along with a lip-sync band.

Two mothers "feeding" their sixth grade children a bottle filled with Pepsi - first one done wins!

(Judas in the town square, being burned with fireworks and other flammable things. The head had been removed already, since they use the same one every year.)My boss - in an egg-white whipping competition: whoever got their eggs to stick to the plate upside-down won. She has a great sense of humor, even though she lost.

Looking for a coin under a plate full of flour, without using their hands.Shy first grade students in a drama about how her whole life, a mother has to put up with crying babies, even when she has housework to do.