Second Trip to Guatemala - Part 1

For our second trip to Guatemala, we decided to leave Houston in the evening so that we would be able to meet Carolina and Nelson early the following morning and spend our first day in the country together. Plans are always better in theory…

Unlike the first trip, we managed to leave the house with everything packed – no quick return to the house to grab something we had forgotten. This time, we left the house with four suitcases and a big box containing a tricycle for Carolina. Nelson’s had to stay behind… just didn’t have enough room… hopefully they would be able to share.

We got onto the plane on time, but it quickly became apparent that things were not completely “in order.” The air conditioning was not working. In Houston, in the summer, on a plane, jam-packed with passengers… not a good thing. After some initial delays addressing the air conditioning problem and waiting on our crew, things finally seemed to be looking up. We taxied out to the runway when suddenly the gentleman sitting across the aisle from us stood up and walked toward the cockpit. The flight attendants were all strapped in for take-off – definitely unusual for someone to stand up at that point. The gentleman returned to his seat and a few moments later the flight attendants informed the passengers that the plane was going to have to turn around to allow a passenger and his bags to be removed from the plan.

After sweltering for about an hour, Jim was not happy. The man sitting across the aisle from us exited the plane and Jim just couldn’t stop talking about how this should be against protocol. The more Jim expressed his exasperation, the more frustrated I was becoming… my brain was screaming, “Just get us to Guatemala!” Between Jim and the woman sitting next to the gentleman who exited the plane, a sense of panic about security grew among the passengers to my growing frustration. Of course the crew could not ignore the concerns being raised about the safety of the plane. Security personnel entered the plane, a search of the seat of the passenger who left the plane was performed and all passengers were asked to identify their carry-on bags and insure that no unidentified items were left on the plane. Needless to say, this caused our already delayed flight to be further delayed. Eventually, after reassurances from security about the controls around the tagging of every bag checked, the removal of all bags brought on board by the passenger, we got underway. Finally! We were on our way to see our kids!!

The rest of the flight was perfect. We sat next to a wonderful young woman who had moved to Denver from Guatemala. In Guatemala, she had had a promising career developing websites. In Denver, she was responsible for caring for the home of a family who lives in Cherry Creek, a beautiful neighborhood of Denver. She seemed very attached to the family she works for, but missed the professional challenge of her former job, but as she stated, the rewards of living in the United States more than compensated for her sacrifice. In the U.S., she earns 4 times as much working as a maid as she made in Guatemala as a website developer. She lives together with her mother, brother and daughter and together, with her daughter attending college and hopes of finishing the remaining requirements to earn her own degree, they are making better lives for themselves. A lovely person and a delight to talk to… Lillian gave us some interesting insight into life in Guatemala – the difficulties people there face, women in particular. I asked her what she thought about us adopting a child from Guatemala – which was followed by an unequivocal response of approval. I found this reassuring.

That night, readied the room for the next day. While Jim assembled the tricycle we had brought, I replenished our “toy drawer” and squared away all of the kids clothes and our clothes. Jim just couldn’t get over how girly the bike was. As more and more pink shiny parts began to take shape, he just shook his head in bewilderment. He was completely pushed over the edge by the shiny streamers and heart shaped bag – “surely she doesn’t want this on her bike?” I told him, “Are you kidding? The shinier, the more sparkly, the better! There will come a time when you will look back longingly to the days your daughter loved pink and sparkles!” As the final assembly took place, I took a picture of Jim’s fine accomplishment and what was sure to be a delicious gift.