Christmas At Casa Guatemala

Some of you may be wondering why we are not out sailing.  For those not keeping track, we returned to the Rio Dulce in mid-October, and now it is almost the end of the year.  Actually, it is quite simple.  We stayed to get involved with the Casa Guatemala Christmas.  Casa Guatemala is an orphanage downriver, two or three miles from Monkey Bay.  Over the years, the cruising community here has done a lot to support the orphanage, especially at Christmas.  The orphanage provided us with a list of needs, so this year we did our Christmas shopping in Fronteras.  It was just as hectic as going to one of the malls back in the US, but it was a totally different experience and really rewarding as we were thinking about the kids that would be getting the presents.  Kitty (Dreamaway) offered her husband Jim to be Santa for this year's Christmas Eve celebration at the orphanage, which led to a closer relationship between us at Monkey Bay and the staff at Casa Guatemala.  We learned of a special need for girls' undergarments, so some of the Monkey Bay women spent a long afternoon on a special shopping trip after getting specific needs and sizes.  We also learned they could use some help preparing the dinner, which is served Christmas Eve, so Pat, Linda, and Jan (Jock's Lodge, staying at Catamarans) went to Backpackers Hotel and Restaurante on Christmas Eve morning to help prepare the dressing and stuff the turkeys.

Linda and Pat

Linda, Pat (s/v Mobetah), Jan (s/v Jocks Lodge), and Heather (Casa Guatemala)

Backpackers is owned by Casa Guatemala and provides employment opportunities for the older children.  Christmas Eve, Santa arrives at Casa Guatemala on a large launcha brightly decorated with lights and outfitted with reindeer and sleigh.  We arrived in the Monkey Bay launch to a large group of excited children on the piers waiting for Santa.

It is the tradition at Casa Guatemala that Santa first visits the children living at the orphanage.  He did this in one of the dormitories.  Santa handed out the gifts to each child as their name was called.

Santa delivering gifts

 After this, Santa moved on to an area where the local children and their families were waiting for his arrival.  There were literally hundreds of waiting children.   When Santa arrived, the children rushed to greet him, but they soon organized themselves into a single-file line, beginning with the youngest and ending with the older children, to match the way the gifts were arranged.

Waiting to see Santa

We wanted to do more than just be spectators, so we went to the kitchen to help out.  They serve turkey dinners to the children and staff at Casa Guatemala, but they also serve a hot tamale to each and every neighborhood child or parent who comes.  Boy, did we get busy, and it was gratifying to see they really needed our help.  Once Santa had handed out all the gifts, the masses descended upon us.  We had already prepared about 200 plates before they arrived, and then prepared more as fast as we could and handed them out at a blistering pace.  Tamales are cooked in a leaf wrap, which needs to be discarded before serving.  We had to keep bringing bowls of ice water to cool the ladies' hands as they unwrapped the tamales.  Soon the meals were eaten, and the crowd dispersed, so we cleaned up and went inside, where just about all the turkey dinners with the traditional fixings had been served.

Children of Casa Guatemala are enjoying a turkey dinner.

They had the settings ready for us, so we enjoyed some really good food with the orphanage's children.  We contributed to the cost of our meals, helped clean up, and then climbed into our launch to head back to Monkey Bay with memories we will never forget.

We plan to depart Monkey Bay Marina as soon as we can get some favorable winds.  The winds are generally from the east, and we need to go east, so it may take a little while.