Jan 31 2011 Fireworks! Oh Fireworks

In true latino fashion, Guatemalans LOVE bombas (fireworks). If its your birthday, bombas, if its Christmas, bombas, if there is a parade, bombas, if you have a party, bombas! So last night, we were in bed at our usual before 10pm bedtime here....and then spent then next 4 hours listening to BOOM, BOOM and smelling gun powder. There was a local parade (to celebrate some combination of Catholic & Mayan holiday....I would say it is like Corpus Cristi, or something). The locals parade around with a band and a statue of the virgin Mary and perform special dances. About every 5 to 10 minutes, they stop walking and let of SEVERAL fireworks...extremely loud ones, some with no light just noise, others right in the street and not in the sky, and others much like Canadian fireworks (in the size with booms and lights). Because of the mountains and because the houses aren't insulated, the noise is intense! Surprisingly, Seth didn't wake up until about 2 hours into the noise and Eden only stirred for ever big BOOM. I jumped into bed with Seth to cover his ears (hoping to save him from hearing loss) and Seth and I just giggled listening to the music, followed by quiet, and then unexpected shockingly loud BOOMs!
Needless to say, we made it through the school day with little sleep. Seth asked at one point today "Mama, are we going to stay in Guatemala forever?" This was at the end of the school day and came from one tired little boy. He has lots of smiles and good times, but school for him is a lot of girls tickling him and pinching his cheeks - all day long - while he tries to make friends with his few Spanish words.
Early to bed tonight!