Jo’s Jovial Jolly Jocular Journal

Yesterday my house hosted a BBQ, otherwise known here as ‘chuarasco’. It differed to Aussie Barbies in some respects, ie. the food included beans, a yummy salsa called chirmol, potatoes and platains roasted over the coals of the fire (definitely not enough tofu or vege sausages). In other respects it was much the same- fun people, relaxed, lazy food preparation together, swimming in the pool, a day that just went on and on into the night and even the next morning with some of our friends staying over in what they have now claimed as ‘their room’. Commy Barbies Guatemala, bring it on!

What are your top 3 best books of 2009?

Mine are:
Gilead- Marilynne Robinson
The History of Love- Nicole Krauss
East of Eden- John Steinbeck

Three weeks today until we leave for Australia.

(It is also 3 weeks until Christmas Day)

Whoop!

I have been wanting to add to the discussion about books that have had an impact on me. I have loved reading everyone´s responses, so have been thinking about it. I have found it hard to pin it down to five, so haven´t.

Long Walk to Freedom- Nelson Mandela
This book took me two intents to actually get into it and then finish it, but the second time was well worth it. It made me excited about the struggle for dignity and justice and human rights and equality and inspired me that the struggle for these things can lead to change.

Audacity to Believe- Sheila Cassidy
I have read this book several times. I think this is perhaps the first book I read about Latin America. It is a book about faith and Chile and its history and how one woman got caught up in that. It made me excited about Latin America and about living out faith, and again, about justice and equality and the struggle for these things and the interplay between faith and politics and justice.

Celebration of Discipline- Richard Foster, Don´t Just Stand There Pray Something- Ronald Dunn, Intercessory Prayer- Dutch Sheets
These are Christian books that I read at really important points in my life and were really practical and impacted the day to day practice of my faith.

Daughter of Fortune- Isabel Allende, Captain Correllis Mandolin- Louis de Bernieres, 100 Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The God of Small Things- Arundhati Roy
These are books and authors that have contributed to me loving stories and have followed me around long after the end of the story.

Or at least not going to take the time to re-learn right now…

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5A234J20091103

Cultural Difference #2: Guatemalans can dance

Last night there was a birthday party of one of Victor’s cousins. At 11pm on the dot, we heard a trumpet sound, and in through the front gate walked a mariachi band in a line. The 7 mariachis gathered around the people at the party and played and sung, the party guests joining in the sing-a-long. Then the birthday girl was pulled into the middle of the circle by her husband and they started to dance. Another couple joined in. Victor reached out his hand and then pulled me up on my feet and we start to dance, we’re moving in perfect unity, the stars were shining, the mariachis playing songs of love….all of a sudden piercing through our haze of romance we hear a chant of “Kang-goo-roo, kang-goo-roo, kang-goo-roo” and suddenly I am thrown to one side, Victor starting his famous routine of hopping, jumping, shaking his booty to wild familial acclaim….

Okay, so Guatemalans can dance, that is my conclusion, and I am always impressed by the way they can move to almost any song. And my husband can dance too, he’s got his moves, he’s not shy, so ask him to do the kang-oo-roo when you next see him and see what you get.

Victor and I are going into business- cards and jewellrey will be on sale in Sydney from 28th December 2009, so get ready to buy, buy, buy.

Place your orders now, various colours and styles available.

(Discounts available for missionaries and the unemployed)

Cultural Difference #1: Guatemalans drink coffee, Australians drink tea*

Guatemalans drink coffee at every meal, especially breakfast and dinner. They have people over for coffee to their house. They make awesome coffee. They drink it a lot. Unfortunately for me, the fact that I did not get given coffee since I was 3 years old, as many Guatemalans are, means that after 3pm in the afternoon I cannot drink coffee or I wont sleep, so I miss out on being part of the important ritual of sharing coffee in the afternoon or evening.

Making a pot of tea is a ritual foreign to Guatemalans. I have shared it a few times, but it never evokes as much excitement from the Guatemalan side as from me. I own two pots and I think the busiest they have ever been is at the Australian-organised despedida. Apart from that they have mostly just been sitting quietly on the shelf, ready for service when they are called.

Recently, El Niño has been making his presence known in Guatemala. With a hurricane on the coast of Nicaragua sending cold rains up to Guatemala. So yesterday I arose to a cold and rainy morning, unusual here in Guatemala. I decided I was going to have my Quiet Time with Tea on the Side. Fantastic. I didn’t realise how homely and comforting making a pot of tea, pouring it and drinking it was going feel. It increased my happiness about 40%. Then, in the spirit of my mother and grandmother and generations of Australian, New Zealand and British women, I took Victor a cuppa in bed (although in my family, the women are the ones in bed and their husbands bring them a cup of tea, but I am all into role reversal when necessary).

In conclusion, tea is great and tastes like home (especially since I made a pot of a Madura Tea that Mil had sent me. Nice).

*I know that is not true for everyone, and any cultural difference is going to be a broad generalisation that doesn’t fit in every case, however, it is one thing that has been noticed by myself and Victor and thus counts as a cultural difference.

I want to write. I do. But I can’t find inspiration. It has been so long.

What I need is some community participation.

Please write a question or topic in the comments and I will try to make a post for each one.

That should get me going again!

I love mail.

I love it so much. I can’t explain how much joy it gives me to get and send letters. (If you want to write to me, please, please do). However my most regular correspondent is one that I do not get very excited about. Since I changed my address to Guatemala, St George has been sending regular bank statements to my in-laws house. Since I own a credit card that I don’t use, sometimes they send a bank statement all the way from Australia to Guatemala saying ‘You have $0 owing on your account. You have to pay $0 in the next month. You have made $0 of transactions in the last month.’ However today I received something a little bit exciting from St George. Obviously the posty didn’t read the address well, but luckily it still made it to Guatemala, with a stamp on it that said ‘Missent to Guyana’. My measly bank statement has made it all the way from a big island in the South Pacific, to a small random country in South America and then on to a small random country in Central America!

I love mail.