We don’t get a lot of visitors way out here, so when we do, it’s big news. Or, in this case, Big Emily (miman Emily). That’s what the people in our town have taken to calling her; in training we called her Emily Alta, to keep her straight from the other three Emilys in the training class. And, yes, she’s tall- a squeak taller than I am, which is TOWERING over every other man, woman, and child in our village.
The first task was to get ready for a guest. We did the normal stuff (crazy cleaning an hour before she got here), but also converted our attic into a loft guestroom. We’re pretty excited about it, and should have thought of it a long time ago. Now we have two separate spaces in our home, and a place to hide from locals when we want privacy. Emily Alta even tells me that it’s comfy to sleep there at night. The neighborhood kids think the idea of a loft is novel and exciting, as you can see here.
As is tradition, we told her that if she could go to the trouble to get here, we’d feed her. I’ve always thought that to be a fair trade, even in pre-Peace Corps life. We enjoyed banana-Nutella crepes, spicy beef curry, fresh cinnaimon rolls, homemade pizza, pasties (meat-potato pies), and other yummies. She brought the wine. 🙂
Our neighbors were excited to meet her, and invited us over for a lunch of barbecued pork. Not like in the US, but more like they do here: chunks of pig meat roasted on a steel stake over an open fire. Have to say, came out pretty yummy. And Emily got to see how fresh meat can really be- about two hours from oink to food.
Since our valley is so pretty, I thought we’d do a hike. Emily was game, but I kindof got her into more than she’d bargained for. The first half went great, but about halfway through, I kindof got lost. OK, not LOST lost, because we could see our village across the valley the whole time, but definately not on the beaten path. The path got increasinlgy hard to find, to the point that I had to get out my machete to make it passable. Then, as if on cue, storm clouds gathered to give us a nice shower. This turned the flimsy path into mud, and we rode our butts down the muddy hillside a few times. My Emily even turned her ankle, making an uncomfortable trip sketchier. When we exited the jungle an hour later, we were wet and muddy and a great amusement to the locals.
About all that was left to make the weekend complete was a trip to the Mother’s Day Fiesta! This is cause for much excitement amongst the neighbor ladies, because they get to play dress-up doll with Emily. But with TWO Emilys? DOUBLE FUN!!!!! Here we have the Emilys together posing in the local traje, ready for a funfilled night of dancing slowly in a circle, bobbing up and down, listening to the same marimba song over and over while trying to deflect staggering drunks in the middle of the village community center. A good time was had by all.