Posts Tagged With: cooking

“Some people pursue happiness. Others create it.”

August 2, 2014

Some of my favorite memories from Paraguay have been with the youth. Today was a kid day. I was in the mood for a fun, tranquillo day, looking forward to my Kids’ Club meeting this afternoon. As it turns out, only one girl came, 7-year old Luz Maria from one of my favorite families. I told her she would be the only one today but invited her to stay and I’d teach her to make chocolate pudding and she could help me paint art on my windows. Her eyes lit up and we got to work.

She’d never had chocolate pudding, nor even heard of it. But she loves it now. We sat on the floor with two spoons and a pan of warm pudding and ate until it was gone. When I pulled out the tempera paint and Qtips we were using in lieu of brushes, she looked questioningly at the Qtips. She’d never seen those either and asked what they were for. After a quick explanation that seemed to make no sense to her, we started painting windows with abandon. While she finished, I taught her to make French fries, which she claimed she’d never tried either but quickly became a fan. Before you judge me for offering all this junk food (!), I assure you I usually encourage great eating habits. I knew these were novelties for her and since it was just the two of us, I wanted to spoil her a bit.

This was followed by some quiet time with a coloring book and crayons then we finished with some funny yoga that somehow turned into London Bridge (or Downward Dog) is Falling Down and had us collapsing in laughter. We adjourned and I watched her tuck an extra coloring page into her pocket for more fun at home as she wove her way through the 150 cattle claiming the soccer field between her home and mine.

At dusk I took a walk toward the sunset with my camera in hand, something I hadn’t done much recently. While taking photos of roadside flowers, a little 5-year old, Marie, came running out of a nearby house, asking her Mom if she could walk with me. We sauntered down the road to the prairie. I taught Marie to take a sunset photo with my camera then we took a selfie, playfully arguing whether tomorrow will be Sunday or Monday. I walked home with a contented smile on my face after a just-right day.