Meet (some of) the Mas Family

Louisa Mas (37yrs old, maiden name Ishim ~corn in K'ekchi) Not only does she look young for her age, she acts that way, too. She's always wanting to play Pass the Pigs or cards as we're sitting on the floor under the solar light. She was even trying to make fish faces after I showed the girls how ridiculous I looked while biting my cheeks and puckering my lips. Miss Louisa has taught me how to bake tortillas and laughs as I try to pull them off the comal. She always separates my food before adding the pepper, making me feel quite special and a little like a young child. She claims she doesn't know English very well, but I love our after dinner conversations, ocassionally about God. She also has a beautiful voice. I had seen a Bichlebal Sa' Ke'kchi (Songs in Ke'kchi) book held by people at church and I asked if she had one. Yep! She was surprised to hear me sing in Ke'kchi, but really I was just doing my best to pronounce the words if I knew the tune. Really, I just wanted to listen to her though. (Side note: knowing the tune does not help as singing in Belize you follow the person with the loudest voice, not the music)

Hillaria Mas (10yrs old, aka Darlene) At first I thought they were calling her "darling," and I liked that so much I still pretend they do. I constantly find her in the pata (guava) tree and she makes me laugh more than anything, which is good because she likes when I laugh. Lately she's been obsessed with wanting to fight me, of course I play along. She kept telling me she was going to give me a black eye to take to Belmopan as she raised her fist and squinted her eyes. She also tells me all the time she'll only speak to me in K'ekchi, from now on. Then she talk talk talks only to stop with a "don't you understand me?" look.

Ionie Mas (3yrs old) Now this girl knows how to stretch. Every morning after my stroll I take some time to stretch my limbs and every morning Ionie is right their beside me, mimicking my every move. She's the sweetest sweetheart and most of the time only talks to me to repeat what someone has told her to tell me. "Amy, go eat. Amy, pass the pigs. Amy, etc."