6 Lots of Hugs

"¡Que pases buena noche, Madre!" (Have a  good night, Matushka!)
"¡Igualmente, que duermes!" (You, too.  Sleep well!)

Slight variations to this warm exchange were repeated with each of the around 30 teenage boys. After awhile this became monotonous.  I rejected the impulse to throw in cute Colombian colloquialisms about dreaming of angels....soon my tired brain began to provide a mental soundtrack to the scene,  "....So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye..."  I couldn't stop my silly brain from conjuring up the going-off-to-bed scene from "The Sound of Music",  as each of the orphan boys gave a ceremonious hug to each person present before heading politely off to bed.  

There is an awful lot of hugging in Guatemala.  And the Guatemalan hug is not perfunctory; it is a very warm and firm embrace.  Fr. Peter says the Guatemalan hug lasts a few seconds longer than one expects.  Our Colombian friend Jose is in culture shock.  In Colombia you might be given an abrazo (bear hug), but only if the person hasn't seen you in quite a long time.  Poor Jose  is tired of all of the hugging and of being wished "Provecho!" (Bon Appetit) by complete strangers in restaurants.  He also doesn't understand why Guatemalan's don't seem to want to go swimming as often as he does.