“Say goodbye to Filipe, he is leaving for Brazil today,” Araceli Marquez de Jesus told Pichi and Alvaro, her two kids.
With tears running down his face, Pichi shoved his head into the couch.
“I’m joking Pichi, he is only going to the Cafe to work on the internet” Araceli told him.
Comforting her 5-year-old son, she turned to me and said, “I dont know what we are going to do when you leave Filipe.”
As an adopted son of the Reyes Family, these two young boys and I have become brothers. We cut mangos, play baseball, watch cartoons – we do everything together. Like Pichi, I am not looking forward to the day where I ride out of the ranch either. It’s going to be hard leaving these kids behind. I too may have to shove my face into the couch.
Like all of the Mexican families I have met, the Reyes home in bursting with happiness. Every day I meet a new aunt, uncle and cousin. There seems to be hundreds of them! All as nice as the other. In good Mexican fashion, they all live on the same street. Literally!
“We pretty much run the street,” Alfredo, Rene’s brother (whose ranch I am staying in), told me.
At the end of the street, their brother owns a Taco stand where the family meets Thursday to Monday nights. The stand is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Rene and his family used to live on the street as well but a year ago they built a house at a ranch 3 minutes away. This is where Rene has his cows, chickens, ducks, dogs. It’s pretty much heaven for a farm kid like me! The rooster wakes us up every morning. I go collect eggs with Pichi in the afternoons. Some days, Alvaro and I wake up at 5am to help millk cows.
“I love living here with my animals,” Rene told me as we fed his horses.
Living with the Reyes family has given me the opportunity to absorb the day-to-day life of a family here in Mexico. One of the moments I will never forget was when they invited me to a friends 16-year-old birthday party. Here in Mexico these events are almost as important as a wedding.
“We are her Godparents and pay for the church ceremony,” Araceli told me before we arrived at the big party.
The night commenced with the birthday girl performing five dances alongside four boys from her class. The first few dances looked like a music video with synchronized moves. The last one included a little girl, who dressed like the birthday girl, danced with a doll. Halfway through the song she handed the doll to the 16-year-old who also danced with it before handing it to her mother. Both shed tears as they hugged.
“This is a very special moment in the party because it symbolizes that she is no longer a little girl and has now become a woman,” Araceli said as we watched.
I have learned so much from this family and will never forget the love they welcomed me with 🙂
