I caught Cirilo's eight year old son, Heriberto, peaking around the corner of one of the buildings at me. I said hello to him but he was too shy to say anything. Cirilo, seeing this, spoke to the boy, giving him instructions on the polite way to respond. With Cirilo's encouragement and guidance, Heriberto walked up to me, stuck his hand out, and gave me a proper handshake. I introduced myself and told him "mucho gusto". I then proceeded to show him a couple of magic tricks, which I have always found to be a good ice breaker with children. Amazed at my incredible magical talent, Heriberto decided I was an okay guy and never felt the need to hide again.
This is Heriberto
Shortly after we arrived, they invited us to eat. Grandma had been working steadily in her kitchen on the evening meal with the assistance of one of her granddaughters. With the meal ready, they asked us to enter into Grandma's kitchen and take a seat at the table.
The work table in the kitchen is a large wooden box filled with, presumably, dirt. Grandma builds a wood fire on the work table and uses a wire frame above the fire to hold the cooking pots. Aside from the cooking table and cooking utensils, a dining table, and some additional chairs, there is nothing else in the building. It is used for cooking and eating only.
Grandma in her kitchen
Milton and I were invited to sit at the table and after doing so I realized they did not plan on joining us. Instead, Cirilo and his family sat or stood around the inside perimeter of the building and watched Milton and I eat.
Dinner consisted of frijoles, corn tortillas and water. They offered us peppers but I declined thinking they would be too hot for me. I wasn't sure how much to eat. Was this all the food that Grandma had cooked? Was there enough for everyone or would others go without because Milton and I were unexpected guests.
Not surprising, the food was excellent.
After we finished eating I suggested to Milton that we step outside since it was obvious that they were not going to eat until we were completely finished.
I felt so honored and humbled to be here with these people. They have so little compared to us and, yet, they were incredibly generous and welcoming.
Not long after dinner, with the last of the day's light fading, Frederico shook our hands and wished us good night. With minimal electricity and no television, bedtime is when the sun goes down.
Luckily, they had a spare building with two beds that Milton and I would be using. As Milton noted earlier, it was going to be a cool night, and I, for one, was happy to be indoors with a bed, blankets, and pillow versus outside on the hard rocks and a zillion spiders.
This was my accommodations for the evening