Chiquimula

Stephen left on Monday for his first out of town research trip. The kids and I did a great job holding down the fort for the three days he was gone. Well...I should say that Leyda and I did a great job holding down the fort while he was gone. I don't talk about it much because it sounds so spoildy-bratty, but I have help with child care and cleaning five days a week for about 6 to 7 hours a day.
Stephen was in a town called Chiquimula (fun word, huh?) primarily to interview a prominent evangelical named Edgar who runs a Christian radio station and who also is a bit of an ammateur historian. While in Chiquimula (how fast can you say it?), he stayed with a family from Edgar's church. The family was very hospitable and even served Stephen every meal while he was there. My favorite story from his trip:

One evening at the dinner table, Daniel, the three year old, was asked to pray.
"No," Daniel says, "I don't want to pray" (but in Spanish, of course, so picture it with me...).
"What?" his family asked. "Why not?
"Because," Daniel responds, "I want to pray to a saint."
That right there will make about any Guatemalan evangelical's heart stop.
Gasp! "Que?!" "Daniel!"
Little three year old Daniel was about to get an important theological lesson until...
"No, mom and dad," he says, "I don't want to pray to God. I want to pray to a 'santa'....Santa Claus!"