Let me back up a little ways to 3 weeks ago when I found out that Miceala was pregnant. Miceala is married to Tomin who is our guardian for Salud y Paz. Since their job is to always be at our clinic I see them everyday I am at work. Now this is where I am embarrassed to admit that I honestly had no idea she was pregnant until 3 weeks ago. It was mentioned randomly to me at work that she was pregnant and I then assumed that she must just be a few months along. A few days after I found out I told her "felicidades" to which she giggled her little laugh that she always does when I attempt to speak Spanish. I could tell that she was in fact pregnant, but with the traje (traditional dress) that these women wear it was difficult for me to tell how far along she was and I wasn't sure if it was culturally appropriate to ask. That is why when I heard early Tuesday morning that she had gone into labor I was shocked!
I heard midday Tuesday that she had had the baby and that both Mama and baby were doing great. However, we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl or what the name was. That evening I found out that it was a girl and that she would be coming home to the clinic (where they live) the next day. When I got to work on Wednesday I found Tomin and congratulated him on his new baby girl. While laughing about how his 2 sons wanted another boy instead of a girl (it is now 3 girls and 2 boys) he mentioned that he wanted to name the new baby Kelly. He told me that him and Miceala talked often about naming the baby Kelly. I didn't know what to say because I wasn't really sure if he was just kidding or not. I just smiled and laughed and said that Kelly was a great name to which he laughed. Later on his older son, Tomas, came up to me and said that he was happy that there would be 2 Kellys now and how he couldn't wait for the baby to come home. Tomin told me that he was going to pick up Miceala and bring the baby home on a chicken bus. Since we had a team at the clinic (actually another team from my home church... I'm blessed I know) I suggested that Archy (who was driving the van) bring the baby home instead of the baby attempting to come home on an overly crowded germ filled bus 1 day after being born. When Tomin was leaving he told me that he was going to pick up Baby Kelly. Again was he kidding or not???
I decided not to get too excited because Miceala, Tomin, and I always laugh together, so I just figured Tomin was kidding. However then I got a text from my boyfriend Raul (if that sentence just shocked you stay tuned for my next post!) saying that he called to congratulate Tomin and was told that the baby's name was Kelly Adriana. I freaked out and started tearing up, but still didn't truly believe it until they got home. When I saw the van pull up with Miceala, Tomin, and baby maybe named Kelly I walked over to greet them and Miceala walked up to me and gave me a big hug. When I asked how she and the baby were doing she told me that her and Baby Kelly Adriana were doing great. This is when I started crying. I couldn't think of any other Spanish other than "enserio" which means seriously? She and Tomin just kept giggling and saying "si". I walked with them to their house and then Tomin handed me the most precious little baby. Thankfully with my oh so crappy iPhone camera I captured this extraordinary beautiful moment. This is the first photo I have with little one day old Kelly Adriana and her amazing family.
I called my mom and told her the news then called Raul and confirmed that yes he was right they named the baby Kelly. I was shaking and I didn't know what to do. Luckily I was still working with the team, so I couldn't just stand there like an idiot all day with a giant smile on my face, so we left the clinic and returned to Chichi. That night in between hanging out with the team I found an extremely overly priced baby clothes store and spent $25 on one little outfit for Baby Kelly (luckily Raul paid half since it was going to be a present from both of us). The next morning I checked on the family again and was so impressed that Miceala was up and walking around. Now I know that I haven't had children yet, but I am already planning on spending plenty of time laying in bed with my little baby recovering (I'm talking years folks), but every time I looked over at their house Miceala was walking around doing chores. Just another reminder about how incredibly strong these Guatemalan women are. Miceala is truly amazing. Since my iPhone camera didn't provide Ansel Adams quality photos I decided to get some on a real camera, so below are photos on Baby Kelly's 2nd day with us. She is wearing the cute little outfit that Raul and I gave her.
I am beyond honored and thankful that this precious little baby was named after me. If you know me then you know that anytime (and I do mean ANYTIME) that one of my friends becomes pregnant I always ask if they are going to name it Kelly. I mean come on folks Kelly is a great name for both a boy or a girl! Not even specifically for humans I call many of my friend's pets Kelly. It is always just a joke that I have which I never ever expected anyone to actually follow up on. I even joked with my best friends about how having someone or something named after me is a major life goal of mine. All that being said seeing as though it was always a joke to me I never thought about how I would actually feel if it happened. Words cannot even express how special this is to me. The thing that makes it beautiful to me is that even though my Spanish is getting better I still have a HUGE language barrier with this family. Remember when I said earlier in this post how Miceala always laughs at my Spanish? That wasn't a joke. Miceala and Tomin are 2 of our staff who I enjoy talking to the most. It is because they are both so giggly. I go over to their house and no matter what I am talking about there is always a lot of laughter in our conversations. They both do speak Spanish, but are stronger in K'iche. Raul has been teaching me some K'iche and every morning if I have learned a new word I go and tell it to them to which they both just laugh and shake their heads. This experience just proves to me that laughter and kindness are universal languages. Of course I still need to work on learning more Spanish, but honestly it is extremely comforting to know I can make such strong and meaningful connections with just being kind to people down here. Simple laughter, smiling, and just waving hello and goodbye really do go such a long way. I get down on myself often about not having the motivation to work further on my Spanish, so it is amazing to be reminded that I can still make a difference down here even amongst such a strong barrier. This is an experience that I will never forget. Again I haven't had kids of my own yet, but I have named 2 cats, a pup, and countless hamsters and fish and know how difficult it is to decide on a name (it's easier with fish because they usually only last a week... side note if you buy a fish from Walmart you have to hold the bag above the scanners as you leave the store or they will die after a few days. Took me years in college to figure that one out).
Anyways, I know how incredibly special this honor is and I hope that I have been able to clearly express to Miceala and Tomin how much this means to me. I look forward to continuing my daily giggles with this family and watching this precious baby grow up over my time here. I also hope that I can make the name proud, so when she gets older and asks where the name comes from her parents can give her a great story and meaning of why they named her Kelly. I am also hoping that by the time she is old enough to have that conversation I have decent enough Spanish to be able to explain that she is named Kelly after me who was named Kelly after my mom heard the name on the TV show Charlie's Angels. Yep... my parents named me after one of Charlie's Angels. Hopefully I can make this little girl as proud as the random actress who played Kelly on Charlie's Angels made me growing up! :)
