You Cannot Buy the Sun

This beautiful song and video -- "Latinoamérica" from the Puerto Rican band Calle 13 -- have been going round and round in my head for the past few days.  I love the different visual styles in the video, from the animation to the street murals to the scenes of everyday life in the diversity that is Latin America.  I haven't translated all of the verses, but the chorus says this:

You cannot buy the wind
You cannot buy the sun
You cannot buy the rain
You cannot buy the heat.

You cannot buy the clouds
You cannot buy the colors
You cannot buy my happiness
You cannot buy my pains.

The spoken intro confused me the first time I heard it.  I got a few words, but why was I not understanding this guy's accent?  Turns out he's speaking Quechua and I am a dope.  Anyway, hope you enjoy it! (via Spanish for Social Change.)

More Maya

Maya is now 2.5 weeks old and has been quite busy!

 As Marty says, taking passport photos for infants is pretty easy, but there's still something a little absurd about it.  I mean the photo above will represent her until she's five years old!  So far we've been successful in getting her official birth certificate from the city government, and we went to the U.S. Embassy to apply for her U.S. passport (3 weeks processing time). 

Since she was born here, she's officially a dual Nica-U.S. citizen, and getting her Nica passport is on today's to-do list.  We're planning a "baby tour" to the states in November and it turns out that she'll need both for leaving and entering the country.  So far we've been amazed at how much Maya looks like newborn baby Quinn.  Here she posed with a picture of Quinn taken the day she was born.  Two peas!

Speaking of Quinn, she's totally excited to be the big sister.  She's adapting very well to the change and is constantly washing her hands so she can "hold the baby."  Her hands have never been so clean and Maya is getting lots and lots of good hugs.  Win win. 


Last weekend we put in a brief appearance at la Misión's annual Día de la Biblia celebration (see here for photos from last year).  Both Quinn and Maya got to wear their new dresses, although Maya basically slept through the whole thing.


We have been extremely lucky to have had family visiting us during this time.  Having a slew of people to play with Quinn and read her books has definitely helped with the transition.  Here's my sister Jessica holding her new niece.  Aunt Holly also came down to visit us for a few weeks, and although she had to go back before Maya arrived, she was super-helpful and we had a lot of fun.


Here's my Mom and Quinn hanging out with Maya and teaching her some new life skills.


My Dad, plus a yawning baby


Hanging out in the backyard


I love hugs!  Just recently, Maya has started exiting that initial "sleepy baby" phase.  Her eyes are open a lot more now and she's looking around and starting to make sense of the world.  She seems pretty excited for anyone to hold her, and has even made friends with a toy owl.

It's a Girl!

We welcomed Maya Rowan into the world at 1:40 am on Monday, September 12th. She weighed 3600 grams (7 lb 15 oz) and measured 51 cm (20 inches) long. She came quickly -- we checked into the hospital after 10 pm, not really suspecting we would be holding our baby in fewer than 4 hours. Both Laura Jean and Maya are doing well.


Maya's middle name, Rowan, means "little red one," and she certainly started life out living up to that name. :)


Big Sister Quinn came to visit in the hospital. First family photo with Maya!


Heading home from the hospital Monday evening.