Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Chivirico, my new bodyguard

Chivirico is five years old. Well I think he is, as last week he told me it was his birthday and he was six, so I gave him 10 pesos and today he said it was his birthday and he was six. I told him he was six last week, so he said he was seven today. Who knows.

He comes to the gate twenty times a day to chat, or sometimes to shoot me with a plastic pipe and then he ducks down behind the wall so I don't shoot him back. Today he shot me with a twig, yelling "bang bang" as he shot me. The ice cream man came and as I was buying him an ice cream, I explained the twig was a gun. Chivirico looked at me like I was a total idiot and told the ice cream man it was a twig.



His real name is Eury and his lives with his grandparents. His aunt is the girlfriend of my stepson, Alberto. His mother is not on the scene - she lives near the park and for some reason doesn't want him. His father is Alberto's girlfriend's brother who  has another wife now and two more children. His new wife is the daughter of my neighbour, Lala, and they live next door to me. Everyone goes backwards and forwards between the houses.

They call Eury Chivirico but I don't know what it means. Rico is rich and chivo is goat, not that that helps me much. He is amazingly bright, but not good with time at all. He told me he gets up early, at one o'clock, and he goes to bed late at six o clock. Obviously he is already in tune with Dominican time.


He has decided he wants to be my personal security guard and when I asked how much he charged he said 3,000 pesos - around US$75. I informed him that that was an awful lot of money but he said he needed it to buy milk for his brother and sister. I gave him 20 pesos. He then collared my husband and said he wanted to be his security guard and he paid him 10 pesos.

He now stands outside the house guarding it with a twig, and is sometimes joined by a friend, who rarely wears clothes so I have no idea where he keeps his gun!


Today Chivirico asked for his wages again - a tiguere in the making. I told him the 20 pesos was for 15 days which didn't go down too well.  He asked if the 15 days would be up tomorrow. He really is adorable and makes me howl with laughter everytime he opens his mouth!

24 comments:

  1. Those relationships seem complicated, I had to laugh! Eury really looks like a streetwise kid, certainly knows how to earn his money! Cute.

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    1. Yes Sami, I get totally confused as to who is with who! The amazing thing is that they all stay friends, so that the half brothers and sisters all grown up as part of a big extended family which is lovely.

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  2. chivirico is like flirty or like "little bitch", extra confident with people, making cute faces.

    At least, that's how I would describe it :)

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    1. Thanks so much. Flirty definitely makes sense as does the cute faces. He is gorgeous!

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  3. Sounds a little shark to me. LOL Cute but still a shark. Kids can always spot an easy touch...LOL :)

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  4. this story is funny and sad at the same time, I feel sorry under what circumstances this little cutie has to grow up. And I guess a for a lot of kids in the DR its the same

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    1. It is swings and roundabouts Julia. He is growing up in a loving extended family, but without his mother and father in the house. He has no toys, but makes things with bits of pipe and sticks. His aunt is at university, hoping to be a teacher, so maybe he too will have a future. But no one reads him a bedtime story, and he doesn't know the love that only a mother can give. However, his grandparents adore him.

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  5. Ah, that was a really nice blog today Lindsay, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

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  6. That little boy is beyond cute, he would get all of my pesos! It always makes me scratch my head as to how happy these kids appear, as they are living (what seems to us outsiders) these non traditional dire lives. Just goes to show you that you can find the joy in anything. Another great post!

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    1. Glad you liked it Diandra. He bought me a flower today lol! No idea where he nicked it from. If you have nothing then very little makes you happy. I went to McDonalds a while ago and somehow ended up with a kids toy, which I gave to him. Talk about excited lol!

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  7. ahhh chivirico is cute.
    yenyok

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  8. This was the funniest story. I laughed during each paragraph and tried to understand the family relation puzzle...I gave up on it though. Dominicans are so clever and charming; and apparently it starts at an early age. Keep us informed on the bodyguard. I will be curious how quickly he learns numbers, business and negotiation from his neighbor. Smile.

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    1. Will do a progess report. Family is easy. He lives with his grandparents, who have two children (that I know of). The girl is my stepson's girlfriend, and the son is chiviricos dad. His dad lives with another wife and has two kids with her. Clear as mud?

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  9. Hysterical!!! You have a gift for writing! All of your posts here on your blog are AWESOME! (I lived in the D.R. for 2 1/2 years ... and thats where I met my husband!) All of your posts take me back and the memories come flooding. :P

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    1. Thanks Jenna. Congrats on being one of the elite group married to a Dominican. Hope you enjoy the latest post - should bring back a few memories too.

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  10. Oh I read your posts all the time! Love them! This was my favourite :))) I hope we get updates on this little guy! What a charmer! I'd be broke living next to him.

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  11. Glad you like the blog. Chivirico is off visiting his mum at the minute. He left a couple of days ago with a plastic bag of clothes and said he was off but would be back at 4 o clock! I will keep you updated.

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  12. Creo que la palabra Chivirico es...desvergonzado o "sassy". Al menos cada vez que oigo esa palabra tiene que ver con ser sin verguenza xD

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  13. Pero quizas en la comunidad donde vive el niÑo le dicen asi como apodo que se ponen en todas partes y no lo ven como si le llamaran sin verguenza.

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  14. Post really provice useful information!

    Phục vụ cho nhu cầu giá cước vận chuyển hàng hóa bằng đường sắt ngày càng lớn, vận chuyển container nội địa và vận tải, gửi hàng hóa vận chuyển container bằng đường sắt cũng đã xây dựng nên những qui trình, dịch vụ dịch vụ vận chuyển ô tô bằng đường sắt chuyên nghiệp và có hệ thống. Đảm bảo mang đến chất lượng tốt nhất cho khách hàng sử dụng dịch vụ.

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