The masked figures, fariseos or judios, who walk the streets, dancing to rattle the shells on their legs and beating their drums. The are extremely popular and plentious the few weeks before Easter.
Rosalina showing off one of her drawings. 
Roxina and her great guamuchile-picking adventure. 
Chuy reaching for something he shouldn't have. 
Carol and Jeffrey. 
Dylan and Alyssa eating dinner before the Jesus film in San Pedro. 
Osbaldo, Rod, and Fermin eating cebiche. 
Fransisca kept calling Christa "ranchero" woman. 
Roxina, MariChuy, Fernando, and Rach at bedtime.SUNDAY: Daylight savings time began in Mexico. The guys forgot and came late for breakfast at the orphanage. I biked to Choix so I could catch a ride to the San Pedro service. We didn't pick up anyone; they all had things to do and people to see...or were sick. Loren talked to us about forgiveness. Yesi decided she was mad at me and remained pleasantly aloof during the entire service. I can't say that I minded sitting alone. I came back with Rod and Christa and started lunch before the others got home. I had lots of e-mail waiting for me in my inbox, and I stuck with them until I was done replying. After the Choix service some of us walked all of the way back to the orphanage where Lenn was preparing banana/peach smoothies. Rosalina and Roxina tried to teach me how to dance ranchero-style to go along with their whiney ranchero tape that belongs in the trash. I taught them a few steps of a waltz before we called it even...with nobody particularly enriched from the experience.
MONDAY: I spent the day in town. I showed Loren how to run the washer and then I sat down to write out a verse poster for Vanessa's family. Then I bought groceries and made my weekly trek to their house. My Spanish was struggling all day...which was frustrating. Back at the Yoders', I helped make lunch. At three o'clock, Rod came to pick us all up and we headed to San Pedro, mentally preparing ourselves for the long night ahead of us. Class was small, but the kids were involved in the class and cooperative. After the children left, we had several hours to kill before we started the Jesus film. Christa and I folded Fransisca's laundry and watered the yard. Gris served us cebiche...yum! The movie started later than planned because of a technical difficulty. But soon, we were up and running. People came trickling in. Pray that it touched them...especially so close to Easter. After the movie, Rod took me back to the orphanage and Lenn came running out to let me in.
TUESDAY: I was in charge of lunch again. But this time the groceries were not late and the children were blessedly cooperative. Suzanne gave me moral support by doing her schoolwork in the kitchen. After lunch I took my time off and promptly fell asleep. When I got up, I folded some laundry and then a big group of us headed into town to pass out tracts. The outside air was MUGGY! (The hot weather has hit us hard and fast.) Roxina and I worked together, on opposite sides of the street. When we got back to Yoders', Domingo wanted me to read him a book, and he picked Curious George, in English. He sat cuddled up beside me, defying his 5-second attention span. I was amazed when he went to pick out another book...this time in Spanish. He patiently corrected my pronunciation and remained oddly captivated until it was time to leave. Suzanne and I had great plans to climb up on the bodega roof and watch the moon and eat tapioca pudding. But our plans were foiled when we heard Lenn and Sam having a meeting inside of the bodega. Rats...
WEDNESDAY: I biked into town with my laundry. The bag kept slipping off my shoulder so I finally hung it off the handle bars where it hit my knee every other second and threw me off-balance. I was embarrassingly ungraceful and very sweaty. But when I got to the Yoders' the water was still not on....and not on...and not on.... I tried not to worry and headed up to the plaza to hang out. But there were too many people around, the sun was intense, and I was a target for people asking for money. I came back without enjoying my time much at all. But then I called home and did laundry when the water was on. My day started looking up. I laid on my bed and read my book. I stopped partway through my day to buy myself "lunch" which consisted of a few unhealthy things and a banana. Prayer meeting came and went. I gave Teo a chocolate covered coffee bean and he grinned at me in delight. He felt special, but I hope he didn't keep the other boys awake.
THURSDAY: I was in charge of getting the kids up and ready for the day. I wasn't too excited, but it was worth it to let Rachel get an extra hour of sleep on her day off. We ate homemade doughnuts with our morning cereal. Fat little Chuy saw the doughnuts and snatched one out of the container as MariChuy toted him by. He looked a little crushed when I took the doughnut away and handed him over to Suzanne for his bowl of oatmeal. I was in charge of lunch, but the groceries were perfectly on time. Nothing exciting happened except Chuy rolling off the couch and hitting his head on the tile floor. Diego and Miguel had to do dishes and hid out by the washing machines. Fortunately, Scott spotted them and hauled them in. After siesta time, I helped Debbie by helping the girls with homework and warming up leftovers for dinner since other things that had come up. After dinner, Suzanne and I had fun teasing Maria mercilessly. We played with Chuy who was jabbering on and on about something. I asked him, "Is that what you're going to do tomorrow?" and he gave me a loud affirmation that sounded vaguely like "Si!"
FRIDAY: I had fun doing laundry all morning. I got started late, and ended up watching Chuy while I ran the two washers. He loves being outside and eating dirt and kicking soccer balls around. I entertained him by showing him the water spraying out of the hoses. He looked on in silent wonder. Then I set him on top of the washer when it was spinning and he cocked his head and stared worriedly down at his rumbling feet. The next time I set him on top of the washer, he grinned and laid down, putting his ear up against the machine and patting it affectionately. He loves to talk when he's in a good mood. He tells me all sorts of stories. I think he said "ball" and I quickly tried to teach him the Spanish equivalent, but somehow "pelota" doesn't come out as easily. After lunch I got ready to head back to Choix on bike. Teo told me I couldn't leave. Maria told me "Ah wull miss yoo SO MUCH!" Despite all of that, I left. On the way home, I noticed that town was bustling with visitors for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Unfortunately, I got stuck behind a truck that had several men in the back trying to practice their English on me. I couldn't go around them on either side and they were waiting for a parking spot. The only gratification I gave them was an "Adios!" as I saw an opening and pedaled furiously around them. I saw Donna, Janessa, and Kyle when I got to the house. It was good to see them and catch up on the last couple of weeks. At four thirty we left for Mochiqui. Maria Ines joined Donna and I. The most challenging part of the day was when a screaming Tita came back to MariCruz's house with blood dripping down her face. Carla was right behind her, terrified and crying. Some rock-throwing had gotten a little out of hand. Tita was fine after Donna checked and cleaned her wound; prasie God it had missed her eye! We went to the orphanage and ate nachos and soup and talked. I tried to keep and eye on Chuy who insisted on getting into trouble.
SATURDAY: I got up late; it was nice. All of us did actually, and barely had enough time to set up for Saturday school. The class was small, most likely because of Semana Santa. I went back to the orphanage and made quesadillas for lunch while Rach oversaw the children's jobs. Right after lunch, I had my time off in which I slept. (I am getting old with all of these naps.) When I got up, I went in to wake up Chuy who was already awake and grinning at me. For dinner, it was just the girls, Fernando, and Chuy. The boys were having a party up at their dorm and Lenn's family was out to eat. Rach made little Ritz cracker pizzas to make the evening special for the girls. We played outside on the soccer field until dark. I caught a ride home with Loren...very dirty but happy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment