Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Miracles on 16 Calle

Everyone has been very busy with the Tren de Chocolate (I think the song is permanently stuck in my head, as I play it twice an hour). I have gotten to know each of the missionaries on the team a little better by now, and it has been a pleasure. Everyone has such interesting backgrounds and stories to share, it has really been a joy to work with them. They have included me throughout their entire trip. Every team member on this trip has their own special gifts and talents, and all are willing to share them with the hogar and the children. Some have beautiful voices, others are creative or athletic. Some have been kind and strong enough to shre their stories with both the children and me personally. It has been a very enriching experience, and I feel blessed to spend this time with them.

So I titled this post Miracles on 16th street because in the past few days, a lot of fantastic things have been happening here. I have been tutoring two of the kids with some of the classes they are struggling with. The first day, both were very reluctant to work. I don't take it personally, because I am not their teacher, and I don't expect them to respect this missionary who has no formal education in teaching. I volunteer at several locations, such as the Huntingdon Community Center by my college, but I am not an ed major, so I haven't taken any classes on it. By the third day, they were asking me when we were going to work! I was so impressed by this self encouragement from both of them. Because I have worked with students with learning disabilities and under-privileged children, I am aware of the challenges I was going to face with these kids. I do not know much of their backgrounds, which makes it harder to determine how to approach the teaching, but prayer and patience are key to a lot of things around here. Even though I am the maestra if you will, it has been a learning experience for me probably just as much as it has been for them.
It was also quite a miracle that the octopus Paul was right all season, down to the finals! BUT the bigger miracle was Madre's blessing to let the kids listen to Shakira (over and over and over...I am not exagerating). Instead of eating in the comedor, we had a futbol party and set up all the food in front of the big screen. We had Dominoes Pizza, the Guate-version of a hot dog with everything on it (ketchup, mayo, mustard, guacamole, cilantro, salt and pepper), salad, soda and ice cream! It was a kid's feast! After Spain won (Horray!!!), we had a huge aprox 4 hr dance party, with only 4 songs (the approved Africa Shakira song, the official FIFA song, One Day, & Viva Africa). It was a lot of fun! To wind the kids down, we watched Free Willy 1 (to go with Free Willy 4 from last week).
This is out of order, but it was wonderful to have Divine Liturgy with Father John and Deacon Mark. Another milagro (miracle) was how well the Liturgy came together, despite the language barrier. It was a beautiful service, and it was especially nice to meet some of the Orthodox community from around the area.

After Dinner, the team groups together and discusses highs and lows for the day, plans for the next day, and evening prayers. It has been great to hear the missionaries special moments with the kids, and watching them interact with the children. Plus, no one in this group will go hungry with all the snacks they have. I have been missing curfew (oops) because I try to help out with the crafts for the next day, or just enjoy intelligent conversation.
Now that the Tren has begun, I know a little more about it. There are 4 main stations: game room, pool/gym, arts and crafts, and bakery. In arts and crafts, the kids have made icons, crosses, bookmarks and ornaments. In the bakery, Father John explained the prosfora bread that is used in Holy Communion , and the signifance in the steps of preparation. Then there was a mini quiz at the end, to make sure the kids were attentive. They passed with flying colors!

Yesterday, half of the group went on an excursion to the hot pools and Pollo Campero (similar to McDonalds). Everyone came back exhausted, and I look forward to that excursion tomorrow. Today, we had the big futbol championship here at the Hogar. All the children were in their team jersey, and it was a fun afternoon. The first game was really intense, with a tie in the first 2 minutes of the game. It went into overtime and one team won by a penalty shot. The little ones could not participate, so they sat in the bleachers with the team, Madre Ivonne, a few nannies, and myself. It was precious bonding time, rooting for teams, and chanting typical cheers.
The OCMC team has some great ideas to treating the children. We are planning a field day (here it is called a rally) concluding with a photo scavenger hunt, an American dinner of grilled cheese, corn on the cob, potato chips, and apple crisp (hungry yet?) where we cook, serve and clean up the entire meal, and a giant banana split party in pvc pipe (I got the idea from Red Barons on the field ice cream party).

So, we will have a full day tomorrow of swimming, eating lots of chicken and papas fritas, and hopefully not too much traffic. I can't wait! Hasta luego!

1 comment:

  1. Somehow I thought a chocolate train would involve more chocolate. Oh well sounds like fun anyway. Good idea with the banana split.

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