On Saturday I had the good fortune of being able to celebrate my birthday in this wonderful country. I missed my family and friends back home but at the same time I received so much love here and was able to really enjoy the day. My birthday actually began several days prior when people started asking me, “You’re birthday is in (blank) days, are you excited?!”. I would get asked this everyday by about 30 different people. On Friday it was the birthday of one of the cooks named Lidia. As we were singing for her, I found out we were singing for me too because they brought our two cakes. The community also got us a piñata in the form of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. It was hands down the most incredible piñata I have ever seen! We broke it open as a community and had some good laughs.
The next day I woke up to a giant card outside my room that everyone had signed. It was such a beautiful way to start the day. I was sung to about 20 times and continually congratulated by friends as well as strangers throughout the day. It finally finished with a cake, a final song and a beautiful gift of a mug made by a famous Salvadoran artist LLORT. It could not have been a better end to a great day. Everyone here made me feel so loved even though we had only been here 10 days. It was truly an unforgettable birthday.
On Monday I spent my first day in Las Delicias. I was a little nervous as the day began and I was not sure what to expect. The morning went by slowly with some awkward conversations and I was feeling a bit uneasy with what the day would hold. But some kids showed up and we got to play baseball. Later helped a woman with her garden and got to talk with her.
Throughout the day I really struggled with the idea of accompaniment. I would like to be constantly doing something and working as hard as I can for the community but I have to keep remembering that that is not why I am here. I am here to learn, walk and just be present in the community to form relationships and understand their reality. I think it will be hard to keep this mentality but in the afternoon we were able to visit some of the community members’ homes and just chat with them. I was feeling a little uncomfortable at the homes because I did not have much to share but in the last home I finally began to understand the idea of accompaniment.
We visited a woman who lives with her husband and has a beautiful garden and animals everywhere. She is a short, spunky, old woman who was excited to have us in her home. She showed us around and started playing pranks on us. We got to this tree in her yard and she picked this fruit that appears to be grapes and told us that it was sweet and that we should try it. So we proceeded to eat this fruit and were shocked by how sour it was. My praxis partner and I both made “sour faces” and the woman laughed and laughed while we tried to ride our mouths of the strong flavor. She proceeded to take us to another fruit tree but this time we were a little wary. The fruit is used solely for medicinal uses but she told us to smell it. I took a big whiff and almost threw up because the stench was so horrid. She laughed again and just thought it was so hilarious. She gave us bags of both fruit so we could trick all our friends. She had such a warm spirit and was so full of life, it was quite inspiring to have met her and know that I will get to spend more time with her over the semester.
These past few days have been a great start to the semester and I am looking forward to what the next four months will hold. Thank you for continuing to read my blog and I hope it finds everyone in good spirits.
Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment