Monday, November 14, 2011
Housemates
I am so blessed to have four wonderful friends to share my daily joys and struggles here.
Joy is 24, from Argentinia, and is my bunkmate. She is full of energy, ideas and love. To watch her enteract with a disabled friend in our neighborhood is to watch someone comunicate and love much like how I imagine Mother Teresa used to love. She is in many ways my teacher, teaching me how to dress, reminding me to pray before each visit and helping me do my exercised diligently. She is very generous with all of her personal posessions, almost completely unattached to the things which she owns. She is brights and fun to be with, loves to dance and loves music. And she loves to laugh. Twice in the last week we have laughed, on the floor of our room, so hard that my sides hurt.
Grace is in her late 40s and from Brazil. She is dedicated her like to Heart´s Home for the rest of her life. She is like my mother here. I go to her for questions and she patiently, meekly answers. She is very unselfish and has a servant´s heart. Often she does the little things around the house which need to be done ... washing or finishing my cleaning, without being asked. She also loves to laugh and to laugh heartily. I enjoy very much our evening tea after dinner. It is a time to chat about anything or nothing before bed.
Padrito is a 40 year old french priest who is also a permanent member of Heart´s Home. He is full of wisdom. Often his homily seems to be specifically written for my heart that day. He loves the children and is very much a child himself! He laughs with his eyes as much as his voice. He enjoys cracking dry jokes and speaking in english. However his confusion of english words often makes us both laugh. I am not familiar with ¨Rebel without Cows¨, but do know of ¨Rebel without a Cause¨. Another fun switch was ¨witch¨ and ¨wish¨. As I help him with english, he helps me, very patiently, with my poor spanish. He also takes care of the difficult jobs around the house, like cutting trees and cleaning the inside the water tank of our washing area.
St. Nic is in his late 30s and also from France. He has also dedicated his life as a Heart´s Home volunteer. The children love it when he visits. Like your favorite grandfather, he can make his face do things which make them explode with laughter. He helps them touch the roof and throws them in the air as they reach for the sky. He is our handyman around the house. And like Padrito, he plays the guitar and sings. He is passionate about reach people through online media and has a gift for this. He enjoys walking briskly through the streets. And thankfully, he helps me learn the culture here - having lived in the US, he understands well my own culture and thus the struggles to adjust to my new neighborhood.
Joy is 24, from Argentinia, and is my bunkmate. She is full of energy, ideas and love. To watch her enteract with a disabled friend in our neighborhood is to watch someone comunicate and love much like how I imagine Mother Teresa used to love. She is in many ways my teacher, teaching me how to dress, reminding me to pray before each visit and helping me do my exercised diligently. She is very generous with all of her personal posessions, almost completely unattached to the things which she owns. She is brights and fun to be with, loves to dance and loves music. And she loves to laugh. Twice in the last week we have laughed, on the floor of our room, so hard that my sides hurt.
Grace is in her late 40s and from Brazil. She is dedicated her like to Heart´s Home for the rest of her life. She is like my mother here. I go to her for questions and she patiently, meekly answers. She is very unselfish and has a servant´s heart. Often she does the little things around the house which need to be done ... washing or finishing my cleaning, without being asked. She also loves to laugh and to laugh heartily. I enjoy very much our evening tea after dinner. It is a time to chat about anything or nothing before bed.
Padrito is a 40 year old french priest who is also a permanent member of Heart´s Home. He is full of wisdom. Often his homily seems to be specifically written for my heart that day. He loves the children and is very much a child himself! He laughs with his eyes as much as his voice. He enjoys cracking dry jokes and speaking in english. However his confusion of english words often makes us both laugh. I am not familiar with ¨Rebel without Cows¨, but do know of ¨Rebel without a Cause¨. Another fun switch was ¨witch¨ and ¨wish¨. As I help him with english, he helps me, very patiently, with my poor spanish. He also takes care of the difficult jobs around the house, like cutting trees and cleaning the inside the water tank of our washing area.
St. Nic is in his late 30s and also from France. He has also dedicated his life as a Heart´s Home volunteer. The children love it when he visits. Like your favorite grandfather, he can make his face do things which make them explode with laughter. He helps them touch the roof and throws them in the air as they reach for the sky. He is our handyman around the house. And like Padrito, he plays the guitar and sings. He is passionate about reach people through online media and has a gift for this. He enjoys walking briskly through the streets. And thankfully, he helps me learn the culture here - having lived in the US, he understands well my own culture and thus the struggles to adjust to my new neighborhood.
Monday, November 7, 2011
An American in Teguc
Actually, there were 13 americans in our small parish yesterday morning. I was so happy and very surprised to see so many gringos! They are on a week long mission trip from Cinncinati and had come to visit our church because they sponsor the neighborhood school.
I had trouble concontrating on what was said during mass, because I was so excited to go say hello after. This kind crew invited me and one of my roommates to join them for a coffee at Duncan Donuts after mass, their treat! It was fun to go and talk with them for a little while before their next appointment.
Fortunately, their schedule cleared for the afternoon and they came back to our house after their lunch to have coffee, juice and pan dolce (cookies). For over an hour we talked and answered lots of questions! It was wonderful to make new friends and introduce them to our home and to three of our friends from the neighborhood.
I look forward to the next chance encounter like this that changes our schedule and enriches my life!
I had trouble concontrating on what was said during mass, because I was so excited to go say hello after. This kind crew invited me and one of my roommates to join them for a coffee at Duncan Donuts after mass, their treat! It was fun to go and talk with them for a little while before their next appointment.
Fortunately, their schedule cleared for the afternoon and they came back to our house after their lunch to have coffee, juice and pan dolce (cookies). For over an hour we talked and answered lots of questions! It was wonderful to make new friends and introduce them to our home and to three of our friends from the neighborhood.
I look forward to the next chance encounter like this that changes our schedule and enriches my life!
A Tale of Two Girls - Martha and Mary
If I has a limpira (the Honduran currancy) for everytime I was asked what I do each day for the second or third time ... I could buy groceries for one of our friends for a week! So, forgive me for not telling you until now about what I do, but I am still learning myself. Much of my time is spent in quiet - cleaning, praying, sitting on a bus which is too loud to talk to the person next to you. And the visit are the opposite. So I feel like each day I am part Mary and part Martha - part listening and part acting. So below is my schedule, daily and weekly, to give you a better idea.
Daily Schedule:
Our days are marked our by prayer time and meal time. I enjoy the structure and seem to fill every moment.
7 am - Morning prayer
7.30 am - Time to read
8 am - Breakfast
9 am to 12.30 pm - Hand wash dishes, clothes, sheets, towels, etc.
- An hour of individual prayer
- Exercise
- Prepare for upcoming activities
12.30 pm - Lunch
1.30 pm - Siesta
2.30 pm - Pray with the kids from the neighborhood
3 pm - Afternoon activities
5.45 pm - Evening Prayer
6.30 pm - Mass
7.30 pm - Dinner
9 pm - Night prayer
Weekly Schedule:
Monday - Day off - Internet, Sleep, Write letters, often in the house of a friend who lives outside of our neighborhood where we can rest
Tuesday - My day to cook all three meals!!!!
- AM - Shopping either at the Produce Market at 6 am or the Supermarket after breakfast
- PM - Visits in the neighborhood
Wednesday - AM - Clean our house from top to bottom! With the windows and doors always open and dirt roads throughout our neighborhood, you can imagine how important this is!
- PM - Soccer with the teens (pm)
- Evening - Mass in our house and a reception after for anyone who wants to join us.
Thursday - Visit to the Home for the Elderly or the Women´s Prison - Right now I go mostly to the Home for the Aging and to the prison only once every three or four weeks.
Friday - AM - Weekly planning meeting
- PM - My day for the Permenancia - The house is open to all the neighborhood kids to come play. We often have 20 +!
- Evening - Book club for young adults which we call the ¨School of Community¨
Saturday - PM - Visits in the neighborhood
- Evening - Teen girls book club - Right now we are reading The Little Prince
Sunday - Seems to change every week. Church in the morning in our neighborhood. Once a month we have an afternoon ¨retreat¨ in the mountains with friends of Heart´s Home from around the city. We go visit or invite people to visit us.
We often have guests who stop by as they are passing and frequently invite friends to join us for a meal. We make a simple cake for the birthdays of the kids and either invite them over or take it to them. Our days are very full and our schedule constantly changing as needed to accomodate opportunities which present themselves. Everyday is different!
Daily Schedule:
Our days are marked our by prayer time and meal time. I enjoy the structure and seem to fill every moment.
7 am - Morning prayer
7.30 am - Time to read
8 am - Breakfast
9 am to 12.30 pm - Hand wash dishes, clothes, sheets, towels, etc.
- An hour of individual prayer
- Exercise
- Prepare for upcoming activities
12.30 pm - Lunch
1.30 pm - Siesta
2.30 pm - Pray with the kids from the neighborhood
3 pm - Afternoon activities
5.45 pm - Evening Prayer
6.30 pm - Mass
7.30 pm - Dinner
9 pm - Night prayer
Weekly Schedule:
Monday - Day off - Internet, Sleep, Write letters, often in the house of a friend who lives outside of our neighborhood where we can rest
Tuesday - My day to cook all three meals!!!!
- AM - Shopping either at the Produce Market at 6 am or the Supermarket after breakfast
- PM - Visits in the neighborhood
Wednesday - AM - Clean our house from top to bottom! With the windows and doors always open and dirt roads throughout our neighborhood, you can imagine how important this is!
- PM - Soccer with the teens (pm)
- Evening - Mass in our house and a reception after for anyone who wants to join us.
Thursday - Visit to the Home for the Elderly or the Women´s Prison - Right now I go mostly to the Home for the Aging and to the prison only once every three or four weeks.
Friday - AM - Weekly planning meeting
- PM - My day for the Permenancia - The house is open to all the neighborhood kids to come play. We often have 20 +!
- Evening - Book club for young adults which we call the ¨School of Community¨
Saturday - PM - Visits in the neighborhood
- Evening - Teen girls book club - Right now we are reading The Little Prince
Sunday - Seems to change every week. Church in the morning in our neighborhood. Once a month we have an afternoon ¨retreat¨ in the mountains with friends of Heart´s Home from around the city. We go visit or invite people to visit us.
We often have guests who stop by as they are passing and frequently invite friends to join us for a meal. We make a simple cake for the birthdays of the kids and either invite them over or take it to them. Our days are very full and our schedule constantly changing as needed to accomodate opportunities which present themselves. Everyday is different!
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