Week 15

PEP2 PM kids show off the flags
 for their imaginary countries

One important thing happened last week that I forgot to write about in my latest blog post: Yamit and I attended a church service. El Porvenir is filled with churches. In fact, one of our PEP classes is housed in a church. However, there's a particular one that sits at the corner of our street, right on the way to the other volunteer house. They have services seemingly every night and, on the way back from Adult Class, Study Buddies, or hanging out at VH1 (the other volunteer house), we always peek in as we walk by. Many times, there will be children playing outside. It often happens that one of these children is a PEP student. He's also the younger brother of one of Yamit's most constant adult class students, Maresa, and my study buddy, Taber. As we pass, we always make sure to stop and give him a wave or a hug.

Working on mandalas with one
of our youngest students

Sometime early last week, we were stopped by Maresa on our way home from class. She greeted us and invited us to come to church with her, her mother, and her two younger brothers. From the beginning of our time here, Yamit and I had been saying that we wanted to go to a service and, with only a few weeks left, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So, we accepted. 

That Thursday, Yamit and I hurried home after class in order to make it to the 4pm service. We got there a few minutes late, but the service didn't actually begin until about 4:30pm. The room itself was relatively large compared to many of the other churches in El Porvenir. Its set up reminded me a bit of a typical high school auditorium. The floor was white and tiled, the ceiling was low and, at the end opposite the door, there was a small stage.

The service began with two women taking turns singing upbeat songs talking about God and His greatness. At different points, members of the congregation (including our student and his mother) went up to sing and do readings. At around 5pm, a man who'd been playing the keyboard for the beginning of the service went up to the podium and talked. I couldn't understand him very well, so I ended up paying attention to the conversations that were happening around me. That was the part of the whole experience that was most interesting. There were only about 30 people in the church and most of them were not paying attention to what was going on in front of them. The kids, who made up about half of the congregation, were running around and playing. Maresa was having conversations with us. Even the adults were moving around and taking care of their business. In the services that I'd been to at home, both Jewish and Christian, there was always a sense that, once you're seated, you're there to stay. I don't know if the amount of movement was cultural, or whether it was specifically this church but, either way, it was fascinating. Finally, at around 5:30pm, a man who I assume was the pastor, got up and started speaking. At one point, he welcomed Yamit and me and asked us if we wanted to come up and say a few words. We'd been told that this might happen, but were still unsure of what to say. We decided to simply thank the congregation for inviting us into their church and for being so welcoming and kind. At the end of the service, Maresa told us how glad she was that we'd come and invited us to return on Saturday or Sunday. 

During the service, Yamit and I had both noticed the beautifully painted flowers on Maresa's toenails. When asked who had done them, she told us that she had. We then made plans for her to come over the next afternoon and paint our nails. 

Sophia and her study buddy
Eduardo hold up the flags
 of each other's countries

After class on Friday, four of the ten volunteers took the ferry to Utila, where they would stay the whole weekend. That meant that one of our close friends Sophia would be staying alone in the other volunteer house, so Yamit and I decided to move there for the weekend to keep her company. We were hoping to go to the beach on Saturday, but the torrential rain ruined those plans. Instead, we spent the whole weekend at VH1 making Christmas and Hanukah decorations, baking platzchen (German Christmas cookies), and watching Harry Potter. It was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a while.

Tuesday was the first day of Hanukah. Yamit and I hung up our decorations all around the kitchen and in the communal areas. At sunset, we got everyone together, lit the candles, and said the prayers. The two other Jewish volunteers, Maggie and Karin, are away for the holidays so none of the volunteers who were with us had celebrated Hanukah before. It was so special to be able to share one of the Jewish traditions that is such a big part of my life with people who'd never even heard of Hanukah.

PEP Centro kids practice for
 the talent show

This week was the last week of Vacation Activities Program before we break for the holidays. It was also 'Geography Week' with a focus on Asia. We taught the kids how to count in Chinese, had them color in maps of Asia, and made some fun origami hats, boxes and fortunetellers. We also spent a good amount of our class time prepping for our Concurso de Talentos (Talent Show). The class that I'm in charge of is dancing and drumming (using plastic paint cans) to Vivir Mi Vida by Marc Anthony. Every time we get out the drums, the kids get insanely excited. Seeing how much they love practicing always makes me smile.

Word of the week:

Toque de queda: literally means "touch of stay". Used to mean "curfew". This word has been all over the news recently and is very apropos considering the political situation at the moment.

Yamit quote of the week:

Lila: My legs just hurt so much (said after walking to and                 furthest location very early in the morning

Yamit: You should eat something