... which means 'so is life'... sorry it's taken me forever, but here are a couple updates on life here!
CHRISTMAS!!!!!
Ah doesn’t it seem forever ago?? Probably because it was… sorry for such a horrible delay! Well, to start off, Christmas was AWESOME. My favorite tradition here is Posadas. It is a version of a novena (a 9 day prayer before a feast or holiday), but with a twist. It is a simulation of what Mary and Joseph did before Jesus was born, walking for days, looking for shelter. We spent about half the posadas with the youth group posadas, and half with the Santa Teresa posadas, and both had their own variations, but the heart was still the same. Basically, a group of people walk to a home nearby, lead by a Mary and Joseph, and when they arrive at the home, the people inside and outside (Mary and Joseph specifically) converse in a song, asking for shelter. Then, after a few verses, the people on the inside welcome Mary and Joseph (and the rest of the group) into their home to share in a reading, reflection and prayer. There was usually a little snack and Christmas carols after! On the Friday before Christmas, I got to be Maria with my friend Gabriel (who was Jose)… it was a really great experience! Then Christmas Eve we went to three masses (at the three churches), and participated in Nativity plays at two of the three… it was a CRAZY busy night, but so much fun. Celebrating Christmas with the community was wonderful, and being able to spend such a huge amount of time with the youth group (Posadas and all of Christmas Eve) made me feel like I was finally one of them. My time with them since has been drastically different… I feel like one of the guys here, not the gringa outsider volunteer.
NEW YEARS!!!!
Also a crazy holiday… in a nutshell, you light a bunch of life size paper mache dolls on fire in the street, with firecrackers stuck inside. It was unlike anything I have ever seen! We went to our friend Luisana’s house first for dinner and dancing, and then to Monica’s house for the burning! The tradition here is to share a meal at midnight to welcome in the new year (since we burned the old year!), and so Monica served delicious rice, lentils and baked chicken (an Ecua-classic!)
BOSTON COLLEGE
At the beginning of January, BC came as a retreat group to Mount Sinai… shout out to Elizabeth, Sarah, Kevin and Marc! Lucky for me, I knew four people in the group pretty well, and so it was nice to have a little bit of home with me to bring in the new year. I was able to spend some awesome time catching up with them, and I got to accompany them as they learned a little bit about where I am spending my year. Sarah and Elizabeth were in Ecuador with me last January, and they were able to see Aide and Ricardo (two rostro employees about our age), who we had spent time with last year. When Sarah and Elizabeth saw Aide and Ricardo, it reminded me of the importance of friendship and of relationship… a YEAR after spending only a week with each other, it still brought tears to their eyes and mine as well. It was such a special week, and I was so sad to see them go, but I had an amazing time while they were here!
MY BIRTHDAY!!!
THE BEST DAY EVER. Well, it started out slow, then got bad, then shot up for the worst. Work was normal, then I got stuck somewhere for 4 hours, then I was late to teach English to some of the guys in youth group. But, after arriving at the church, a bunch of youth group kids arrived to throw a SURPRISE birthday party! They made this huge poster board, which I am looking at now, that says “Happy Birthday Katty Madson, we wish you a lot of love. Your friends from youth group wish you many more years and that God fills you with blessings. Thank you for being a wonderful friend. We love you.” It’s beautifully decorated with a border, photos from our time together, and each one of them signed it with a note. A few friends, Damian and Victor, shared beautiful toasts as well, that brought tears to my eyes. And as tradition calls for, my face was pushed into the cake… yum! Overall, a wonderful surprise J
Also, these are a couple excerpts from my journal over the past month…
Reflections on hospitality…
I think the vulnerability aspect of hospitality is also really important. As Rostro volunteers, we have an expiration date. Our neighbors know that, and yet they still open up their hearts and homes, putting themselves at risk. I’ve been reflecting on this for a while, but the reality is that we are investing our hearts in Monte Sinaí, just to have it broken at the end of the year. But we chose to do that when we signed up to come here. Our neighbors, by showing true hospitality (which I would argue is truly loving that person as a human being) are CHOOSING to do the same… to make themselves vulnerable to heart break… and although painful at the end, I think it results in beautiful, genuine, human relationship.
Reflection on community…
During our latest retreat, Belén and I got to talking with Colie (retreat leader) about disagreement and confrontation. To show love, and be loving, she said, there are two extremes… Truth and Grace. Both are necessary to love another, but the trick is to find the balance. You can be 100% truthful and be very confrontational to stand up for it, or 100% graceful and allow others to walk over you. What I found insightful is how she paralleled it to the life of Jesus, which is appropriate since our program is Rostro de Cristo “Face of Christ”. He followed the path of truth, but erred on the side of grace; the truth was never compromised. I think that is how we are called to love not only in community but in our daily lives. To be a loving to the other, whoever that may be, we are called to follow the path of truth, but always enveloped in grace.
That’s all I got for now… I’ll try to get some photos up ASAP!
