Lent / Easter

Please excuse the lack of updates recently. Between the internet difficulties and the kids being on spring break, I haven't had a chance to write.

We just finished the Lenten season with our Easter celebration last Sunday. The entire season is very unique in the house. On Fridays, instead of giving up meat, the entire house gives up tortillas. The logic is that the kids wouldn't notice the meat missing anyway.

Holy Thursday is the night we remember the last supper and in the house we honor this with a special dinner for the whole family.

Good Friday is a silent day, which means we can't play music or watch television all day.

Last Saturday, we celebrated Sabado de la Gloria and remembered all of our baptisms with a giant water fight for three hours.

Sunday was Easter and we celebrated with a sunrise Mass, dougnuts, hot chocolate, chocolate eggs and an egg hunt with a grand prize of $50.

I will update again soon. My parents are coming to visit this week and will be offering wrestling clinics to the kids. I will be sure to post pictures.

Peace

No Internet

Right now we are having technical difficulties with the Internet. I will update when it is more consistent.

La Pijamada

Saturday night we had a giant sleepover for ALL the girls in the house. It was really fun to see them just being kids, especially after all the hard work from the Junta and exams. We put out mattresses and blankets in the school and had a BBQ and played games and watched movies all night. We also had a fogata (bonfire) and roasted marshmallows. The girls love their marshmallows lit on fire and charred. So imagine 200 or so girls with sticks and flaming marshmallows. And as everyone wanted to roast my marshmallow for me, I had to try very hard to describe the fine art of roasting marshmallows. One of the older girls roasted it for me and it was nearly perfect. But of course, one of the younger girls saw that it wasn't black yet and proceeded to "fix" this for me.

After the bonfire, some of the girls from my section were dancing on the soccer field to the music from the town dance. I joined them and have started to learn cumbia.

It was a great weekend, but exhausting and I am looking forward to relaxing on descanso. I think my Spanish is improving and I am learning a lot every day. I think the biggest thing I am learning is to put others first. It doesn't matter if I like my marshmallow golden brown; if a kid wants to roast it for me, I should let her. If the girls want to play chess for 3 hours, I should. And sometimes it means that you get up early, even though the extra sleep would be amazing because someone else is depending on you.

Peace