This past week we celebrated the Christmas holidays. It is a really beautiful time to be in the house, although it is really hard to be away from my house.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we celebrated with Posadsas. Posadas are very common throughout Mexico and are used to recall the journey of Mary and Joseph searching for an inn. At the house, the kids walk to different doorways. Mary and Joseph ask for space and are turned away until they reach the last door. At this “inn” there is space and everyone enters to have a party. We celebrate with performances and breaking piñatas and lots of candy.
Christmas Eve is an outdoor Mass. We celebrate in our farm, complete with pigs, lambs and a donkey, just like the first Christmas. After Mass the whole house, including university and high school students, enjoys a special dinner.
This week we will celebrate New Year’s Eve with a late-night dance, and on Jan. 6, the Christmas season officially ends. The kids will receive their presents, as is tradition in Mexico, for Three King’s Day.
My time working here is coming to an end. I leave for Minnesota in two weeks. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. I am sad to go, and I will miss my girls. But, I am very excited to begin to support the house in a different way. I will be thinking about all of you the next few weeks. Please keep me in your prayers.
Peace. Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Thanksgiving
Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving with the volunteers. Although we are far away from home, we have a lot to be thankful in the family we have found with the children.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Dia de Los Muertos
This past weekend was the best weekend since I have been here. On Friday we celebrated Halloween with a drawing contest, a short story contest and a costume contest. Later, all the volunteers designed a haunted walk through the area of the house where we store our farm equipment. For more than an hour the majority of the kids came through our haunted walk, while year-of-service kids and we scared them.
The next morning we celebrated All Saints Day. On this day we traditionally celebrate the birthdays of all the kids. We started waking the kids up at 5:00 a.m. with the traditional birthday song, Las Mananitas. We started with the youngest kids and moved into the older sections. It was really sweet to watch the younger kids waking up their older brothers and sisters. When we finally had woken up all the kids, we enjoyed a breakfast of cake and hot chocolate. For the rest of the day the kids didn’t have to do chores and had free time.
That evening we celebrated Mass for Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican Holiday celebrated the 1st and 2nd of November to honor the dead. According to tradition on this day the souls of the dead can visit the living and families construct altars to honor their family members. The altars are filled with flowers, religious symbols, pan de muerto (a sweet bread), sugar skulls and the favorite food of the deceased. It is also a way to make fun of death. It is a Christian symbol that we will overcome death through God.
During the Mass we prayed for the dead by name. All of the children wrote the names of their family members in a book of the dead and Father Phil read each name. The church was silent. After Mass Father Phil shared the altar he had build with the kids. The altar was full of candy. We then enjoyed pan de muerto and hot chocolate for dinner.
The next day each section spent the whole day building their own altar for the altar contest. I will post pictures soon. It was amazing!
Peace,
Laura
The next morning we celebrated All Saints Day. On this day we traditionally celebrate the birthdays of all the kids. We started waking the kids up at 5:00 a.m. with the traditional birthday song, Las Mananitas. We started with the youngest kids and moved into the older sections. It was really sweet to watch the younger kids waking up their older brothers and sisters. When we finally had woken up all the kids, we enjoyed a breakfast of cake and hot chocolate. For the rest of the day the kids didn’t have to do chores and had free time.
That evening we celebrated Mass for Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican Holiday celebrated the 1st and 2nd of November to honor the dead. According to tradition on this day the souls of the dead can visit the living and families construct altars to honor their family members. The altars are filled with flowers, religious symbols, pan de muerto (a sweet bread), sugar skulls and the favorite food of the deceased. It is also a way to make fun of death. It is a Christian symbol that we will overcome death through God.
During the Mass we prayed for the dead by name. All of the children wrote the names of their family members in a book of the dead and Father Phil read each name. The church was silent. After Mass Father Phil shared the altar he had build with the kids. The altar was full of candy. We then enjoyed pan de muerto and hot chocolate for dinner.
The next day each section spent the whole day building their own altar for the altar contest. I will post pictures soon. It was amazing!
Peace,
Laura
Friday, October 10, 2008
Milpillas
The house in Mexico does a few outreach programs. Our principal outreach program is to Milpillas, a garbage dump in a neighboring town. Father Phil, our current priest, discovered that there were families living in the dump digging through trash to make a living and the children weren't in school. Father Phil asked all the children at our house if they would be willing to invite the children from Milpillas to attend classes at our school. The children unanimously said yes, except for the youngest children who didn't want to give up the extra treats they would have to give up.
The program has been very successful. One of the Milpillas students has just graduated from the university and another student left for the university this year. Although the garbage dump has closed, we currently have 89 students from Milpillas attending our school.
I went to Milpillas today. Despite all my time in Mexico, I was still shocked by the experience. The people have built their homes on top of garbage. The homes, although many would not use the word home, are built out of sheet metal, plastic, wood, cardboard and whatever else has been salvaged from the dump. There is garbage everywhere and the children walk around barefoot with dirt on their legs and bodies. We met a 16-year-old mother. She used to attend school with our kids, but has since dropped out and has a 1-month-old to care for. The smell was not as bad as I imagined, but I am sure it was much worse when the dump was open and one could smell the garbage from the main highway.
Trekking along to look at the houses, we walked over garbage - abandoned shoes, candy wrappers, plastic bottles and much that was unidentifiable already in the later stages of decay. While walking along, I couldn't help but think that this experience is a daily reality for many people across Mexico and the rest of the world. People are shocked that I have chosen to give up a year of my life to live in an orphanage, an orphanage that has clean drinking water, hot showers, electricity, television, wireless Internet and a guaranteed four meals a day (to name a few of our amenities). In January, I will move back to the states. I will move back to air conditioning, a car that takes me wherever I want and all the opportunity in the world. I wish I could show everyone I know that all the opportunity in the world is not available to everyone in the world. I hope I always remember the lessons I have learned this year and I don't take for granted the blessings I have been given. It is easy to be caught up in our own personal problems and materialism, but I hope people remember, even in the current economic crisis, we are still very lucky.
The program has been very successful. One of the Milpillas students has just graduated from the university and another student left for the university this year. Although the garbage dump has closed, we currently have 89 students from Milpillas attending our school.
I went to Milpillas today. Despite all my time in Mexico, I was still shocked by the experience. The people have built their homes on top of garbage. The homes, although many would not use the word home, are built out of sheet metal, plastic, wood, cardboard and whatever else has been salvaged from the dump. There is garbage everywhere and the children walk around barefoot with dirt on their legs and bodies. We met a 16-year-old mother. She used to attend school with our kids, but has since dropped out and has a 1-month-old to care for. The smell was not as bad as I imagined, but I am sure it was much worse when the dump was open and one could smell the garbage from the main highway.
Trekking along to look at the houses, we walked over garbage - abandoned shoes, candy wrappers, plastic bottles and much that was unidentifiable already in the later stages of decay. While walking along, I couldn't help but think that this experience is a daily reality for many people across Mexico and the rest of the world. People are shocked that I have chosen to give up a year of my life to live in an orphanage, an orphanage that has clean drinking water, hot showers, electricity, television, wireless Internet and a guaranteed four meals a day (to name a few of our amenities). In January, I will move back to the states. I will move back to air conditioning, a car that takes me wherever I want and all the opportunity in the world. I wish I could show everyone I know that all the opportunity in the world is not available to everyone in the world. I hope I always remember the lessons I have learned this year and I don't take for granted the blessings I have been given. It is easy to be caught up in our own personal problems and materialism, but I hope people remember, even in the current economic crisis, we are still very lucky.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Independence Day
Check out the article I wrote about the Independence Day celebration. Click on the news link on the right. It is the first article, titled "Independence Day."
http://www.nph.org/?page=homes/home.php&org=8&lang=en&fr=1
http://www.nph.org/?page=homes/home.php&org=8&lang=en&fr=1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)