Monday, September 21, 2009

Food for thought and food for eating.

So, things have been underway in a more or less normal day-to-day setting in Las Fuentes as of late. Things have been coming along just fine as we continue to make small adjustments and changes to better fit and meet the needs of the people there. The tutoring center has been going well. It's always encouraging how the kids want to come and hang out even if they don't have homework or need help or even if it's Saturday. They're always asking for more classes (as they call them), which is exciting in realizing that they'd rather be hanging out at the church with me than running around doing whatever else. It's definitely challenging to motivate the kids in their studies and find educational activities that support what they're learning and aid them in their understanding in a fresh way. I am open to any suggestions! This last Saturday, I walked around the community with one of the women from the church and passed out flyers about the tutoring center and the dates and times, so that people could become more familiar with me and also so they could have a written schedule of the tutoring times (which are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoons).

Wednesday afternoons have continued with the teaching of an English course, for ages 12 and up. There have been various people that have come and gone in this class, but we have had two sisters that have come consistently each week. They have a good base in English, so it's fun to be able to have the formal teaching type stuff but also to be able to have a more informal conversation time. It's been good.

Fridays consist of me going to visit people in the community that aren't able to leave their homes much. Currently, there are about five women I visit between the ages of sixty something and ninety-four or so. They're always so welcoming and grateful for even the simple act of stopping by and listening. Last week, I went and visited these two ladies, America and Clemencia (Clemencia is America's daughter) and when I was leaving, they gave me a chocolate and nougat bar, some graham cracker types, a red pepper and a tomato so that I could make some kind of lunch with these items. So sweet! I did eat them, but there was no configuration I could find to use them all together for lunch =)

After leaving America and Clemencia's, I stopped by the house where Marselina lives and her daughters, Natalia and Maira, take care of her. I think Marselina is about 93 years old and in very difficult conditions. She sits in a chair all day, not really able to speak or see. She eats very little, but has AMAZING daughters that serve her so willingly and lovingly, it's always a huge testimony to me. It can be really hard at times to visit this house and see Marselina in such poor condition and her daughters in pain over seeing their mother so helpless. Yet even more amazing to see the selfless love that is so plainly displayed through all of it. It's pretty heartbreakingly amazing.

I also visit a lady named Maria, who is around 94 years old. She spends her days either sitting inside staring at the wall or outside looking at her yard, where the first team of the summer helped plant some flowers for her to enjoy. I've been trying to think of some kind of activity that I could do with her to help her occupy some time and maybe give her a kind of hobby. Last week, I brought over some stuff to paint. Previously, Blake and I had picked out a picture of a flower and traced the design onto the canvas. So, we tried it out. She seemed to like it at first, but lost interest after a while. I did a little painting for her and she seemed to enjoy the finished product. We put it on display, so that she could see it whenever she wanted. I noticed she was wearing a bracelet and she said that some ladies had made it for her, so I'm thinking next time I might bring some jewelry making stuff and have her help me pick out beads to make some jewelry or decorative art type stuff.

So, in going to people's houses and spending a significant amount of time there, I have had the opportunity to experience a number of different forms and demonstrations of hospitality. This last week, I brought some pictures of family and friends and home to show to America and Clemencia. They just kept going about how beautiful everyone is (so, be encouraged ; ) and how they couldn't believe how much of animal lovers my family is to have 5 dogs! I saw a ton of their family pictures, as well, and tried to keep up with whose kid was whose and what birthday was when. But, wait, there's more. Just as I mentioned earlier, food tends to be a large byproduct of the hospitality factor. So, this last week, in visiting America and Clemencia, I was able to try a number of different things I haven't eaten or even drank before. When we were finished looking at the pictures, Clemencia brought out a bright orange, opaque juice for me. I braced myself for it, thinking it would be papaya. Instead, it was sweet and it turned out to be carrot and orange juice- not too shabby. To accompany my carrot/orange juice, I was given some wafer cookies and a piece of an orange. Then, they asked me if I'd ever had sweet squash and I said I didn't think so. So, they said that I would try some after I was done with my juice because the taste of the juice would mess up the taste of the sweet squash. Oh, the anticipation! So, when I finished with my juice, they didn't delay in giving me what looked liked a squash based gelatin. It definitely jiggled. So, I dug in and it was actually pretty good! Serves me right for judging based on jigglage. Then, when I was leaving, they gave me some lemons from a tree in their yard.

That same day, I went to go visit Maria and one of her sons happened to be around. He is always very thankful towards me for coming and spending time with his mom. He left and brought each of us an orange. Then, he left again and after a while he came back with some limes for me from their yard. Not too long after, he showed up with some Guavas for me to try. And then he left again and came back with several Jocotes (a small sourish fruit that you usually eat with salt). In all, that day between the lemons from America and Clemencia and the fruit from Maria's house, I ended up with 15 pieces of some kind of citrus fruit in my purse! And this makes me happy =) And so my post is concluded.

Below my cornucopious collection of fruits is pictured.