What Country Do I Live In Anyway?

Hey! I had the greatest weekend! It was great after my not-so-cool news of last wednesday. I'll leave eventually for Mexico, just not in the next month or anything. So here's the lowdown on me:

Friday Evening:
I went to Iglesia to help the 4-6 grade sunday school class with a food drive. It was pouring down rain, so I wasn't too much looking forward to it. Only 3 kids showed up, so me, the kids, and Nora (the sunday school teacher) set off in her van. We first went to houses/apartments of people we know from Iglesia. We started off at an apartment complex where the tenants are mostly hispanics. The kids were shy at first, and at the first house where they encountered an english speaker, they were like, "Uh, hi, we are um.... Yessica!!" So I came over and explained what we were doing - collecting canned and boxed foods to make Thanksgiving baskets for those who don't have enough food to eat. We went to more houses, including a few more people from the Iglesia. After the initial apartment complex, the kids got more bold, and would each go to separate houses to collect food, even the two who have a more difficult time with english. By the end of the evening, Nora was saying that she had to get back to the church for worship team practice, and the kids were like, we just want to finnish this block! And then they'd move on to the next block too! They were having such a good time even though it was so rainy. Nora says it's a good example of why Jesus said that we a supposed to become like children to serve Him!

It was quite a cultural experience as well, and I saw things that the kids did that I don't think non-latino kids would do, and how the english speaking people act that is rude in Mexican culture. At all the English speaking homes, people closed the door and left the kids outside when they went to look for canned foods in their pantrys. The kids were pretty surprised at that! At the hispanic homes, the occupants left the front door open while they went to get food, and made sure the kids weren't in the rain. The kids liked to run across peoples' lawns and flowerbeds, and knocked on windows if no one came to the door but they could hear that people were home! So I certainly learned a lot that night too - about cultural differences, and about being a servant and making serving fun!

Saturday Evening:
We had the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda coming to our church for the Sunday morning service, and I got the privilige of hosting some of them in my home! My parents were gone this weekend, so we had a spare bed. Alyse (24), Gloria (8), Charity (8), and Dorothy (7) stayed at my home. We didn't get home until about 10pm, but we stayed up talking for about an hour. English is the second language for each of them - Luganda is their first. They are extremely polite, and the young girls call me "Auntie Jessica!" We prayed before we went to bed, and Gloria and Dorothy prayed in english, Alyse and Charity in Luganda, and me in spanish. It was cool to be able to share our languages with each other! They found it strange but cool that I can speak a language that they've never heard before! I fixed them Baleadas for breakfast - that is a flour tortilla with cheese, beans, and eggs in it - a traditional Honduran breakfast. There was cinnamon chip toast, apple sauce, and fruit salad also, just to make sure that they had enough to eat if beans for breakfast was too weird!

Charity, Alyse, Gloria, and Dorothy at my house

It was GREAT to see their concert at church! There were 18 kids and 4 adults in the concert, and it was just really cool, if Watoto comes to this area again, definitely go see them!!


Charity, Gloria, Me, and a Watoto boy at church after the concert

Sunday Afternoon:
After Watoto and then service at Iglesia, I headed out North to stop by Oscar & Lety's home in MacMinville. They'd asked me over for lunch before, but it's just so far away, I never went... We ended up in Lafayette at Lalo and Tania's home for dinner. I LOVE hanging out with people from Iglesia, they are just so hospitable and don't show frustration with me when I don't understand everything! I ended up going to 5 homes of people from Iglesia this weekend, counting those on Friday, the people who were home brought us in their homes while they gathered their canned goods.

Anyhow, all activities of this weekend were either Mexican or African, I LOVED every minute of it! How was I born white? haha! My parents wonder that too! What other country can you live in and be involved in 3 different cultures over the couse of 3 days!?