December has been a great month, full of gatherings for celebration and for mourning. The month started out with several deaths both here in Cochabamba and at home in Virginia, so there was a lot of sadness but also a whole lot of comforting and accompanying. One thing I admire about the rituals around death here in Bolivia is the immediate care and tending-to that friends and family provide. In addition to the wake taking place normally the same day as the death and the burial the day after, there is a mass 9 days after the death (for people who are Catholic) to again come together and honor the person’s life and comfort their loved ones.
While I was not present with my family for the death of my grandpa, I was there in spirit and was amazed at how much people came together to comfort my extended family—thank you to those of you who were there! The unity and caring for one another that comes out of experiences of loss shows me the beauty of the human spirit, and that is something we cannot forget. Not ever.
There were also many birthdays in December and here in Bolivia, a girl’s 15th birthday is particularly special because it marks the transition into a new phase of life. Not everyone likes to have a big party (fiesta de quince años) but some girls choose to celebrate with lots of people and beautiful dresses etc. One of the girls who has been staying at the Social Center recovering from bad burns, asked me to be the “madrina de torta” for her 15th birthday party. What does that mean? I would provide the cake for her party. I’ve made a cake before with some of the kids from the center and since we’ve known each other for quite a while now and have a good relationship, I agreed, thinking it would be for maybe 15 or 20 people. I was mistaken…later I found out that up to 70 people were expected, and being stubborn in wanting to make the cake instead of buying it, I had quite an experience of being madrina!
Three of the kids helped me out a lot with the cake and in the end it all worked out, but what a labor of love it was. I was so happy though to see her all dressed up in her fancy dresses, surrounded by people who clearly admired her courage for continuing to live her life and overcome adversities daily. The reason she is here is that she got electrocuted one day herding sheep. The electric company had not properly protected the cables and she stuck her stick into the grass and struck the cable which knocked her out completely and made her lose her arm and parts of her toes, among other complications. She continues to play basketball whenever I take them to the court and is definitely enjoying being a teenager. She teaches me that when the unexpected takes something away from you, that doesn’t mean that life ends there, rather you adjust and continue on.
Since it is the end of the year we went out with the group of volunteers of the radio program sponsored by Franciscans International-Bolivia, “Onda Verde” as a thank-you for their service. It was nice to be able to celebrate the 41 programs we put on in this year 2011. Here is a picture of almost all of us from Onda Verde.
Three months ago we started a second radio program in conjunction with Maryknoll, in which we talk about social and environmental issues. The show is called “Pulso” and is in a different radio station, Pio XII. Here is a picture of us in the studio.
Being December, we also had many Christmas celebrations, one taking place at the final soup kitchen Saturday lunch of the year. There were over 200 visitors for lunch, and beforehand there was an enactment of the Nativity story by the guests and we also had a carol singing competition between the boys, girls, women and men. It was fun to watch how some people got really into it, and even I got to learn the songs and dance around in a circle with the girls.
Here is a picture of “Mary” and “Baby Jesus”.
One of the Christmas traditions in Bolivia is dancing before the baby Jesus in the Nativity set, which I had been hearing about since last year but never actually seen. This year I got the opportunity to watch both kids and adults gather from the neighborhood and while some were drinking hot chocolate and eating buñuelos, others were playfully dancing and bringing each other before the baby Jesus.
It was so different than anything I had seen before, because the kids were not surrounded by toys as I usually see on Christmas morning, rather playing together and dancing with the focus being Jesus. A Christmas tradition I find a lot of value in and am grateful to have been a part of.
5 Things I’m thankful for today: health; safety of my loved ones; dancing; the new babies in-formation that will join my extended family this year; the hospitality of friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment