Halloween is coming and I was really aggravated that I didn't have a copy of "Hocus Pocus" on my hard drive to watch, but because I have great friends... I woke up one morning to a an email from the great Amanda Cuppi saying that a copy was now available for me in ITUNES. Thank-you for trying to help cure my holiday homesickness :)
So, I had my night English class that ended up turning into just another English class for the kids in my town. At first I was a little upset that people who told me they were going to come didn't, but it ended up being a really great first class and everyone was participating. I think the night time more laid back setting of the classroom made teaching a little easier.
I have a lot on the docket at the end of this week. I'm planning and doing charlas with Pierina in the primaria and I have meetings set up with the health post ladies to get my community diagnostic in full force.
Fun Story and Some History from the Weekend
I was walking back to my house after being gone for the day to find my host family outside (all 100 of them) decorating the outside of my house in white and purple streamers, balloons, fireworks and flags. Other houses on the street were also doing this, but obviously Juana's house was the best. I really had no clue what was going on until I asked my host brother. He told me there was going to be a procession tonight (shocker) for St. Milagros. Every week there would be a procession down a different street. Our street was the first to have the procession.
Now, for those of you who don't know... St. Milagros is Lima's patron saint. El Senor de los Milagros or ' The Lord of Miracle' is symbolized by an image of Jesus Christ and was painted by an Angolan slave on the walls of a poor church during the colonial times. The painting portrays a dark skinned Jesus Christ on the crucifix. Above the cross is God and the Holy Spirit; below is the Virgin Mary with her heart punctured with a spear of sadness. The image was HIGHLY controversial at the time
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| The painting |
Over a hundred years there were 3 natural disasters in Lima. The earthquake of 1746 was the last one where the church wall and the painting remained and stood miraculously amidst the rubble. News that the wall had survived made others quickly gather to partake in a procession.
Entonces, October is the "purple month" and marks the celebration of El Senor de los Milagros.
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| Example of a procession in Lima. Tamarindo's wasn't quite as large. |
I wasn't able to upload the pictures of the procession and my house in Tamarindo, but I promise the next blog post will be ALL pictures. I was able to sit on my front porch with my whole family in Tamarindo and watch the procession pass my house (that contained a full band). My host brother set the fireworks off and the balloons that were hanging were timed to pop and pour confetti on everyone. I was pretty amazed and found myself once again thinking.... only in Perú.
I have some people to thank for CARE PACKAGES I just recieved: big thanks to Casey, Amanda, Mark and Claire. Always love walking to SERPOST and finding out I have some gifts from home.
I thought this quote was appropriate because 90 percent of my time in Perú is spent waiting.
"It is not easy … to wait. Waiting is what the hunter does, and the poet and the slugger. He waits for the moment of inevitability and fate and then he swings, or shoots, or takes up the pen to put down a line. They don’t teach us to wait in America; they teach us to grab. But waiting is what we do when we are looking for something beautiful, when we are looking for an end to our sorrow. Nothing is infinite in life, not even sorrow. You just have to wait." -Cary Tennis
Until Next Time,
Brielle
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