Wed. Aug 10 (Service Project: JUL from La Primera Via Anglicana, El Pital, Lourdes cont.)-
Today was a great day of getting to know the JUL group. We started off by making friendship bracelets. I totally used to make these when I was younger but somehow I have lost my sweet skills. One of the young El Salvadorian boys made me a very neat and perfect friendship bracelet and the bracelet I was able to give him (made by hand of course by me) was more of a mix of knots, backwards friendship bracelet knots, mixing up the order of colors, and braids but he was still very appreciative. It was a great way to start a day of friendship building and as you will see from my pictures there was a lot of mixing of cultures and it was crazy how quickly the El Salvadorian youth and women picked up the whole friendship bracelet thing. After friendship bracelets we had a snack break and ate papusas (I don’t think I will ever get tired of this food- it’s just so delicious). Then we transferred onto El Salvadorian crafts and learned about the piñatas, hammocks, cards, and jewelry that many of the community members make and sell (usually meaning that most of the community really has 3-4 jobs to be able to sustain a very modest lifestyle).
Next we all piled into our bus and headed to the Ruins of San Andres. I wish I had more to say about the ruins (which were very pretty and the museum was very informative about Mayan culture) but what really made this place special was the crazy teambuilding games that we played. As the Bostonians with much experience at an Episcopal camp, we shared one of our tame games called “Eye contact tag” in which you stand in a circle, start looking down and then all look up on the count of three and stare at someone; if you make eye contact with someone when you look up then you’re out. We played this twice and then moved on to an El Salvadorian game called “Arranca”- Pull out the onion. Now this was an intense game- basically one person was assigned to be the “onion peeler” (cebollero)- whom was our lovely 16year old teenager who is 6’2” (he’s a pretty strong guy). Then everybody else lined up clasping their hands around the stomach of the person in front of them with the very first person holding onto a tree. So the goal of the game was for the “cebollero” to peel off the people in the chain one by one (or a group if possible) by pulling on the last person in the line. Now, us North American mentors were a bit skeptical, seeing as we just had lunch and it seemed like there was going to be a lot of pulling and probably a lot of falling but no one wants to turn down the opportunity to participate in an activity of a different culture so we went along with it and it was hilarious. I have to say there is just no better way to get to know someone fast then by holding onto them for dear life so you won’t get pulled off of the line of people. Eventually the “cebollero” was able to peel everybody off, and by the end of it everybody had their fair share of dirt covering their legs and body after falling to the ground like a piece of onion being peeled off.
Next we frolicked around the ruins a bit, took some pictures and did some Yoga with our group of 25. If any of you watch Yoga movies, you should keep your eyes out for “Yoga in the Ruins of San Andres”; I’m pretty sure we were living the Yoga dream.
One of the YLAers is a gymnast and pulled out a round off back handspring on the grass, which just tugged on my past gymnast soul and I broke down and joined her for a dual round off back handspring and I’m happy to report that I did not fall on my head.
And then the day with YUL was over, we rode back to El Pital and had to say good bye. So you may be asking, where was the “Service Project” of this time with JUL, which is a very good question and a question that all of our YLAers are struggling with right now. At least twice a day someone will ask, when are we going to do the manual labor- the hard work (what happened to building houses and bridges). Yet, they are doing hard work and are just starting to realize this. Building relationships, standing by people in solidarity in God’s kingdom is not easy when the people you are working with are struggling day today just to buy the necessities to keep their children and themselves fed, clothed and with a roof over their heads; and not to mention all of the violence that has surrounded their lives with the civil war and know an overwhelming presence of gang violence. What JUL wanted from us, was that we would listen to their story and that we would witness the good and courageous work that they are doing and join them within the Anglican communion. The presence of the Episcopal church in El Pital is very small and to see that there are communities that have similar beliefs, hopes, and visions all over the world (in our case specifically Boston) is inspiring to the small Episcopal community of El Pital (at least that’s what they tell us).
So I realize that this is quite a jumble of dates, times, stories, and theological reflection but I hope you’ve been able to follow most of it. My hope had been to write something daily but seems like that’s just not going to be my style so I hope my three day in one works. Hopefully I’ll be able to get one or two more blogs in during the remaining two days that we have but I have to say time if flying fast.
Addition from tonight’s activities: We had a traditional music performance tonight and I plan to post the lyrics from one of the songs “Poema de Amor/Love Poem (Los Guanacos)”, which I feel gives a good snap shot of El Salvador life. As soon as I write down the lyrics I will post it (probably tomorrow) – it’s like a to be continued……
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