Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Good Day
I write this with two-fold purpose, one, as an attempt to praise, and two, to share my joy with you.
Today, Saturday the twelfth of April, has been one of the better days spent here in Honduras. It was a full day of smiles and happiness, which, through prayer and spirituality night, brought me closer to God.
Going even further into last night where Tyler and I joined, Laura (Peace Corps Volunteer), and a dozen Honduran men in their 20s for 90 minutes of indoor soccer. It was not just rewarding because of the exercise, and because our team won the most (although that helps), but rather because of the camaraderie and welcome-ness I felt from the guys.
Today was even better and only after reflection had I realized this feeling at actually started last night. After going to bed exhausted and in a little bit of pain, I awoke after only six hours of sleep as the day was packed and time was looking to be at a premium. As anticipated the printer was not functioning so I headed off to the internet to print, and make copies of the invitations I would be delivering with Luis for tomorrow’s Men’s Group meeting. Running a bit behind, I raced back to find out Luis was still MIA. I didn’t mind as I had plenty of brainstorming to do for the upcoming Earth Day events. Eventually Luis arrived about an hour later, we discussed the distribution of the invitations and I reluctantly headed out with him to deliver about a dozen slips of paper.
I cannot place my finger on why it was so enjoyable. Certainly at first I was not thrilled to be doing the task, which could easily be accomplished by one person. Yet, as we went from house to house the enjoyment I received from the interaction of the community caused the corners of my mouth to point to the heavens and my dimples to display my feelings of happiness. What started as leaving the invitation to Alonzo’s wife, eventually became my, I Love Talanga Day. Luis and I dropped off the second note and kicked up dust as we headed to the third house, and a friendly encounter with the daughter who promised to pass on the note, we headed to house #4. Passing Gabriella (a girl in catechism class and #4’s daughter) at the corner store, we gave the invitation to his wife, and conversed for a little bit. #5’s wife was in passing and we left to speak with her. Another pleasant encounter brought us back towards the market where we picked up some watermelon, and after my invitations started to blow away, the nice man gave me a bag to place them.
The sixth, and seventh interactions were cordial, and the eighth and ninth brought strong interests to adding new members for whom we had not printed out invitations. Always a good feeling we continued onward and stopped at two more houses, the latter of a familiar face. After praising the work of the volunteers, and discussing the enjoyment his children gets out of the ‘plinc plinc’ of the guitar we left another note with a wife.
By this time I was radiant. People had been welcoming, accommodating and very happy to see us. There is a possibility that this was all brought upon by Luis, and if so, I will write him a thank you note. But the enjoyment I received from their reception was overwhelmingly positive. All of the conversations were joyous and fulfilling, meanwhile, our task at hand seemed to be quite successful as well.
After delivering the final note in the area, I inquired where one of the members of choir lived. Luis took it a step further and we went to the house to visit. Although not there, her family was extremely warm. I was laughing up a storm with the children for about five minutes when interrupted by beans, and later soup from the mom/aunt/grandma combination. What made it even more special was the little interaction I have had with this particular family. Because of the friendliness, and good conversation (food too) I will definitely be returning in the near future.
I did not mind one bit that I was going to be 20 minutes late to a meeting I had. So after a heartfelt thanks Luis and I separated ways, I busted tail kicking up my cloud of dust behind me, making two quick, but jovial pit-stops along the way to deliver the final invitations. And, by the grace of God, it turns out the one with whom I was meeting, would be late as well.
A good meeting, combined with good work during the afternoon, but me at arriving to a birthday party just as the majority of the people were leaving. However, the twenty-five minutes I was there, was more intimate than it would have been should I have spent the previous two hours in the house. For these types of blessings I am grateful.
The final straw to the greatness of the day was Spirituality Night, where through a modified version of Saint Ignatius’ spiritual exercises I had the opportunity to reflect and be aware of the goodness of the day and goodness of God.
A bit deeper look, would find this day bringing me joy because it combated my darkest demon: loneliness. And Dorothy Day’s prescription for this demon was community.
So I am thankful to the people of Talanga, who in their immediate presence, and daily interaction brought me happiness. A thanks also goes out to you, as without your presence of community I would have no desire to share my current state of bliss with you all. And finally, the ultimate thanks and praise, goes to the master planner who I constantly seek, and on days like these makes ‘alabando’ (praising) easy.
Today, Saturday the twelfth of April, has been one of the better days spent here in Honduras. It was a full day of smiles and happiness, which, through prayer and spirituality night, brought me closer to God.
Going even further into last night where Tyler and I joined, Laura (Peace Corps Volunteer), and a dozen Honduran men in their 20s for 90 minutes of indoor soccer. It was not just rewarding because of the exercise, and because our team won the most (although that helps), but rather because of the camaraderie and welcome-ness I felt from the guys.
Today was even better and only after reflection had I realized this feeling at actually started last night. After going to bed exhausted and in a little bit of pain, I awoke after only six hours of sleep as the day was packed and time was looking to be at a premium. As anticipated the printer was not functioning so I headed off to the internet to print, and make copies of the invitations I would be delivering with Luis for tomorrow’s Men’s Group meeting. Running a bit behind, I raced back to find out Luis was still MIA. I didn’t mind as I had plenty of brainstorming to do for the upcoming Earth Day events. Eventually Luis arrived about an hour later, we discussed the distribution of the invitations and I reluctantly headed out with him to deliver about a dozen slips of paper.
I cannot place my finger on why it was so enjoyable. Certainly at first I was not thrilled to be doing the task, which could easily be accomplished by one person. Yet, as we went from house to house the enjoyment I received from the interaction of the community caused the corners of my mouth to point to the heavens and my dimples to display my feelings of happiness. What started as leaving the invitation to Alonzo’s wife, eventually became my, I Love Talanga Day. Luis and I dropped off the second note and kicked up dust as we headed to the third house, and a friendly encounter with the daughter who promised to pass on the note, we headed to house #4. Passing Gabriella (a girl in catechism class and #4’s daughter) at the corner store, we gave the invitation to his wife, and conversed for a little bit. #5’s wife was in passing and we left to speak with her. Another pleasant encounter brought us back towards the market where we picked up some watermelon, and after my invitations started to blow away, the nice man gave me a bag to place them.
The sixth, and seventh interactions were cordial, and the eighth and ninth brought strong interests to adding new members for whom we had not printed out invitations. Always a good feeling we continued onward and stopped at two more houses, the latter of a familiar face. After praising the work of the volunteers, and discussing the enjoyment his children gets out of the ‘plinc plinc’ of the guitar we left another note with a wife.
By this time I was radiant. People had been welcoming, accommodating and very happy to see us. There is a possibility that this was all brought upon by Luis, and if so, I will write him a thank you note. But the enjoyment I received from their reception was overwhelmingly positive. All of the conversations were joyous and fulfilling, meanwhile, our task at hand seemed to be quite successful as well.
After delivering the final note in the area, I inquired where one of the members of choir lived. Luis took it a step further and we went to the house to visit. Although not there, her family was extremely warm. I was laughing up a storm with the children for about five minutes when interrupted by beans, and later soup from the mom/aunt/grandma combination. What made it even more special was the little interaction I have had with this particular family. Because of the friendliness, and good conversation (food too) I will definitely be returning in the near future.
I did not mind one bit that I was going to be 20 minutes late to a meeting I had. So after a heartfelt thanks Luis and I separated ways, I busted tail kicking up my cloud of dust behind me, making two quick, but jovial pit-stops along the way to deliver the final invitations. And, by the grace of God, it turns out the one with whom I was meeting, would be late as well.
A good meeting, combined with good work during the afternoon, but me at arriving to a birthday party just as the majority of the people were leaving. However, the twenty-five minutes I was there, was more intimate than it would have been should I have spent the previous two hours in the house. For these types of blessings I am grateful.
The final straw to the greatness of the day was Spirituality Night, where through a modified version of Saint Ignatius’ spiritual exercises I had the opportunity to reflect and be aware of the goodness of the day and goodness of God.
A bit deeper look, would find this day bringing me joy because it combated my darkest demon: loneliness. And Dorothy Day’s prescription for this demon was community.
So I am thankful to the people of Talanga, who in their immediate presence, and daily interaction brought me happiness. A thanks also goes out to you, as without your presence of community I would have no desire to share my current state of bliss with you all. And finally, the ultimate thanks and praise, goes to the master planner who I constantly seek, and on days like these makes ‘alabando’ (praising) easy.
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