My first few days in Chimbote have been filled with celebrations and fiestas, which I think will be a common theme throughout my time here in Peru. Peruvians and more specifically Chimboteans love to celebrate. Music is huge here and it seems like everyone is a really gifted musician. Singing, dancing, and playing music are favorite hobbies and past times of many. On Saturday St. Francis parish, the parish I will be working with, had a big going away party for Todd, the IWM who has been working there for the past two years. It went from about 4-9pm. The first couple hour or so was filled with dinamicas, which are a huge part of any meeting or get together here in Chimbote. Dinamicas are games or icebreakers to get people interacting and having fun. Then the theater group performed a couple sketches which were pretty good. I am hoping to join the theater group at the parish and look forward to getting back into live theater and improving my Spanish! Then a representative of each of the various groups Todd has been involved in (which are quite a few) spoke a few words of thanks to him. Towards the end Todd introduced me and I said a few words to the group so they knew who I was and that I would be continuing a lot of the work Todd had done and am excited to get to know them. It was a really nice evening and a great opportunity to start meeting many of the youth and a few adults of the parish. Names are going to take me a while to remember though. Lots of new people.
I mentioned in the last post that Santa Rosa de Lima’s feast day was this past weekend. This meant Saturday and Sunday it was pretty much constant music and fiestas. Directly across from our house is a Social Center which hosts various events that usually include music into the early morning hours. One of the recommended items to bring was earplugs which I employed for the first time Saturday night when there was a large live band playing right outside my window all night. The regular sounds of animals and cars don’t bother me too much and I can sleep just fine through the dogs, roosters, and horns. Marcelle had a good idea that we should record the sounds we can hear from our room just to give you all a taste of our lives and I think we might try to do that sometime.
Sunday I think will probably be one of my busiest days. Confirmation classes are Sunday before mass, usually around 6pm and then mass at 7:30pm. After mass JUMIFRA, the youth council, meets. I am planning on helping out with Confirmation, the youth council, maybe join a choir (which practices 2 days a week), the theater group, and probably teach an English class once a week in the evenings. In the next week or two I also want to look into doing prison ministry once a week and maybe hospice home ministry visits, so I’ll be keeping busy for sure. But I’m really excited to all of the great opportunities to serve different populations and experience different ministries! Right now the parish is very busy preparing for a giant celebration at the end of September because it is the 800th anniversary of the Franciscan order and 20 years of the Franciscans in Chimbote so we are planning lots of events for the whole diocese of Chimbote. I have meetings all week with different groups to work on various presentations and activities for the celebration.
To end I wanted to share about a wonderful event I was able to attend in the parish that concluded a whole week of celebrating the elderly (los ansianos) of the parish. It was basically a pageant in order to name the Dama de Oro and Caballero de Asis for the coming year. Last years winners were there and there were three female and three male candidates for the Dama and Caballero this year. It was so adorable (and I mean that in the least demeaning way possible). Each of the candidates had to walk around the room waving and greeting everyone. They had to answer a few questions, and then there was a talent portion. Most of them danced for their talent and two sang. I was pretty impressed with how well these men and women still moved and danced to the salsa and cumbia. There was a panel of three judges, Todd was one of the judges, and in the end they named the new Dama de Oro and Caballero de Asis for 2009. It ended up being a married couple and they will be responsible for helping to plan events and get the elderly involved in the parish. It was a wonderful celebration and a great chance to meet some of the older members of the parish. The theater group and some youth choir members provided entertainment between the different portions of the celebration. And we ended with cake. A fun fact in Chimbote is that when you want a party to end you cut the cake. That signals people should eat the cake and leave, so you never cut the cake until you want a party to end.
My main state right now is that of a sponge. I am trying to soak up everything and anything. There is a lot to learn and a lot of people to meet so every day I go to bed very full from a day of absorbing. Directions are the hardest thing right now because there are no street signs, so trying to figure out how to get around is tricky, but in time it will all come together.
Health wise I’m doing ok. I have a bit of a cold right now which is more annoying than anything. The sinus pressure from my nose is giving me a headache, but we have lots of great tea and I’m able to get a good amount of rest so hopefully that helps. I think its all just part of adjusting.
I would like to end with a request/reminder to each of you: If you have hot, running water, if you have food in your fridge or pantry, if you have central heating and cooling, if you are in good health, if you have a college education, if you have a roof over your head and a closet of clothes, give thanks. You are blessed. If you have people who know you and love you, give thanks. That is the greatest blessing. I know I am blessed. Gracias a Dios.
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