Gratidude

Gratitude. A simple word that holds so much significance. A word that therapists suggest for their clients to write down X amount of things they are grateful for when feeling depressed. A word that can help remind of us all that we are blessed with. A word that isn't nearly used enough in the world. A word that I have tried to focus on when I am having a difficult day and need to be remind of all that is good in life. A word that reminds me of all that God has provided. Gratitude. 

Maybe I am writing this more because today is a day where I need to be reminded of all that is going well in my life. Maybe I am writing this because some days are harder than others. Maybe I am writing this more for myself than anything. Maybe, just maybe. Tal vez, solo, tal vez.

I am not writing this on a day where everything is sunny and perfect (although that is exactly how I would have described the weather today). But today is a day where I need to remind myself of everything that God is providing. A day where I need to be thankful for everything that has led me up to this experience in my life. A day where I need to remember that it is more important to console rather than be consoled, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved (St. Francis of Assisi Prayer).

The children 

The children here are so beautiful and patient. Yesterday one of the kids came up to me to just chat. We have struck up a deal where she speaks English to me and I speak Spanish back. That way we are both practicing the language that we are trying to become fluent in. During the conversation she handed me a sheet of paper that she is going to be reading in English for a Día de Padrinos (Godparent's Day, NPH Godparent's= sponsors) video NPH is making. In her letter it had a section for thanking the volunteers, for all the hugs, love, and silly games and dances we do with them, for being the light to their days. After I read it she said "Katie, thank you for coming down and volunteering to be with us." I honestly almost cried after hearing that. I am grateful for her. 

They are also the most patient and best teachers. During 90% of the conversations I throw the word "como" or "qué significa es ____" (a respectful way for saying "what" or "what significance is ____") at least five times. The kids who patiently sound out the words that I have a difficult time pronouncing. The kids who have been attempting to teach me how to play soccer, although I have no idea if the day will ever come where I can implement a four step kick into the play. The kids who have shared their secrets with me, who have told me about why they are in NPH, who have told me about their different family problems, who have told me how much they miss home, and even when they just tell me who they had a crush on. Their smiles, hugs, conversations we have, and the love they show me despite me barely speaking their language makes so many of the stressful days worth it. 

I am grateful for them.

Safety

Contrary to popular belief, I don't walk out of my door and am afraid of what I might encounter when I walk down the street. Only being here for three months I have yet to fear for my safety. I hope that doesn't change, but Cuernavaca and a large part of Mexico (from what I have been told) isn't that unsafe, you just have to use your head just like you would in any other large city in the world. I have a safe place to sleep and a safe place to live. We have a 24 hour security guard who makes sure that nothing will happen to the kids or the employees/volunteers that live on the property. I am grateful this. 

Basic needs

Something that has been really difficult for me to see in Mexico is the poverty. I have a helping heart, so anytime I can't help someone it hurts. The kids who have been selling things on the street verses being in school, kicking around a soccer ball, or just hanging out with the friends. The families whose houses have tarps to make a roof and have cardboard covering the windows who are in the middle of their neighboring mansions. The people downtown who are homeless, severely disabled and aren't able to receive the proper medical care, and the people who are begging for money. Last week during a really heavy rainfall I started thinking about all the basic needs that I don't have to worry about, even when living in an undeveloped country. I have a roof over my head, clean drinkable water (even if there are days where we run out of water to shower with), I don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, I have enough clothes to not repeat outfits for a over a week. As the rain was pounding down I was thinking about the families who have the tarps for roofs, what were they doing on that cold, rainy night to stay warm? I am grateful for this.

God

Out of everything in my life, I am most grateful for the one who has provided it all. The one who I can turn to 24/7 with every experience, every frustration, every joyful moment, and every moment where I just need to cry and cry. I am grateful for the Father for providing me with the ability to learn a new language, despite the fact that I am not learning as quickly as I would like. To the one who will never abandon nor forsake me, even if I forget to start my day with prayer or whisper his name throughout the day. To the one who has provided me with a beautiful and supportive family, especially my parents, sisters, and grandma. To the one who has provided me with this opportunity to serve him and my brothers and sisters, even on the days where I question why I gave up so many of my comforts in the States. To the one who has provided me with my roommates to cry to, vent to, laugh with and travel with; my wonderful boss who has become like a brother, the staff that I have become friends with, the people in this home away from home who have started to become like family. To the one who has provided everything. I am grateful for him. 

So maybe I just needed to write this post to remind myself of a lot of the things I have to be grateful for. Maybe I needed to write this so that when I have more days like today I can refocus and be reminded of all that He has blessed me with. Maybe if future volunteers are reading this then they can be reassured that even though the whole volunteer experience won't be amazing literally every hour of every day, they can know that most of the time it is pretty fantastic, even in the mundane and repetitive days. Maybe, just, maybe I needed to write this so that I would know that it will all be okay and that God will provide, especially in the hard times. 

Gratitude. 

Semana Santa (Holy Week) en México

When I accepted my position at NPH a woman who had volunteered with NPH contacted me and asked if I wanted to get coffee since we both lived in Minnesota. She invited another woman who had recently finished her year of service at NPH México's Miacatlan home. She was able to describe her different experiences and one of them that got me the most excited was Holy Week (Semana Santa). The two NPH homes gather starting on Thursday and stay for the Triduum in Miacatlan. So without further ado, here are some snippets from a beautiful week. FYI, some of photos were taken by my roommate, who is the photographer for the homes. 

Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday): "As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise their God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen." Luke 19:28-20

Palm Sunday in the home was pretty casual. Myself and my fellow volunteer Emily handed out palms before mass started. I was talking with one of the pequeños, who was the alter server for the mass, and he told me how excited he was for Domingo de Ramos; hearing that made my heart so happy. I couldn't understand a good portion of the mass, but it was still beautiful. Because Sunday was after all a special day the cooks had prepared tacos for everyone. Since I have been here they haven't had tacos in the home so it was definitely a treat! The rest of the day was filled with relaxation, futbol, and other various activities. The kids started their vacation two days before so the whole weekend had been pretty chill. 

Playing the music at mass.

Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday): "Before the feast of the passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end." John 13:1

On Thursday, after a very hot bus ride, we arrived to an ever hotter Miacatlan. With temperatures topping around 97 degrees it quickly became evident we were not in Cuernavaca anymore. You would think as a Minnesotan I would be used to these temperatures but I came to realize how much I have been spoiled by the cool mountain temperatures in Cuernavaca. Despite the uncomfortably hot weather, I was grateful to be in Miacatlan celebrating the Triduum with about 650 children, the encargados (caregivers for the children) and a my fellow volunteers. The mass for the Last Supper was beautiful. We celebrated it outside right next to the chapel. It was a combined celebration of the Eucharist and first communion for about 100 or so children. It was a wonderful surprise when I found out the kids would be receiving it at mass, even one of the teenagers from Cuerna received first communion. Bonus, during the mass I understood most of the homily! Score for continuing to boost my Spanish confidence. Fr. Phil also did the washing of the feet during the Gospel reading. I had never seen it done like that before, but it made it a lot more intimate and even more real. After mass they had their traditional "Last Supper" meal to represent, you guessed it, the Last Supper. It contained rice, beans, tortillas and carnitas (fried pig, not my favorite thing I have tried here) because obviously that was what Jesus and the Apostles ate (JK). But as usual it was delicious!

  

Viernes Santo (Good Friday): "But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all." Isaiah 53:5-6 "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:34

Good Friday is one of my favorite days of the year, because it is the true testament of love and sacrifice. At noon we celebrated a prayers service that wasn't much different than what I would have witnessed if I were in the states (the beauty of the Catholic Church), aside from the fact that it was outside, there were 650 children, and about 90 degrees. It was hard to get into Easter mode when it there wasn't any snow, well at least when it wasn't around 40 degrees out. The prayer service was lovely; a lot of the kids were able to participate in the music, the readings, and holding up the cross to be kissed at the end of mass. 

After the service I decided to walk into town to go to one of the chapels. Around 2:00 I heard a lot of noise and decided to go see what it was and am I glad I did. The town had done a reenactment of Jesus' walk into Calvary. I had never seen anything like it before. They had Jesus and Simon and the two criminals walking with the crosses, the guards, the Virgin Mary, John and Mary Magdalene, and everyone else who was involved in the crucifixion. I was so glad I went into town so that I was able to witness it! The rest of the day the children had activities (futbol, swimming, volleyball, etc.) and later in the evening they watched the Passion of the Christ and ate a lot of treats! 

Sabodo de Gloria (Holy Satuday): "A clean heart, create for me, oh God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me." Psalm 51:12

Saturday was wonderful, can you imagine a water fight with about 500 people? Nope? Before Saturday I couldn't have imagined it either, but it helped make Saturday wonderful. Right after breakfast the fight began, and I mean right after breakfast. As I was walking back to the volunteer housing to drop off my coffee and get my water fight weapon I got nailed with about five water balloons by the kids from the Cuernavaca home. They were definitely the first ones I got back when I had my water

One of the pequeñas and I soaking wet.
Featured: in my left hand the milk carton weapon.

fight. As for my weapon, I found an empty LaLa Leche carton from breakfast and made a bigger hole to attack with- reduce, reuse, recycle am I right? The next two hours were spent laughing, running away from a buckets full of water, and refilling my little carton as many times as possible. As you can imagine, by the end every child, volunteer, and employee was soaked. Seeing the little kinder kids with their little buckets was probably the cutest, they couldn't throw the water very high but it was a valiant effort on their part. The water fight easily made my top five favorite Mexico moments. After the water fight the kids went swimming. I didn't partake in the activity because as a guerra (white person) I was already starting to burn, so I retreated back to the volunteer's housing to relax. After lunch the Cuernavaca kids returned back to the home. I wanted to see the sunrise mass in the morning so I decided to stay in Miaca for one extra night. 

Pascua (Easter): "But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said." Matthew 28:5-6

The empty tomb in the NPH Miaca Home

At 6:00 on Easter morning we were all sitting in outside in the darkness as Father carried the Easter candle down the aisle saying "Cristo es luz del mundo."- "Christ is the light of the world." As the homily was starting the sun was rising and the kids were beaming. My heart was melting celebrating Christ's resurrection with the kids and during the service as one of the younger boys was cold and asked me to put my arm around him to help keep him warm. After mass they served hot chocolate and donuts for the kids, and each child was given a chocolate egg that was donated by NPH sponsors. Staying in Miaca an extra night and waking up at dawn was well worth it. After the donuts and hot cocoa I headed back to Cuerna to be with my kids for the day. Mass was in our chapel in Cuerna and we all got hot chocolate, donuts and chocolate eggs afterwards. After that we had an Easter egg hunt. There were different prizes, but the one the kids were most excited about were two eggs with 500 pesos, two eggs with 300 pesos and two eggs with 100 pesos. Some kids got into it while others just sat around hanging out but it was a great time. After that the rest of the day was pretty casual. Later on in the evening I got to Skype my family, which helped make being away from them a little easier. Overall it was a perfect Easter day, complete with perfect mountain temps.

Semana Santa was definitely one of a kind and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Coming up next the kids have one more week of break from school, then we are going to keep on keeping on until summer break. As always, please keep us all in your prayers! 

God bless and Happy Easter season!
Katie

PS if you made it to the end of this long blog I applaud you. 

Two of my fellow volunteers.

Grandma didn't really understand how FaceTime works.