Bienvenidos a Uruguay

Week 31-- (continued)

Where to begin? FIRST, I have now been in Uruguay for 7 months. Only 5 more months to go. I have very mixed feelings about that, and I actually get a little emotional thinking about all of it. SECONDLY, I want to tell you all about my mission trip.

My mission trip:

On Saturday morning... verrrrry early... a group of about 100 young people traveled to Salto to start a week long mission. I was one of these 100 (as you may have guessed).

From there we divided into smaller groups of about 15 to make our way into different neighborhoods/regions of Salto. I was assigned to La Humedad-- a neighborhood outside of the city. Humedad translates to humidity... my first thought: grrrrrreat. The town is located near the River Uruguay which separates Uruguay from Argentina, and when it rains the river tends to flood and make its way into the houses along the river. This area has been deemed "unlivable," but people live there nonetheless because they can't afford to live anywhere else.

Our days went like this, more or less:

7 am-- wake up
7:30-- breakfast
Then until about 1 pm-- missions from house to house
1:30--lunch
2-4-- SIESTA!
4-6-- planning the activities
6-8-- activities
8-- Mass
9:30-10ish-- dinner
11ish-- night prayers and reflection
12ish-- bed.

I didn't know that we would be missioning two by two from house to house before the trip. This was my own fault as I simply had a "go with the flow" mentality and really didn't look up the information beforehand. Woops... I was a little nervous at first: "How the heck am I going to communicate with these people effectively?!" I didn't want to say anything wrong. I quickly learned though that the community really needed people to listen to them. I could do that!

In fact, this week I practiced listening a lot. Listening to the community, listening to my team, and listening to the Lord. When we went house to house, I would share a few things here and there, but the majority of the time I was simply a smiling presence for them. With the group I talked more, but during meals (where there were often a lot of jokes that I dooo not understand for the life of me) I would smile and listen. And during prayer time, Mass, and reflection, I would strive to listen to God's voice. I want to be a better listener in English too... good thing practice makes perfect! There were times when I would get frustrated: when I wanted to say something but couldn't find the words to express it, when I wanted to laugh along with the jokes or just BE funny!, when I was asked to pray out loud and realized...how do you pray out loud in Spanish?!... But overall I felt A-okay and comfortable.
I am so thankful for the community--for their welcoming spirit, for my group--their patience and their help, and for the Lord--for, well, His welcoming spirit, His patience and His help.

Within our group, we divided into three smaller groups--kids, teens, and adults--in order to provide activities for them in the afternoon. I obviously chose to work with kids, but after the first day I caught myself thinking, "WHYYYY?! Why did I choose kids?" <-- the first day was pretty chaotic and overwhelming, to say the least. But as a group, we came together and worked hard to figure out what the kids liked and to create activities that they would love. With a little practice and a lot of patience, the activities kept getting better. Success! After experiencing their smiles and joy I now know, "That's why I chose kids."

This was one of my favorite things: There were a few boys who, at the beginning of the week, had this "wall" or "front," I don't know what to call it-- like, "I'm too cool...I'm too manly to play silly games or to participate in anything." But during the games, I would look at them, and they would just watch with this look that is hard to put into words. The same during Mass--they would watch with this same look. Little by little throughout the week, they would join in and participate. By the end, on of the "toughest" boys was telling a girl in my group about his dreams to become an engineer and talking with her for about 15 minutes, the whole time hugging her. I loved seeing their wall being broken down. I loved seeing them be kids again. I loved sharing in the joyfulness of the Lord with them.

One of my other favorite things: We went to a house one day for children with mental disabilities. The children ranged from those with downs syndrome all the way to children who simply rock in their beds all day. We made our way into the room where those who are most severely disabled live. I made my way into one corner to brush the hair of a little girl and glanced over at my friend Pedro who was standing above another bed with his guitar. The boy in the bed below him was severely disabled, and it seemed like he wouldn't even notice that Pedro was there. But then Pedro started to play. I wish you could have seen the smile on this little boy's face. It was the most moving thing. A little later, I was rubbing the back of a girl who rocked, and rocked, and rocked, in her wheel chair, and I thanked God that these children were given the opportunity to live. Although they are living in very difficult situations, I thanked God that Pedro's little boy was given the chance to listen to Pedro's music, given the chance to listen and to smile. Each one of them, whether "fully capable" (as the world calls it) or not, is without a doubt a life. I thank their mothers for saying, "yes."

Just as it's hard to describe the look of the "tough guys" as they watched our activities, I am really finding it difficult to describe this week in words. I feel like I grew closer to the Lord in very real ways, I feel like I made wonderful friends within my group which I hope to continue to foster, I feel like I grew in confidence, I feel like the community enjoyed the mission... It was a great week, and I wish you all were there to experience it with me. Lots of insights. Lots of fruits. Lots of love.

And since a picture's worth a thousand words... Here's 9,000 words for ya: