Holy Week

So we just finished Holy Week here, and it sure was busy! A week ago Sunday was Palm Sunday, and we celebrated it here quite a bit like I'm used to at home. We had a mass Sunday morning and there were palm branches for everyone. The difference is that here I'm sure they just got them off some palm tree, rather than importing them or getting them from a greenhouse! Sunday I was also coordinating the arrival of the first group from the states, mostly Carleton students. The one Ole with them was someone I know (Antonia), so that was nice. And of course Dave O was there leading, so I knew him too. There was a bit of a mixup at the airport because they couldn't find the chofer. I think he was partly confused because four of the 12 or so were Asian and so aparently that made them look less like a group of 12 gringos. But he (the chofer) was supposed to have a sign that said NPH so that they could find him, and he didn't. So it was really his fault. But they finally met up and made it over on the last ferry. I went to get them at the ferry, so there would be no more confusion, although the NPH bus says in very large letters Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, so I'm sure it would've been ok. But I wanted to see them anyway! So we picked them up and came back to NPH. The kids had waited to eat dinner, so they hurried everyone off the bus and right to dinner. I think they were a little overwhelmed, especially since they'd been up since 2AM. So after dinner they went back to the visitors' center, got settled in and went to sleep.

Monday we had mass at 7AM, and then breakfast. After breakfast I gave the Carleton group a short tour, and then we got ready for activites. SOme of the group set up and the rest of us went to get the kids with a few puppets. The puppets worked like magic and the kids followed us right over. They started with some songs, which went ok, but the kids didn't really get into them all that much. But they LOVED the skits and puppet shows, so that was good. After the activites they just hung out with the kids while Dave O, Julianna and I planned the next weekend. They left that afternoon about 4 to take the last ferry because they had to be in Gigante that night. After they left I just went back to the house and relaxed and called home because I was tired from a long day!

Tuesday we had mass again at 7AM, followed by breakfast. After breakfast we colored eggs with the kids. We did it the German way, which involved poking holes in the eggs and blowing the stuff inside out. It takes less time than boiling (at least when you're talking about 200 eggs!) They're definately more fragil than hardboiled, but this process also has the advantage that you can then cook something with the stuff that you blew out of the eggs. The kids had a lot of fun painting them (we used watercolors). Then we hung them in trees (another German thing, I think). Unfortunately they only stayed in the trees for a few hours before the kids decided it would be more fun to take them down and throw them at eachother. But luckily I got some pictures. That afternoon we were going to play Capture the Flag, but there was an art contest going on, so we didn't. The kids were all supposed to draw a picture about protecting the environment. The best ones are going to a Nicaragua contest, and I think if they win there they'll go to a contest with all the American countries.

Wednesday again we started with mass and breakfast, and then we had our biggest event of the week- Olymipcs. We did all sorts of things like three-legged race, sack race, hold buckets of water with your arms straight out as long as possible, etc. Each volunteer was in charge of an event, and the tios and tias each had a group of kids that they traveled around with to each different event. There were supposed to be two different teams at each event at a time, but some groups aparently weren't following their schedule so sometimes it was a bit mixed up. I was doing the three-legged race, which was pretty funny. In the US everyone I've seen it done the pair will run, usually saying, "in, out, in, out" or something to keep coordinated. But almost all of these pairs just lifted up the foot that was tied together and hopped. I didn't really care how they did it, so I just let them do it their way! That event lasted all morning, so we were super tired when it was done! That afternoon we thought about maybe doing Capture the Flag, since we hadn't been able to do it the day before, but it rained (!!!! it's not supposed to do that 'til May!!!) So we mostly just relaxed at the house. I called my grandma (DK) to ask her about the wedding the weekend before (my cousin James got married). So that was nice to talk to her. That evening I felt a little sick, so I went to bed early. The others I think had a bonfire on the beach with the older girls.

Thursday we did NOT start with mass (it was in the evening). We were again going to try Capture the Flag, because in the morning we had planned to play games with the kids, but I splashed almost boiling water on my finger (we were out of bottled water and I don't trust Nicaraguan tap water). So I had to sit at the house all day with my finger in a bowl of water 'cause the burn was pretty bad (there was a blister) and it HURT if I took it out of the water. Luckily by the afternoon it was better enough that a wet cloth was enough, and then by 7PM mass it was better enough that I could put some Dutch burn cream on it and bandage it and go to mass.

Friday morning all the kids went over the monastery and did the Stations of the Cross in Spanish which was very long because Marlon (the national director) used almost every station as an opportunity to give a mini speech about loving eachother and not fighting etc. And I couldn't hear what was being said a lot of the time, so it was kinda boring. During that time the Carleton group came back. They were originally going to go back through Rivas to Managua to get the other group at 11AM, then wait 'til the second flight got in that evening, then drive to San Jorge and spend the night at the office and come back Saturday. But they thought it would be just as good to drop them off in Rivas/ San Jorge and let them spend the day here. So they came back. They got to have a mostly relaxing day. They got up at 4AM, so a lot of them took naps. Some of them came with me to the monastery in the afternoon to do the Stations of the Cross in English, which was a lot more interesting and much shorter. The meditations were writted from Jesus' perspective and they were very interesting, so that was really nice. Then we went down to the beach for a bit and got some grapefruit on the way back. Later that evening at 6PM we had mass for Good Friday. Well, except it wasn't actually mass because there was no communion. Good Friday is apparently the only day of the year when Catholics don't do communion. They did an adoration of the cross where everyone went up to the front and bowed, knelt, touched, or kissed the crucifix, but most of the Carleton group and myself just watched 'cause that's just a little strange for me. There was nothing in the theology of it that I disagreed with 'cause the priest explained that it was showing respect and honor to Jesus, but it was just a little weird for me, and I assume for the others too. But it was interesting to see how they celebrated Good Friday. Then after that we had dinner and then we used the group's projector to show a movie on St Francis of Asisi (Brother Sun, Sister Moon). It was very strange. It made St Francis seem like he actually was crazy, not just that he did things that some people thought were crazy. So that was a late night because I felt like I should stay up with the Carleton students who had taken charge of the projector.

Then Saturday morning the St Olaf/ Gustavus group joined us. So that was exciting because I knew a few people in that group, including Casey and Maggie, who were with me in Nicaragua last January. They got here in time for lunch, and then after lunch did more activites. The kids liked the songs much better, so that was great. And they loved the puppet shows again, even the ones they'd already seen. Later in the afternoon I had some time just to hang out with Casey, Maggie, and Antonia, so that was really nice. We had dinner before mass Saturday, so that was really nice 'cause otherwise it gets really late. So after mass we headed over to the church for the Easter Vigil mass, which celebrated the resurrection. We didn't have an Easter Sunday mass, so this was our Easter. It was a pretty nice service. It started outside by a bonfire where the priest lit a big candle that signified Christ risen. Then everyone else lit smaller candles from the big candle and we started the service in candlelight. It got a little less interesting after that because there were a lot of readings (even though we only did 4 instead of the normal 9). And the kids did the readings and they're so hard to understand when they read that I didn't always know what was going on. Then they did have communion that day at the end of the service. After dinner we went back and showed a presentation of artwork that the kids had worked on all week with Liselot (the volunteer art therapist). They were all on Holy Week themes (Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemene, Jesus Condemed by Pilot, etc). So that was really neat. A lot of the pictures were really good and Liselot was really happy with the project. Then the group showed Veggie Tales Jonah, and the kids enjoyed that.

Sunday morning the group left around 8 to catch the 9AM ferry. We were worried that it might be really crowded, but it was ok. Then when I got back I helped with the egg hunt. The Carleton/ Olaf/ Gustavus group had brought a ton of plastic Easter Eggs (mostly packed inside the two Djembes (African drums)) and the other volunteers had hidden them in the morning. So we divided the kids into groups and took them out hunting. That was fun! Then in the afternoon they took the kids to Charco Verde beach, but I was really tired and feeling a little weird from allergies (I think) so I stayed back and did some paperwork for aula de recurso and talked to my family. And Monday and Tuesday I'm on descanso! This past weekend was my descanso, but we weren't allowed to go during Holy Week. But the other group had Friday and Saturday before Holy Week started, so they gave us Tuesday off as well, so that's really nice. I've just been staying here and relaxing. Reading, watching movies, chatting with people online, writing emails, etc. It's nice!