It´s a Small Catholic World Afterall

Well Hello Friends,
Yes it is a small Catholic world afterall. I went to my first Dominican church service on Sunday. It was such a fascinating experience I can hardly describe it.

First, there was no AC. Of course. So, although people dress up, they also wear smart clothes for the heat. Also, everyone carries a hankerchief or towel or something. I sat front and center with my dona who is very religious (she was, in fact, watching a Catholic service on TV this morning and praying with her arms up as she went about her morning routine.)

The part of the mass where you say peace to one another was incredible. Never have I been hugged, and I mean hugged, by so many strangers. And none of them cared that I was sweaty. It was lovely.

The priest was interesting. He was definitely the whitest man in the room, me and another volunteer being the whitest females, and yes, she is whiter than me. (It´s the small triumphs really...) Anyways... he sort of had a serious look to him, like he was a preacher in every sense of the word. However, he ended up having the sort of sense of humor that I have, very tongue and cheek. In Spanish, with every verb you use you have to decide if the person with whom you are communicating is more formal than you, for lack of a better way of putting it. So, he called them sus (ie, formal) and would not continue the mass until they repeated the saying with tu (informal). And, he used that very serious face to make his point, which I just loved.

I was inspired there to begin a question of the entry portion of this blog. The inspiration came when I was observing some children. In addition to trying to translate what the priest was saying (and yah, I did hellagood at that) I was doing a whole lot of people watching. The kids, as always, are adorable and there was one little fat 2 or 3 year old in particular who was super cute. But, I also saw some kids between 6 and 10 who kept cracking each other up and laughing hysterically, which they knew they shouldn´t be doing so they were trying to cover their mouths while they laughed. The priest kept looking over at them and trying to shame them into behaving, but they weren´t. So I ask you, which is cuter, 4 little kids cracking themselves up, or 1 little girl climbing all over her grandpa and insisting he pick her up every time he stood during the mass (which you Catholics know is very frequent) ?

My vote is probably for the little girl because her fat little belly was just too cute.

The service was easily 1 hours and 45 minutes. Just when I thought we were going to be leaving soon, the priest asked if anyone from the crowd (of about 60 or 70) wanted to talk about anything and someone got up to talk about abortion. There is a movement to legalize it here, but a lot of communities are resisting. Any of you who know me well know how I personally feel about the issue, but the conversation they had was fascinating. They asked such questions as, aren´t you grateful for your life? Aren´t you glad to have your parents for them to have chosen what they did? Wouldn´t you hate to live in a country where us, the poor, are told to abort their fetuses? Don´t we all deserve life? Absolutely fascinating discussions.

I am doing very well. Everyone who knows my mom should wish her a very happy b day last Sunday. I love her, and miss her...
But, even so, I am doing incredibly well. Everyone continues to be super nice and super supportive and my host family and I have even starting joking around.

I´m going well with ¨showering¨ without running water. Every time I do it, I think of all of you, and how sad I am that you will likely never experience this type of wonderfulness, and I just smile to myself. En serio. I smile in the shower-especially when the lights go out, with soap all over my face. Oh, it´s a great time.

Oh and the name of this entry comes from the ride at Disney. In the last big room of rotating dolls, my family and I used to all joke was the room of First Communions from around the world because all the little children are all dressed up in white.