Hola Morena!

December 15, 2010

I did it. I went to the fiesta with the ladies from church this past Saturday! It was awesome. I spent an entire Saturday with about 22 woman of which not one of them spoke English. Well, you know what that meant, I spent my day butchering Spanish. I was anxious that whole morning while I prepared to go. I showered, pressed, dressed and headed out the door reciting memorized words over and over again in my head. As I turned the corner of our gate I waved to our Tico neighbor who called out “Hola Morena!” (Does that mean that I have been accepted as Latina? Probably not, especially since he has never heard me butcher his native tongue).

I walked down to the bus stop and was happy to see a few familiar faces there to greet me. We waited another half hour or so for the rest of the ladies and a few babies to show up and we boarded the next bus. I still had no idea of where we were going but I knew this bus and its route so at the moment I was relaxed. We rode all the way to San Jose and got off together. The woman took turns holding the 3 babies that were with us, giving the moms a break. There were merchants everywhere selling every and anything. Watches, gloves, toys, dvd's, food and kitchen sinks...literally.

We made our way through the busy streets and met up with a few other ladies and hopped on another bus. This time the ride was shorter and when we got off I was certain I had no idea of where I was. I followed the woman past stores, bakery’s and a playground that I swear looked exactly like the one I frequented as a child.

When we arrived at our destination I was starving but knew that the chit chatting was about to begin, so I sighed and thought... bring it.

After reading a few passages from the bible and praying together the Pastor's wife arrived, she announced that we would be pairing up in twos to get to know as much as we can about each other then standing in front of the other ladies to report our findings. 

Amazingly I carried on a conversation. I learned that my sister in Christ Haylee lives very close to me with a gorgeous view of a waterfall behind her home. We talked about our family's and where I lived in the US. As my confidence grew, I stood and spoke to the other woman about her.

We were served a delicious meal of grilled chicken, sausages, steak, rice and black beans. My foolish eyes said that I could finish the whole plate while my conservative belly begged to differ.

As I stuffed my face I could hear one of the babies getting fussy in the corner. Her mom was eating and she was being held by another one of the mothers in the group. Her mom looked over at her shrugged and said that she might be hungry and without blinking an eye the other woman whipped out her breast and fed the baby. Now, I am a huge advocate of breast feeding but I have never seen a woman breastfeed another woman's baby! Sure, moms and I have joked about it..but there it was in broad day light. Ha! I love these people.

After eating and playing a few more games which were all geared towards teaching us to work together, we enjoyed cake and coffee. 

The day was winding down and I truly felt like I was connecting with these woman. I didn't feel like much of an outsider, just someone who needed ever word articulated...and...said...very...slowly.

I shared a cab home with 3 other ladies and was happy to have had the experience I had. I was able to see these woman in a more relaxed environment and I dropped the constant worry of saying something wrong. I just spoke and when I was unsure I asked and they helped.

Back on the homefront, Christmas is creeping up on us and we are so unprepared. We finally have a tree, a live one I might add, but I have no idea what we'll do for presents. We have prepared the children to receive less this year so that we may have more to give to others to which they were less than thrilled about. I'm pretty certain that the Lord will direct us, even if its on the 24^th...

Homeschooling has taken on a mind of it's own as I went from a classical educator to an eclectic homeschooler. 

My kids have been doing what some may call un-schooling. I wouldn't call it that as I still give weekly assignments, but if they have an interests that I feel is relevant and will keep them engaged in learning they are encouraged to pursue it. That doesn't override all essential learning such as math, literature and science but I have definitely taken a more relaxed teaching style this year. Next blog post will include a “Day in the Life of ” just for homeschoolers. That was always very helpful to me as a new homeschooler and I hope that it will help, encourage or drive fear into someone out there... (smile)

more to come...