I had a really good week at work this time around. Part of it is probably just the fact that I'm more used to the schedule, and I know where I'm supposed to be and what's expected of me. Since I'm not as shell-shocked and self-conscious as I was the past few weeks, I've been able to focus more on my surroundings and less on my broken Spanish. There's three things at Casa Maria that have stuck out to me this week and that I've really been able to appreciate:
1. The presence of Mary
It would seem obvious that a place called Casa Maria would have some sort of Marian presence, but it is the way they do it at Casa Maria that is so nice. I learned that the girls say the whole rosary every single day at 5pm before dinner, which is pretty impressive to me. All over the walls of the school there are messages about praying to Mary for help and encouraging the recitation of the rosary. In the dormitory, classrooms, dining room, etc there are tons of paintings of Mary with the baby Jesus, as well as several sculptures. (On a side note, today I realized that all the paintings of Mary look exactly like my mom, which is really neat.) The girls say multiple Hail Marys before each of their meals and before classes start. I haven't been immersed in so much Mary since my Theology of Mary class at UD. Overall, it seems to be a perfect kind of environment for these students. Who could be a better role model, helper, mother figure, and friend for a teenage girl than Mary? I hope that each of them are getting something out of it.
2. The nuns
The nuns at Casa Maria are stereotypically super strict when it comes to afterschool studying and doing chores, but it is obvious that they play a special and unique role in the girls' lives. One day after school this week, the head nun, Sor Carmen, sat down to give the thirty-five or so enternas (the girls that live at Casa Maria) a talk, and instead of sitting next to her or pulling up chairs, all these normally-loud teenage girls gathered close around her feet on the tile floor and listened intently like it was story time in first grade. It was crazy to watch.
A few weeks ago, Sor Carmen had to leave the country for eight days. It was only for just over a week, but as she was giving goodbye hugs, the girls were sobbing and clinging to her. It was heartbreaking because it showed me how much the girls felt that they needed her, and made me wonder if she was the closest thing to a real caring mother they've ever had. For her return home, the girls made welcome back posters and each wrote letters to her. The girls even put together a little thank you gift for the nun who substituted in for Sor Carmen that week. It was so sweet to see them take initiative like that.
Another thing I love is that the nuns are so affectionate with the girls, and not just physically affectionate, but verbally. I can't tell you how many times I've heard them call a girl "mi corazoncita (my little heart)", or the Spanish equivalents of dear, sweetheart, etc. I love it.
A tangent: I love that people are so affectionate in general in this country. At an elementary school I've seen teachers call their students "mis amorcitos (my little loves)" and caress their heads. I can work at Casa Maria's daycare and return a cheek kiss from a four year old, call him "my love", and not have to worry about being taken to court. I think children need all the love and affection they can get, and it's sad that in the U.S. there is so little physical and verbal affection outside of the home.
3. Their attitude towards me
I'm just this gringa that is coming to their school, replacing the last gringa they came to know and love, nagging them do their chores, making them talk during English classes (a chore in itself), making them slowly repeat everything they say to me, and stumbling over every third word when speaking to them. They have every reason to be impatient, hostile, and even apathetic toward me, but they are so incredibly friendly, or at least polite. In one of the ninth grade classes (mostly 17-19 year olds), the girls think I'm "so cute" and only listen to me patronizingly during English, like I'm a performing monkey or something. But at least it's something. I definitely have an in with the entire eighth grade and a few of the seventh graders. Even though I try to make my rounds to each of the cliques during study time (i.e. free time), there's always one group of girls I know I can sit with that will talk with me and include me fully in their gossip sessions or whatever they're talking about. One of them even invited me and a few other girls to come over to her house sometime to meet her family. And these girls have big families -- one fifteen-year-old girl is the youngest of eleven kids, and already the aunt of nineteen kids.
Also, I took over an English grammar class yesterday and we reviewed for their midterms for next week, and I. Was. Awesome. No hesitations, no stumbling, just me ranting and raving English comparatives and superlatives and not taking no for an answer. I wish it had been videotaped. I also gave certain insight to English that their English teacher didn't know and couldn't give, like why we call it "T-shirt" (a shirt shaped like the letter T? They won't forget that on the test). Basically, I rocked third period yesterday.
Anyway, I hope that I keep seeing new silver linings and surprises in the coming weeks and months. It's looking more and more promising every day.
Almost forgot -- at 7am on Sunday on the CR news channel there will be a televised mass that takes place at the Casa Maria chapel, that was filmed on Wednesday, that I may or may not have been at with my girls... : ) Exciting!
Happy Friday! I miss you family and friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment