Tuesday morning we were lazy. I was staying at the rectory with five other SOLT priests and some seminarians and other guests. I slept until probably 7:30 or so and then got up and did some prayers. When I went to get our guys they were mostly still sleeping at 8:30, so we didn't get breakfast until 9:15 or so. Apparently, the jovenes had knocked on the doors of our men around 6am, but couldn't stir them. The jovenes had breakfast at 6:30am. Some of the young men who work around Santa Maria but don't go to school prepared breakfast for us at 9:15am - very kind of them! They really went out of their way to make us feel welcome all week. As you see in the picture, they were already busy making 'rabbit' for lunch that day. We didn't get to stay for that!
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After breakfast we headed to la escuela. We were told by Fr. Mike that we were most welcome, but we were a little tentative going over there, not wanting to disrupt their day. Once we arrived at the courtyard, however, we were invited in some classrooms and started having some great interactions with the kids. Late in the morning, tortas were served and recess began, which gave us a chance to interact with the kids a little more informally. Of course, there was a soccer game - los estados unidos contra mexico. We won again! It was hard to tell how good the education is here in central Mexico, but it seemed like the school had everything it needed.
We left the ninos to go and celebrate the Misa con los pobres (Mass for the Poor) celebrated every Tuesday afternoon at the Case de Jovenes. I met some great people before Mass, which of course started an hour late and lasted over and hour and a half. The poor are so affectionate towards priests. They came up and kissed my hands before and after Mass and during the sign fo peace. Very embarrassing and humbling. We had the chance to help serve the meal to the poor after Mass briefly, but then they were gone. We had a chance to meet Fr. Antonio Norman, the founder of the mission in Colon, who is revered as a saint there. Fr. Norman was very eccentric in the way he celebrated Mass and talked to the people, yet there were no objections. He came to Colon from Colorado almost 30 years ago and a great mission has been built here. His work will go on for many years to come now that SOLT is taking over the mission. Fr. Norman is usually in very poor health but was fired up the days we were around the mission. Fr. Mike Sanchez, SOLT takes care of all of the details of the mission, but Fr. Norman's presence still looms large there.
After Mass we made the mistake (not exactly) of stopping by the casa de ninas, the house of the little girls who are part of the mission. We were of course encouraged to do so, but reminded that the girls latched on to visitors very quickly and that if we stopped, we were on our own as far as finding a way to leave. Well, it all turned out to be true. We had a tremendous visit with the girls and played with them in the park for about an hour, but then when it was time to return to Santa Maria for dinner, we couldn't get away. Some of the guys had to leave gifts just to distract the girls enough so we could run for our lives. It was great to see them and they made a big impact on us in just a short time. They were quite a beautiful bunch of girls!
Around 6pm, we returned to Santa Maria for a last night of games with the guys and to share dinner with them. They sang a song for us at dinner and we had some talks describing how much the interactions of the week had changed everyone. It is always hard to explain to the jovenes why we came to see them for just a few days. It doesn't really make sense to them to travel so far and to make such a short visit. Most thought we would just be gone a few days and then come back for a longer stay. Some final games of soccer and yes, finally, basketball broke out. The jovenes here really have to inclination to liking anything but soccer, but we did get 6 or 7 of them to join us for basketball on the last night.
We went in to Colon one last time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and to have the famous Tacos al pastor! The group got me a birthday cake and sang happy birthday as they dove into the great tacos one last time. It was fun to latch onto this place for a few days and make it a little home. The family that runs the taco stand was sure glad to have us, but had to jump around to keep up with all of our orders. Perhaps I was the only one who felt guilty for eating for less than $3.
When we arrive back at Santa Maria for our last night, a great surprise awaited me. Fr. Mike was waiting in the courtyard for us and directed us where to park the 15 passenger van. After we got out a lot of jovenes sprang out from the bushes to sing mananitas to me, and they did it well. Then, since I had told Fr. Mike earlier in the week that I had never really ridden a horse, a caballo was produced and I was able to ride around the courtyard a little bit to the cheers of everyone. It was really fun and I was embarrassed that the jovenes had stayed up so late and the Fr. Mike had gone to so much trouble! It was a great birthday!
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