Holy Moley its been a while since I have blogged. A problem occurs when too much time passes without submitting to this very public forum.... time begins to snowball and then I am uncertain of what to write seeing as so much time has passed. That being said, I am going to cop out with this blog entry and use it as a recap of what has happened between now and the last time I blogged. (My apologies to those of you who came here seeking wisdom and insight, bear with me while I catch up you and the other two people who read this on my life in the recent months)
Most importantly! I am an uncle again! Carter Robert was born in the beginning of February. Which might not be a shock to anyone who knows my family... or if you are facebook friends with Cr and Stacy because they update the world every four minutes on their lives. (ZING!) But this came as a shock to me... not the specifics of course, but rather when I left home Stacy wasn't showing. So I have a mental picture of my family as it was when I left and now there is a baby which in my mind came out of nowhere. Regardless of that foolishness I am THRILLED to be an uncle again.
Another big event that corresponds with how long I have been in country is that Confirmation Week has come and gone. The infamous Confirmation Week has been on my radar since before I left for Belize. I had heard of its grueling intensity long before I stepped foot in my house in PG. Let me explain the truth behind legend. A major aspect of my job is to oversee the Confirmation formation for those children who will be receiving the sacrament. What this means is that I run confirmation retreats both in the fall and spring to prepare the children. This is less serious then it sounds... its a bit like I am a camp counselor and sprinkle in some Confirmation related information. The kids love these retreats because they are out of class for the day. That being said, these children are out of class, out of sight of any real authority figures and can ,if need be, create an atmosphere of total mayhem. Lucky me. haha
Unfortunately for them... my mom is a gym teacher and life long swim coach that can scare the piss out of any children. I'd like to think I inherited that trait. (thanks mom! ) So I would love to say that these retreats were spiritually enlightening for the children getting Confirmed. Thats not the case. Many times they involved me thinking on my feet and just making up a song and dance for the kids to remember the requirements of getting confirmed. Or playing games or just singing church songs. ( side note... Belizeans singing church songs is one of the most humorous aspects of my job due to certain ways Belizeans speak. the "TH" sound is not pronounced aswell as the "OR" sound comes out like an "ER" sound. e.g. "great TINGS happen when God mixes WIT us" or " I am clapping on my to my LERD's house to my LERD LERD LERD , to my LERD's house)
I really enjoy these retreats and there are aspects that are serious. When we help the children that cant read despite being 12 understand a work sheet or when we ask the children what makes them special, why are they loved etc. and seeing their faces light up when they realize they are unique and loved. That sounds incredibly cliche but it is true and to help children realize that, if only briefly, makes the day a good one.
These retreats lead up to Confirmation Week itself which is every Confirmation Mass for all the villages in Toledo. This equates to 16 Confirmation Masses in 5 days. Each ceremony is about 2 hours long and 95% of them are in Ke'tchi. You can do that math... results in a very very very long week. Many days Pat and I would leave the house before 6am and come home after 6pm. My actual work is limited for these ceremonies, basically Pat and I were the "advance team" for the Bishop and the priests. We would get to a village first, step up, get them anything they needed, wait for further instruction then sit while the ceremony went on then hurry to clean up and race to the next village. This led to a lot of just sitting , and at times feeling useless.
I need to express how big a deal having the Bishop come to their respective villages is for the community. It would be like Bono coming to deliver a high school commencement address or Pope Benedict flying in to do a wedding. It is a HUGE deal. At times during the strenuous week I forgot how big of a deal it is for these villages. So despite actually not doing a lot if I made the week run a little smoother then I found consolation in that.
Confirmation week has come and gone which is also symbolic for me because it is such a major aspect of my work year. Now that it has passed it is apparent to me that my first year is coming to a close. Pat and Em have a little more than a 100 days left until they leave. I still have about 30 more sets of retreats before my work year is finished(teachers again, and eighth grade equivilant before they graduate) but knowing I helped prepare 295 children for Confirmation is a pretty big step.
Ok before I leave this haphazard entry I would like to write a few of the hilarious aspects of my job.
(Pat and I were driving some children to a retreat... going about 30 miles per hour on dirt roads through the jungle)
child in the back seat: "Fodder Fodder I caught a bird!" (they all think I am a priest... remember the aforementioned "TH" difficulties)
Me: "First off, just call me Mr. Matt. Secondly, You what? Just now?!"
Child: " Yes Fodder as we were driving"
I have no idea how that child caught a bird, from the backseat, as we were driving full speed through the jungle but sure enough. A bird, recently deceased was in his hand. Not sure if it died from the shock of the experience or smashing into the child's hand.
Experience number two:
We were at a retreat at the furthest, most remote village, Dolores, about 2 hours from PG. The children go home for lunch and are to meet up again at 1pm. Everyone comes back or so I thought and we begin the next activity. I then do a quick head count and we are missing two girls. "Where in God's name did they go? There is nothing here", I think. 20 minutes later we see them running through the bush back to the retreat each of the girls' hands had bags full of things.
Mr. Matt: " Girls where were you? You're late. And what do you have in the bags?"
Girls: [giggle giggle giggle] "We went to Guatemala to get some TINGS"
Mr. Matt: "Oh ok.......wait. WHAT!"
Yep. The children went to Guatemala to go buy "tings" during the lunch break. I couldn't even pretend to be angry. Illegal border crossings through the jungle to buy things during a Confirmation Retreat. When I think I have seen it all....
I pray to the "Lerd" you are all having a good "Merning" (ok that was forced. haha),
Mr. Matt
