mango loco

In the last week I have rekindled a love for mangoes. I thought for a long time that I did not love mangoes, and for the most part, I was right. If not eaten when perfectly ripe, they have a pretty nasty aftertaste, or even a fermented bite to them. The strings are always caught in your teeth, and there is no graceful way to polish off this beloved tropical fruit in front of other people. Of course, Hondurans do it all the time, but, lets just say it's not pretty.

There are several varieties of mangoes...the first ones of the season being small, green mangoes. These are peeled and often served with chile sauce (like hot sauce). Let's just say, I've been scared of these for a long time.

Then, later on come the larger, reddish, sweet mangoes. I was not too impressed with them...until my host mom went to visit family in Comayagua who have mango trees on their property. She brought back about 5 buckets full of the sweet, perfectly ripened tropical delicacy, right from the tree!

I ended up downing 2 in about 11 minutes. It was glorious. When a mango is perfectly ripe, there is pretty much no better fruit. I was dripping with juices and getting bits of peel over everything, but it was delightful.
The thing is, even though we live in a country rich in fruits, many are exported, and many others are kind of expensive for the average family...so I get surprisingly minimal variety of fruit in my diet. Sad for me.

My host mom was also giving out mangoes right and left to anyone and everyone who passed by the house. My siblings were freaking out that she would give them all away, but we had so many, they have to be eaten when they are ripe. Because of her generosity, and because she was seen eating a mango at all hours of the day, my older brother started calling Lucia "mango loco" which means "crazy mango" :)

justice

I really wasn't going to post anything today. The internet is crammed full of people posting their thoughts on yesterday's worldwide news...so who needs to read anything more I might have to say?

But--all these responses to an event that will forever be remembered (especially in American history) have gotten me thinking about a lot of things. Mostly, I have been challenged by 1 phrase in particular that I keep seeing on news sites and even on facebook...that "justice has been served."

We (especially Americans) like to use this phrase, and we believe strongly in the idea of justice. But watching the world's response to the death of Osama bin Laden has been a struggle for me. What has become of our definition of justice? It feels like someone decided to give up on thinking critically and now all we can come up with is "well, he hurt me so I have the right to kill as many people I need to until he is killed. And that makes the world just." Ugh...just the idea of this entitlement that we have to hand out what people "deserve" is so disgusting, it makes me sick to my stomach.

But this idea of justice has been bugging me longer than the past 24 hours. It's become a much bigger issue to me now that I live in Nueva Suyapa and continue to see and hear about the injustices of life in Honduras. Living in a society where corruption is well-known, accepted and expected is a big adjustment. Living in a community where people have no voice and live in fear of speaking out against injustice is a totally different thing.

There is a lot of violence in Honduras. Especially in major cities, like Tegucigalpa. I don't really want to get into the details because...well...the scare factor isn't necessary. But it is a reality. It's part of my host family's life, it affects my coworkers and their families, and it impacts the way we live our lives in Suyapa.

There have been several tragedies since I've been here that affected people in the neighborhood. But victims or victims families are too afraid to speak out against the perpetrators because they live in fear of retaliation. However, if no one ever steps forward, how can justice ever be served? And what exactly is justice in these situations? Is it seeing the kidnappers, rapists, gang members and murderers locked up in prison and lose their freedom for the rest of their life? Is it seeing them killed to pay for what they've done?

As Christians, what has become our definition of justice? Some would say it is God's work to hand out justice, so I don't have to do much. There are many who still appear to go along with the idea of an eye for an eye. But can we (or should we) in good conscience allow for justice that involves taking more life?

Working for a Mennonite organization that continually talks about working for peace and justice does not make this any clearer. All my life I've heard about restorative justice and I choose to believe that there has to be another way. There has to be an option between throwing our hands up and saying "it's God's to deal with" or only seeking to repay one life by taking another. We are God's hands and feet on earth, and while the kingdom of shalom and justice has not yet come, it is still our responsibility to be working on that now.

To me, working for justice has to involve putting an end injustice. Making right the wrongs that have been done...but not necessarily in a way that continues to foment division, hatred, "fairness" and repayment. What is "fair" is not always just. Nor is it always right. Jesus changed the accepted law of an eye for an eye, but never said there would be no justice.

Today I was challenged by a friend's blog post to think about handling justice with grace. We believe in a just God and a gracious God too...but do we really like to consider how those two characteristics are held together? It sounds nice to live in a world of justice...but it scares me even more to think of living without grace. I mean, as a Christian, I can't. Therefore I must consider how I share this grace that has been given to me as I work for justice in a broken world.

So I guess all I'm trying to say is I'm feeling challenged today.
Challenged to consider what it means to seek justice.
Challenged to believe in the value of justice with grace.
Challenged to know what kind of justice to work towards and pray for when I so desperately want the restoration of wholeness for people who are victims of violence and injustice in my neighborhood.

But there's encouragement too.
I'm encouraged by the response of many friends and believers that goes against the grain of mainstream America.
Encouraged by colleagues and organizations in Honduras that give voice to many who have no political influence and work through unjust systems to create more just-ful outcomes.
Encouraged by the thoughtful response of a priest:

"Osama bin Laden, as we all know, had the very grave responsibility of spreading division and hatred amongst the people, causing the death of countless of people, and of instrumentalizing religion for this end," he said. "In front of the death of man, a Christian never rejoices but rather reflects on the grave responsibility of each one in front of God and men, and hopes and commits himself so that every moment not be an occasion for hatred to grow but for peace."           ~Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi

semana santa

So it’s back to reality after a long week of vacation here in Honduras. Holy week is basically like spring break for most of central America. It’s blazing hot, and everyone either takes off for the beach, or possibly to visit family.

Of course, I’m no beach bunny, so I opted for a more culturally interesting kind of vacation…but people had a hard time figuring out why the gringas were not heading to the beach—I say, who wants to be there when it’s hot, crowded and more expensive?

So, for the first part of the week I ventured to La Tigra with my MCC friend (and Suyapa neighbor), Elise. La Tigra is the national park just above Tegucigalpa, high in the mountains, with beautiful views of the valleys below and some nice hiking options. I had not yet been to explore this important national treasure, so we decided to go this week in our free time.  The hike was a bit hot, and rather steep to start, but we had a nice time in the cool forest and enjoyed the waterfall tucked away in the mountain.

Elise had also scoped out a German bed and breakfast a few weeks earlier with her mom & aunt, so we decided to splurge and spend 1 night there. It was the perfect relaxing way to start vacation week! The little cabin was set in the hillside overlooking the valley below. Although simple, it was very clean, and we had the place to ourselves. The German proprietor even made us deep dish pizza for dinner and had a beautiful European style breakfast. It was so tasty!

On Wednesday, Elise and Allison and I left Tegucigalpa for Comayagua. We were not sure what we were getting ourselves into…we were invited to stay with the daughter of an old lady who sells mango at the elementary school where we work. We don’t even know her that well, nor her family; however, the call of an adventure piqued our interest.

There is a tradition during Holy Week in many parts of Central America (particularly Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) that involves brightly colored sawdust made into colorful, artistic “carpets” in the streets of town. After people have enjoyed their detail and beauty, catholic churches have processions through the carpets as part of their holy week tradition.

Comayagua is one of the oldest towns in Honduras (the former capital) and with its history and rich catholic tradition is said to be the best place in Honduras to see these carpets or “alfombras.”

Let’s just say the weekend turned out even better than we could have expected! The family hosting us was so hospitable and friendly. They took care of us from the moment we arrived and gave us a complete tour of Comayagua…churches, museums, early morning carpet-making and great food. We were blown away by their generosity and had a fun time getting to know another place in Honduras, while enjoying a cool tradition for Easter week.

Friday morning (or possibly even Thursday evening) groups of people start the labor-intensive work of creating these carpets. The day before they dye the sawdust with a powdered pigment to give it such rich and vibrant colors. Around 1 or 2 am people fill the streets of town and by the light of street lamps, head lamps, flashlights and even headlights, they are on their hands and knees laying out the design of the carpets. Some groups are from churches in town, others are family groups or even business. Most use some kind of stencil, made of paper or cardboard, along with many other tools to craft their sharp edges and elaborate artwork.

we were very tired @ 3am...

We got up at 2:15 am and were in the center of town by 3 am to watch people work. It was so cool to see the process from the beginning (though we were tired!). We walked almost the whole procession route (about 24 city blocks of carpets that all together measure more than 100 meters long) and saw some groups just getting started as others were adding detail to their designs.

We went back to the house around 5 and slept til about 8:30. We got up again to check out the local procession through the carpet our host’s church had made. From there, we went back down to the center of town to see the finished carpets in daylight. There were a mountain of tourists (including us :) but it was worth it. We tried to get pictures, but it doesn’t quite do it justice. Some of the carpets had ladders out so you could climb up and get a better ariel shot.

Here are some of our favorites! 

here you can see one of the stencils...later on you will see a photo of this completed carpet

here they are pouring the sawdust on top of a paper design

you can see the stencils in more detail

This one was right on the pavement. Every color you see is sawdust!

the finished product!

 

one of my favorites...

the family we stayed with

I hope everyone had a great holy week, remembering why it is we can rejoice in a risen Savior! Although I missed some of my favorite traditions of this time in the church calendar (lent, Maundy Thursday, sunrise service, church pot-luck brunch and Easter morning hymns) I was able to appreciate other ways of commemorating these important events. It was great to be part of some very old traditions, reflect on the suffering and pain that will always be part of this world, but then looking to the hope and joy we have of a resurrection morning.  Happy Easter to all of you!

weekend win

Lest you be worried that I was moping around all weekend and wallowing in my homesickness, I want to reassure you that I found some good ways to fill my time. Here is a rundown of my typical a-typical weekend pastimes in Honduras. I assure you no two weekends look alike :)

Friday evening: My gringa friends' host father (also my coworker's father) was in the hospital for an accident that occurred at work on Thursday. His fingers were cut pretty bad, but they were able to reattach them after a 3 hours surgery. So, I was invited to go visit Arturo in the hospital. I was really glad I went for several reasons. One, it was a good way to see the public hospital, and a good way to know I never want to be admitted there! Two, it was fun to cheer Arturo up and see the reaction of other patients to the gaggle of gringas he had visiting him. Apparently he was quite popular among the patients after we left :)

So after that excursion, I hung out with Elise and Allison at their house and had a fun time chatting and eating and generally forgetting why I was bummed about not being in Virginia on Friday.


Saturday: I made plans to run some errands and go to the mall with Elise and Johanna. We had coffee together  and caught up on life, then wandered around the mall, shopping for random things that each of us wanted. Then, on a whim we decided to catch an afternoon movie at the cinema in the mall. It was fun to just relax and enjoy a movie--something I rarely splurge on here. The movie was in English (with subtitles) and for a moment you can almost forget you're not watching in the U.S.

 
So we did a bit more shopping and then headed back to Suyapa before the daylight went away. When I got back to my street, my host mom, my aunt and our two neighbor ladies who run the pulperia were making pupusas and selling them on the corner. This was part of a project from the church...we were all given a talent of 100 Lempiras (about $5) and within 10 days we have to invest it and bring back more than 100. Our group decided to pool our money and sell food together. Since they had started without me, I figured it was only fair to join in and help with the marketing and selling. It was really fun hanging out with these ladies on the corner, an activity usually only enjoyed by Honduran men...and it was nice to have some fun with them. I personally sold 11 pupusas, and they were extremely impressed. One man only bought 5 because I was part of the group...the other 6 I sold to my gringo friends, Virgil and Kathy.

Sunday morning: I went to church with the family. It was communion Sunday so I helped Lucia with the cups and soda and bread and then joined the service. Of course, it always goes long when communion is involved. Then the church ladies were selling pupusas at the chuch (to raise money for the new building) so I had to support the cause (again!). Delicious.

After church I took a nap, ate lunch with the fam, and retired to my room to do some reading. Around 2:30 Elise called and invited me to the Via Olympica (outdoor sports facility) to exercise with her and Allison. It was blazing hot, but I went any way. We walked around the track for awhile and sweat enough, so we didn't feel the need to run :)

When I got back from the Via, our "talent" group was selling tacos to further increase our return on investment. I was given a hard time for skipping out, but sales turned out fine without me. I took a quick cold shower to refresh before the family birthday party at 6. We went to Aunt Lila's house to celebrate Uncle Telmo's birthday. The usual chaos ensued...women cooking up a storm, children running wild, older men watching futbol on TV and generally being in the way ;) We had a delicious dinner of pincho (grilled steak), chismole (fresh salsa), beans, rice, cheese and tortillas. yum.

Everyone left kind of early, which is rare for this side of the family. My household was the last ones hanging around, helping to clean up. This was about the time their uncle pulled out his bb-gun rifle and challenged me and my host brother to a best-shot contest. I am proud to tell you I shot a Coke bottle across the street 3 out of 3 times! Axel was shocked. As was his uncle! I knew I would not live it down if I missed it...and now I have full on bragging rights! I think Axel was like 1 for 4. hehehe. awesome.

So...with all that random-ness, it was suddenly Sunday evening and then my alarm was going off for work on Monday morning.

I am thankful for a good host family who keeps me entertained and their extended family who always welcome me with open arms. It is also great to have some close friends who invite me over just when I need a break from moping around in my homesickness. Love you girls!

friday blues

So it's Friday, I'm tired of being productive (! at 8:20am) and I am feeling sad about missing out on lots of things....so....prepare yourself for Charissa's homesick list...because it's growing by the day.

1) Today is my little sister's recital. My mom, dad, sis, brother-in-law, unborn niece, and 2 of my aunts and uncles are all going to Virginia for Maria's senior recital. This is a big event in her life and I'm sad to be missing it.

2) 2 days ago one of my best friends from my old job had a baby! and I'm not even there to meet her!

3) Another bff from college has a little baby growing by the day and I can't be there to see him doing all kinds of crazy things either.

4) Vegetables. yes, I know this is weird, but I miss them so much! When I do see them they are usually cooked...and even that doesn't happen every day. Oh summer garden how I will pillage and plunder you for delightful treats when I come home.

5) Olive Garden.  right now its number one on the list. A decent plate of pasta (that doesn't involve ketchup in the sauce) and a warm breadstick.

6) driving my car! I can't wait to see my Taurus again (say what you will)...turn on the tunes and drive wherever the heck I want (as gas permits, of course).

I think we'll leave it at that right now. No sense letting my emotions run away and forget that I still have a whole day ahead of me. Not to mention 15 weeks til any of these things can be realized.

And on a completely unrelated note, but fitting in with the "blue" theme...

I designed a t-shirt for our MCC Honduras team and worked with a friend here in the neighborhood to print them for us. It was really fun and I was so proud of how they turned out. So, enjoy!

And if you'd like your own version of the limited-edition, MCC Honduras T-shirt call (country code 504) 98 61 39 67. Please note item #00001 is only available in "Anchor's Away Navy" and in sizes: kind of small, almost medium, long medium, pretty big and bigger.

church

Church is a big part of the weekly rhythm of my host family. Especially for my host mom, Lucia. A faithful attendee of services, she is also leader of our home group and teaches in CDI. CDI is the Compassion Int'l program the church runs for children in the community who have Compassion sponsors. So…her week looks like this:

• Monday:  Prayer meeting 6pm
• Tuesday:  CDI teaching 1pm-4pm    
• Grupo de crecimiento (small group/cell group) 6:30-8pm at our house
• Wednesday: CDI teaching 1pm-4pm
• Regular service 6:30pm-8pm
• Thursday: women's meeting 2 weeks per month 6:30-8pm
• Friday: Leaders of cell groups meetings 6pm
• Sunday: Regular service 8:30am to 10:30am

This does not include weeks where she might help with church fundraisers (making and selling tamales, pupusas, or hot dogs) to support the new building project, nor the weeks she is in charge of communion (buying bread & grape soda, preparing the glasses, cleaning everything after). All in all, she is a busy church member. Not unlike the rest of the women of the church, who seem to be involved in 30 different things each week. Sometimes it wears me out just talking about all that she does.

I will admit, my church involvement looks a bit different. Usually I am home on Tuesday evenings for small group…attend Wednesday services frequently (2 or 3 per month) and also attend Sundays. I occasionally go to women’s services on Thursdays, which are enjoyable. The problem is, some days another service is just too much and I can’t make myself go. Full disclosure: I have been known to make other plans, just so I’m not in the house on Tuesday for small group. It’s bad…I know…and they know I’m a pastor’s daughter, which probably makes matters worse. But you know…even in my days as a PK, I don’t think I ever went to this many services in 1 week.

This week, I not only set a new Honduras-experience record, but a new personal record.  4 services + 1 small group meeting + 1 young adult event in 6 days. That is…a bit ridiculous by my count. But this was a special week. Our church, Iglesia Evangelica Santidad de Renovacion Integral (or, you can just call it La Santidad) was having an weekend of Evangelism services (revival meetings for the older crowd). There were special guest pastors from El Salvador who came for 3 nights of the ‘campaña’ or campaign.

All in all, I enjoyed the services and did not find them to be dull. There was plenty of loud music, liturgical dance from the 2 dance groups at the church, and the preaching definitely kept your attention. Although the services were outside in the patio area of the church, there was plenty sweat, spit and yelling (from the preachers, that is). A special stage was constructed outside for the worship team and the pulpit; we had special lighting, decorations, and of course the whole worship team was color-coordinated (very Honduran!).  The great part was there were a lot of people from the neighborhood who are not regular church attenders (the whole ideal of the campaign). I guess all the radio ads and posters really worked to get people to come.

A few things that are still a challenge for me about church (not just the special evangelism services): 

1. Social pressure: There is a ton of social pressure involved with going to church. At least, it seems this way for my family and within their congregation. You go to church 5 times a week because there are services, and people will notice who is there and who is not. There is a definite sense of duty. Much less than what I feel in the U.S. (especially among people my age).
2.  Ushers: Ushers at our church take their job very seriously. And you do not mess with them. They wear matching outfits every week (some weeks its blue, some weeks white) and they are on continual alert. The church can be packed, and the 85 year old usher lady (that I always watch work the crowd) will find you a seat in the middle of the third row, smashed between an excited worshipper and 2 small children sharing 1 seat. If the church is not packed, she will physically cajole people into moving from the back rows (of sloth and distraction) to the (more sanctified) seats up front. My 14 year old host brother has his personal experiences with this, and does not appreciate said usher  :)
3. Evangelize: I don’t really know how to describe this properly, but it feels like every sermon I hear has something to do with sin and salvation. Obviously, important topics to the Christian walk, but sometimes I get antsy to be back in my home church and find some sermons with a little more meat, or depth to them.  Usually services wrap up with an alter call, related to repentance or recommitting your life to Christ. And, there is much (perceived) social pressure to go up front for these moments.

There are other nuances of my Honduran church experiences that are just hard to put down in words.

I am grateful to be living with a Christian family, and a host mom who takes her faith very seriously. I know she prays for all of her children (including me) and regularly intercedes for us. Even though there are days where I feel like I can’t take another church service, I usually am surprised to find God speaking to me or teaching me things in new and different ways. And I guess that’s what I like most about my new church here in Suyapa. Sometimes I am only available to receive something new or different when I am uncomfortable or in a different place. It’s unfortunate that it has to be that way, but it is cool to see the ways God moves us when we are out of our comfort zone.