As Barb noted recently, we are in the midst of Carnival season in Trinidad. Carnival is the biggest event of the year here. Tourists come from all over the world to see and take part in the festivities. Carnival Monday and Tuesday (Feb 15 & 16 this year) are not "official" holidays, but there is no school and very few people go to work on those days. In fact, from what we're told, we can expect that many places will already be closed on Friday, and may not open until the following Thursday. We were told several months ago by some former missionaries that Carnival brings out both the best and the worst of the country. The best is the amazing music and culture on display in this season. Many Carnival costumes are truly works of art. Calypso features insightful social commentary. And steel pan bands feature the national instrument, which Trinis are proud to note is the only non-electrical instrument that was invented in the twentieth century. The worst is the incredible amount of drinking and overt sexuality that can be found at many of the Carnival parties or "fetes." More than one of our friends here have told us that the rate of HIV infection rises dramatically following Carnival.
This weekend, we again tried to find ways to explore some of the best parts of Carnival. We had purchased tickets for a Children's Carnival Fiesta that claimed to feature many different aspects of Carnival in a family-oriented atmosphere. By now we knew to call in advance to check whether or not the fiesta was still happening. We found out that it was not going to take place on Friday afternoon. In fact, they weren't sure yet exactly when it was going to take place. They suggested we call at the beginning of this week to find out. Instead, I returned the tickets for a refund today.
On Saturday, we again tried to find some good Carnival entertainment. We had been told that the best way to enjoy steel pan music is to go to the panyards where bands are practicing. But we never really knew where the panyards were or when the bands practiced. One of the members of our church in Diego Martin offered to take us to a panyard that he knew of. When we arrived there late Saturday evening, however, we found that they weren't practicing after all because a fete down the block was too loud for them hear themselves. We were beginning to wonder if we were ever going to be able to see any Carnival events while we were here. Fortunately, Sunday turned out to be much more successful for us.
~Richard
However, before we took part in any Carnival, we went to church. When we first came to Trinidad, the Diego Martin Mennonite Church had an adult Sunday School. Then around the Christmas Holidays, they went on break. Next week they will start up the adult class again. They were not having any children's Sunday School, though, and so Olivia and I were anticipating possibly being bored during those times. There is this newer family in the church, though, who have two daughters, ages 5 and 7, I think. We were thinking that they might be in the same situation on Sunday mornings. So Olivia and I offered to take them then, and do a Sunday School class with them then! We aren't exactly sure what to do for that, but we decided we've been to enough Sunday School classes to come up with something. Along with Sunday School starting back this week, youth group at Diego Martin will be starting this week too. My parents will be in charge of that, and they have asked us to help them plan the first one, which at least I am happy to do, since we have had some experience with Trinidad youth groups. I guess we have some planning to do this week!
~Roxy
On Sunday, after church, we went out to eat at Roxy Pizza Hut in Port of Spain. We heard that there would be a parade around that place and time. As soon as we walked into the Pizza Hut, we spotted some kids dressed up in elaborate costumes eating there. As we ate, a crowd began to gather right outside. When we were finished eating, we walked out and stood outside, thinking that those were people gathering to watch the parade. But, then we noticed that quite a few of them were in costume or getting in costume. We asked someone there, who told us that it was a gathering place for the people involved in the parade, and if we wanted to watch the parade, we should go up the road a little ways. As we were walking up the road to find the place where the parade started, there were many people in costume that we passed or that were heading the same direction. We were beginning to wonder if there was more to the parade than people walking around dressed up in costumes. Roxy suspected that maybe the parade was just people in costume walking along the sidewalk and that since we were also walking along the sidewalk, maybe we were in it too. But, then we found a street that was blocked off and where people were lining up. We found a place to stand that was far enough away from the blaring music that we could hear each other yell and then waited. Soon a group of children in brightly coloured costumes started walking. Some of the costumes had big things sticking out. Some of the kids were jumping to the music. I thought that would get tiring fast, especially in the hot sun. Plus, some of them had costumes that looked really hot! Each group walked for a little bit, then paused and the kids danced around for a while and people took pictures, then they started walking again. It was really fun to see all the creative costumes!
~Olivia
We watched the parade for a while and then decided to head out to the savannah to try yet again to hear steel pans. Sunday was the junior pan competition. Because this is happening a week before the actual carnival and because these events were centered around youth, they were a little tamer.
Well, we finally got our pan music. The competitions for the primary and secondary schools were already over, but we got to see most of the performers from the under 21 category. They were amazing! We had watched some of the pan semifinals last weekend on TV. To our untrained ears, the difference in quality between the adult and the junior groups was slight.
Since we had heard that hanging out where the bands are practicing is the way to hear pan, we left the competition for a little and went across from the savannah where an adult finalist band was practicing. It is amazing that we could walk right up to them and interact. I was close enough that I could have grabbed a stick, and believe me that was a temptation. Ah, but no one in the band offered me the chance to join in. The only connection I was able to make was to compliment one guy on his tee shirt, which had pictures of the Obamas on it. The finals are next weekend and these folks are in serious practice mode at this point.
After a couple of weeks of trying to find healthy ways to connect, it was great to finally have our day nibbling at the best of carnival.
~Barb
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
All About School
On Sunday, coming home from church, our car broke down. Again. So, that meant that we weren't able to get to school Monday or Tuesday. We got it fixed Tuesday morning, actually sooner than we had expected. We still had time to go into Port of Spain that afternoon to get violin strings for Roxy and tickets for the Children's Carnival tomorrow. So, we missed two days of school. However, it doesn't really seem like we missed anything at all important. On Monday, I was told there were only 4 out of the 9 teachers who came to school, 2 of which are students at the college there, so live right on campus. So, my class only had one class session because the other teachers who came weren't even supposed to teach us. Then on Tuesday, my form teacher was still gone although more teachers were there, but only about half the students in my class came. So, missing two days of school didn't really mean anything.
~Olivia
Our school has entered a mural competition! The competition is that any school that wants to can choose a wall somewhere on the school compound, and paint it. The VAPA (Visual And Performing Arts) teacher at our school told me that most schools would have one big wall to the back of the school that would be tall, but ours doesn't. So instead, we are painting the wall next to the basketball court. Unlike most walls (which would be tall and so would only have a portion painted), ours is approximately the length of a basketball court and slopes up a hill to the height of about 5 feet at the top, so we have been painting the whole thing! Mostly it is a project for the form twos, but a few of the days, they have needed help, and so I have helped paint some of it too! They are mostly painting people; some fictional and others students and teachers from the school. One morning a student came around and took pictures of all the classrooms, and so they have painted a few of those on the wall too. The painting must be finished for tomorrow. With all the drips we have gotten on the court, we might as well be painting that too!
~Roxy
Our school (the classes we teach at the theological college) are also underway. Last night was our third week of classes. As I write that I wonder how it can be possible. I am teaching a class that is basically the next class for social work majors after one I taught in fall. That one focused on family and group work. This one focuses more on community work. I realize that I have probably used my community work social work skills as much or more in pastoring as I did in social work.
This semester I was able to find a text book on the island that I really like and is up to date. I found two copies of it only, though. I bought them both with the idea that I would use one and I would put the other on reserve in the library. But my students protested arguing that one copy on reserve would not be enough for all of them to share. One student has a copy machine at home. She offered to copy the book for everyone for the cost of materials. So far she has been managing to bring some of what I have assigned for the next week, but not always all of it. She thought it would all be done next week.
These students have so much happening in their lives. She, for instance, works during the day as a security gaurd, then teaches dance classes, is a single mom with a teenage son and is taking something like 5 classes - more than a full load. Another of my students is in a similar situation only she works at a bank. Another has a new baby. The students from other countries are more likely to live on campus and be younger. There are small dorms there which I would guess house no more than 10-20 students in all. I really admire the level of commitment many bring given all that they are juggling. I thought I had a busy crazy life when I was a student. I certainly did fill my time. But I have to say that I did not contend with all the things many of these people do. Teaching them has been such a great part of what I've gotten to do here.
~Barb
The class that I am teaching has been going well, too. This semester, I am much more comfortable with the subject that I'm teaching than I was last term. Unlike philosophy, which I hadn't studied formally for more than 20 years, preaching is an area in which I received an advanced degree less than a year ago. It's also something I do on a regular basis, so have much more real experience with the subject.
I had originally been told that I would have two students in class. When I received the roster on the first day, however, there were three students on the list--one of the two I had originally been told about and two others. I was also told that there was another student who really wanted to take the class, but wasn't able to since he was also enrolled in Barb's class, which was scheduled to meet at the same time. Since he is a Social Work major, her class was required for him to graduate. But since he is getting a minor in theology, he really wanted the preaching class as well. So after checking with the rest of my class, we moved the time up a couple of hours. I now teach from 3:00 to 5:00; then Barb teaches her class from 5:00 to 8:00. It means that we need to pick the girls up from their school a little early on Wednesdays to make it to WITC on time. But we still only need to go there one day a week; and the student who really wants to be in both of our classes is able to do so.
~Richard
~Olivia
Our school has entered a mural competition! The competition is that any school that wants to can choose a wall somewhere on the school compound, and paint it. The VAPA (Visual And Performing Arts) teacher at our school told me that most schools would have one big wall to the back of the school that would be tall, but ours doesn't. So instead, we are painting the wall next to the basketball court. Unlike most walls (which would be tall and so would only have a portion painted), ours is approximately the length of a basketball court and slopes up a hill to the height of about 5 feet at the top, so we have been painting the whole thing! Mostly it is a project for the form twos, but a few of the days, they have needed help, and so I have helped paint some of it too! They are mostly painting people; some fictional and others students and teachers from the school. One morning a student came around and took pictures of all the classrooms, and so they have painted a few of those on the wall too. The painting must be finished for tomorrow. With all the drips we have gotten on the court, we might as well be painting that too!
~Roxy
Our school (the classes we teach at the theological college) are also underway. Last night was our third week of classes. As I write that I wonder how it can be possible. I am teaching a class that is basically the next class for social work majors after one I taught in fall. That one focused on family and group work. This one focuses more on community work. I realize that I have probably used my community work social work skills as much or more in pastoring as I did in social work.
This semester I was able to find a text book on the island that I really like and is up to date. I found two copies of it only, though. I bought them both with the idea that I would use one and I would put the other on reserve in the library. But my students protested arguing that one copy on reserve would not be enough for all of them to share. One student has a copy machine at home. She offered to copy the book for everyone for the cost of materials. So far she has been managing to bring some of what I have assigned for the next week, but not always all of it. She thought it would all be done next week.
These students have so much happening in their lives. She, for instance, works during the day as a security gaurd, then teaches dance classes, is a single mom with a teenage son and is taking something like 5 classes - more than a full load. Another of my students is in a similar situation only she works at a bank. Another has a new baby. The students from other countries are more likely to live on campus and be younger. There are small dorms there which I would guess house no more than 10-20 students in all. I really admire the level of commitment many bring given all that they are juggling. I thought I had a busy crazy life when I was a student. I certainly did fill my time. But I have to say that I did not contend with all the things many of these people do. Teaching them has been such a great part of what I've gotten to do here.
~Barb
The class that I am teaching has been going well, too. This semester, I am much more comfortable with the subject that I'm teaching than I was last term. Unlike philosophy, which I hadn't studied formally for more than 20 years, preaching is an area in which I received an advanced degree less than a year ago. It's also something I do on a regular basis, so have much more real experience with the subject.
I had originally been told that I would have two students in class. When I received the roster on the first day, however, there were three students on the list--one of the two I had originally been told about and two others. I was also told that there was another student who really wanted to take the class, but wasn't able to since he was also enrolled in Barb's class, which was scheduled to meet at the same time. Since he is a Social Work major, her class was required for him to graduate. But since he is getting a minor in theology, he really wanted the preaching class as well. So after checking with the rest of my class, we moved the time up a couple of hours. I now teach from 3:00 to 5:00; then Barb teaches her class from 5:00 to 8:00. It means that we need to pick the girls up from their school a little early on Wednesdays to make it to WITC on time. But we still only need to go there one day a week; and the student who really wants to be in both of our classes is able to do so.
~Richard
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Halfway
It has now been nearly six months since we first set foot in Trinidad! Since we will probably not be here for an actual 365 days, we calculated that we are slightly over the halfway point. In some ways it has gone by really fast, but I also can't believe it's only been that long! I will be very glad to be back in Kansas, but I'm also sure I'll miss a lot of the people here that I've gotten to know. And I'm sure I'll be really cold!
~Roxy
The youth groups were taking a break pretty much since we performed the Christmas Programs in December, but they're starting up again this weekend. Last night we went to youth group at Carlsen Field Mennonite Church. Last term, they were having youth meetings every other Saturday and there's a family that is involved in both Diego Martin and Carlsen Field, so they decided that they would switch off. So, every first and third Saturday Carlsen Field would have youth group and every second and fourth Saturday Diego Martin would have youth group and anyone who wants to attend both is welcome! Tonight, Hope Mennonite Church is starting they're youth group up again, so we'll probably be going to that. The only reason I say probably is because in Trinidad, anything can happen. You never can make definite plans. So, we'll be going to 3 different youth groups, but it's only really 2 nights a week.
~Olivia
We have yet another mechanical issue to deal with on the car. Everything was fine when we left church and made our way through Diego Martin and Port of Spain. But somewhere along the highway, I noticed that the steering wheel seemed kind of stiff. It wasn't until we exited the highway, however, that I realized that the power steering was completely gone. It took all the effort I had to make the turn off the highway, onto the road that goes past our apartment and into the garage. After lunch, I checked under the hood to see if perhaps the power steering fluid was low. Before I could even locate the fluid reservoir, however, I noticed that the power steering belt was gone. I must have broken and come off somewhere along the highway. Thankfully, I didn't need to make any sudden turns along the way. I'm hoping that the belt won't prove to be as difficult to find as the gasket that is still leaking oil.
We have gotten approval to get a different car. However, we haven't yet been able to find a decent one in the price range that the mission board can afford to pay. In the meantime, I won't be able to take the girls to school tomorrow. It's not uncommon for people to miss school due to car troubles. In fact, the principal missed three days a couple of weeks ago when her vehicle was not working.
~Richard
It is carnival season in Trinidad. Carnival is sort of what most Americans think of as Mardi Gras. But its origin is in Trinidad. The history is that slaves were given the 2 days before Ash Wednesday off. They used these days to celebrate. Out of this came calypso, which I had always thought of as music but is originally social commentary that both took the form of music and storytelling.
Today carnival incorporates many things. We had first heard that the churches do not participate in carnival because it is mostly now about binge drinking and promiscuous sexual activity. However, as we are here longer, we realize that carnival is more than a 2 day celebration. That part we have not yet experienced. But it is a season. Within that season are many musical events.
We decided that we really wanted to hear some steel pan music sometime during the season. A couple of weeks ago we learned that there would be pan bands parading on Sunday afternoon. But our church music practice that day went long and so we didn't see that. Someone told us that they would take us with them this week to the pan yards to hear a band practicing. But it rained the day we could all go, so we didn't. Yesterday there was an event called the children's carnival which seemed to be oriented to families and feature school pan bands. When we called on Friday to see if there were still tickets available, we learned that it had canceled for yesterday (although there is another time set for next weekend we may try to catch). In the evening there was some music advertised within walking distance of our house we thought we might stop by and see. But a memorial service changed our plans for that. All in all, we are glad there are a month of events so that we can still hope to get in on some appropriate music.
The memorial service was an interesting event. We had attended the funeral of this woman earlier. She died on Christmas evening. She was a very important person in the life of the Mennonite churches here, even allowing one of the earliest churches to meet at her house for a while. Yesterday, about 40 days after her death, a memorial service was held This is common here across religious traditions. I asked a friend how long to expect the service to run. She said, "oh, it will be pretty short - not more than an hour and a half or two. Then they'll serve a meal, of course." The service started at 4:00 and ran the anticipated time. We finished eating, though, around 7:30 and headed home then. Earlier in the afternoon we got a call asking if we could please grab the tambourine from the church downstairs and bring it with us (because how can you be expected to have a memorial service without a tambourine?). The elements of the service were pretty much like the funeral, like a regular worship service, but there was less sadness. It seemed as if the idea was to give the family permission to let go of some of the grief and move on with life. Of course this was all while recognizing the ongoing challenge of letting go. I think this is a nice tradition.
~Barb
~Roxy
The youth groups were taking a break pretty much since we performed the Christmas Programs in December, but they're starting up again this weekend. Last night we went to youth group at Carlsen Field Mennonite Church. Last term, they were having youth meetings every other Saturday and there's a family that is involved in both Diego Martin and Carlsen Field, so they decided that they would switch off. So, every first and third Saturday Carlsen Field would have youth group and every second and fourth Saturday Diego Martin would have youth group and anyone who wants to attend both is welcome! Tonight, Hope Mennonite Church is starting they're youth group up again, so we'll probably be going to that. The only reason I say probably is because in Trinidad, anything can happen. You never can make definite plans. So, we'll be going to 3 different youth groups, but it's only really 2 nights a week.
~Olivia
We have yet another mechanical issue to deal with on the car. Everything was fine when we left church and made our way through Diego Martin and Port of Spain. But somewhere along the highway, I noticed that the steering wheel seemed kind of stiff. It wasn't until we exited the highway, however, that I realized that the power steering was completely gone. It took all the effort I had to make the turn off the highway, onto the road that goes past our apartment and into the garage. After lunch, I checked under the hood to see if perhaps the power steering fluid was low. Before I could even locate the fluid reservoir, however, I noticed that the power steering belt was gone. I must have broken and come off somewhere along the highway. Thankfully, I didn't need to make any sudden turns along the way. I'm hoping that the belt won't prove to be as difficult to find as the gasket that is still leaking oil.
We have gotten approval to get a different car. However, we haven't yet been able to find a decent one in the price range that the mission board can afford to pay. In the meantime, I won't be able to take the girls to school tomorrow. It's not uncommon for people to miss school due to car troubles. In fact, the principal missed three days a couple of weeks ago when her vehicle was not working.
~Richard
It is carnival season in Trinidad. Carnival is sort of what most Americans think of as Mardi Gras. But its origin is in Trinidad. The history is that slaves were given the 2 days before Ash Wednesday off. They used these days to celebrate. Out of this came calypso, which I had always thought of as music but is originally social commentary that both took the form of music and storytelling.
Today carnival incorporates many things. We had first heard that the churches do not participate in carnival because it is mostly now about binge drinking and promiscuous sexual activity. However, as we are here longer, we realize that carnival is more than a 2 day celebration. That part we have not yet experienced. But it is a season. Within that season are many musical events.
We decided that we really wanted to hear some steel pan music sometime during the season. A couple of weeks ago we learned that there would be pan bands parading on Sunday afternoon. But our church music practice that day went long and so we didn't see that. Someone told us that they would take us with them this week to the pan yards to hear a band practicing. But it rained the day we could all go, so we didn't. Yesterday there was an event called the children's carnival which seemed to be oriented to families and feature school pan bands. When we called on Friday to see if there were still tickets available, we learned that it had canceled for yesterday (although there is another time set for next weekend we may try to catch). In the evening there was some music advertised within walking distance of our house we thought we might stop by and see. But a memorial service changed our plans for that. All in all, we are glad there are a month of events so that we can still hope to get in on some appropriate music.
The memorial service was an interesting event. We had attended the funeral of this woman earlier. She died on Christmas evening. She was a very important person in the life of the Mennonite churches here, even allowing one of the earliest churches to meet at her house for a while. Yesterday, about 40 days after her death, a memorial service was held This is common here across religious traditions. I asked a friend how long to expect the service to run. She said, "oh, it will be pretty short - not more than an hour and a half or two. Then they'll serve a meal, of course." The service started at 4:00 and ran the anticipated time. We finished eating, though, around 7:30 and headed home then. Earlier in the afternoon we got a call asking if we could please grab the tambourine from the church downstairs and bring it with us (because how can you be expected to have a memorial service without a tambourine?). The elements of the service were pretty much like the funeral, like a regular worship service, but there was less sadness. It seemed as if the idea was to give the family permission to let go of some of the grief and move on with life. Of course this was all while recognizing the ongoing challenge of letting go. I think this is a nice tradition.
~Barb
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Joint Service, Parents' Day and Election Day
[Note: The following entries were written on Monday, Jan. 25. Due to technical problems, however, we were not able to post them until Tuesday the 26th.]
As we mentioned earlier, yesterday a joint service was held for all of the Mennonite Churches of Trinidad and Tobago. (They call it MCTT, even though there are no Mennonite Churches in Tobago quite yet.) We had invited one of my friends to come along, and told the rest of her family that they would be welcome too. As of Sunday morning when we woke up, we still thought that we would only be picking up one girl. But, since it is Trinidad, there was always the possibility that they would call that morning and like a ride there. Sure enough, there was a call that morning before we left for church asking if we could pick up her parents and little brother too. Since our car is only supposed to fit five people (but in Trinidad that means six) we thought we could take her and maybe one other person in the car, but not four extra people. So we called some friends who would also be coming from Charlieville if they could help. They said that they could pick up Olivia and I, and my parents would bring the other family. The service started at 9:30 (or at least that's what it said), and when my dad drives, it takes about 45 minutes to get from our apartment to Diego Martin. It was a few minutes after 9:00 by the time they picked up Olivia and I. So we were worried we might be a little late, and since the worship team would be starting out the service with some singing, we didn't want to be too late. But it all turned out fine because of two things. One: even though this was a lot more on time than some other things we have attended, it still didn't start at exactly 9:30, so it was okay to be a couple minutes late. And two: it might take my dad about 45 minutes to get to Diego Martin driving legally, but apparently it only takes some Trini drivers about a half hour or so! The joint service was very nice, and they had a great meal afterward as always. We were noticing how different this was than even the last joint service. The very first joint service we attended was the first weekend we were here, and we were meeting a lot and lot of people. The next time (at the end of November) I felt like I knew a lot of people but didn't interact with a whole lot of them. But this time I felt like I really talked to people and knew them and it was good to see a lot of them again.
~Roxy
Last Friday was Parents Day at our school. So, the students were supposed to bring their parents to school with them to talk to the teachers and then we'd be done around 11:30. We went early so Roxy could finish building the model of a bridge she's making. It was supposed to be done for Parents Day but her group had some conflicts and it wasn't finished yet. Then, everyone assembled in the big upstairs room. This room is usually divided into 3 classrooms just by whiteboards, but they move them out of the way for certain events when they need a bigger space. First, the principal talked to all the parents and students. It was kind of like the chapel service we have every Thursday. Then the staff were introduced and parents could ask questions. After that, the teachers divided up and went to their own classrooms, where the parents could come see them and talk to them and get grades. Each class has a form teacher, who, in most cases, is the teacher they have the most classes with. So, the form teachers had the report cards for the students. I liked the way the report cards were set up. They had the grading scale, your final exam scores for each class, your course work scores for each class, and then your final grades for each class, plus some other information, like how many days you were absent and that kind of stuff. We ended up waiting forever to talk to the principal and we were pretty close to the last ones to leave.
~Olivia
We awoke this morning to hear the stunning results of the local elections here. The political system here is a parliamentary system of government. There is the ruling party and one major opposition party. There is a second opposition party which is largely a group that broke away from the major opposition party because of discontent with its leadership a few years ago. Well, yesterday was election day for internal elections in this major opposition party. The man who formed the party over 20 years ago and who had at one time been the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago was, for the first time in party history, being challenged. And to everyone's surprise, he lost to one of two challengers. Not only that, but the person who beat him was a woman. She won by more than 10-1. The whole victory has a sort of Obama quality to it.
The system of government is different, but the politics is not so different from American politics. It was heated and nasty, with allegations of corruption and personal scandals. The media has been totally consumed by it only breaking to update on Haiti. This country has been an independent nation for a relatively short time compared to what I am used to. This is only the second generation of leaders really, though many have been around with concentrated power for nearly as long as the Bush's and the Clinton's. It has been interesting to watch a government without a real executive branch. Let's just say democrats and republicans are not the only groups that have a hard time working together and live within a political system that encourages adversarial relationships.
~Barb
One of the highlights of yesterday's joint service was the licensing of a new pastor, Navin Benny, to serve at Hope Mennonite Church. This is an important step for the church here. As we've probably mentioned somewhere along the way, there have been only four pastors to serve six congregations—and one of the pastors is an American missionary, Richard Keeler. The goal is eventually to have a local pastor for each one of the congregations, and another local person to serve as overseer for all the Mennonite churches. This licensing brings that goal one step closer to reality. There is also another individual who is in formal training for pastoral ministry, along with some others who are considering such a calling. We see our work here largely as supporting the development of such leadership. Even though we may not be teaching future Mennonite pastors in our classes, our service at WITC helps support the institution where those future pastors are trained. And our current service at Diego Martin Mennonite Church is allowing one of the current pastors, Rawl Gunpath, to have a well-deserved sabbatical so that he may hopefully be re-energized for further service.
In addition to the licensing, yesterday's worship time also included a commissioning for one of the current pastors, Ganesh Kalloo, to serve at Charlieville Mennonite Church, which has been without a pastor for quite some time. Ganesh will continue to pastor the Mennonite Church of Chaguanas as well, splitting his time between the two congregations. This, again, is a very important step since it marks the first time that all six of the current Mennonite churches in Trinidad have pastoral leadership.
We also found out yesterday that the work permit has been approved for the new overseer, David Yoder, who is now expected to arrive in Trinidad from Pennsylvania in a few weeks. That position has been vacant since very shortly after we arrived here. Finally, we continue to pray for the health of Richard Keeler, who has been back in the U.S. since just before Christmas for diagnosis and medical treatment. We are hopeful that he will be well enough to return soon and bring the pastoral team for the Mennonite Church of Trinidad and Tobago to full strength.
~Richard
As we mentioned earlier, yesterday a joint service was held for all of the Mennonite Churches of Trinidad and Tobago. (They call it MCTT, even though there are no Mennonite Churches in Tobago quite yet.) We had invited one of my friends to come along, and told the rest of her family that they would be welcome too. As of Sunday morning when we woke up, we still thought that we would only be picking up one girl. But, since it is Trinidad, there was always the possibility that they would call that morning and like a ride there. Sure enough, there was a call that morning before we left for church asking if we could pick up her parents and little brother too. Since our car is only supposed to fit five people (but in Trinidad that means six) we thought we could take her and maybe one other person in the car, but not four extra people. So we called some friends who would also be coming from Charlieville if they could help. They said that they could pick up Olivia and I, and my parents would bring the other family. The service started at 9:30 (or at least that's what it said), and when my dad drives, it takes about 45 minutes to get from our apartment to Diego Martin. It was a few minutes after 9:00 by the time they picked up Olivia and I. So we were worried we might be a little late, and since the worship team would be starting out the service with some singing, we didn't want to be too late. But it all turned out fine because of two things. One: even though this was a lot more on time than some other things we have attended, it still didn't start at exactly 9:30, so it was okay to be a couple minutes late. And two: it might take my dad about 45 minutes to get to Diego Martin driving legally, but apparently it only takes some Trini drivers about a half hour or so! The joint service was very nice, and they had a great meal afterward as always. We were noticing how different this was than even the last joint service. The very first joint service we attended was the first weekend we were here, and we were meeting a lot and lot of people. The next time (at the end of November) I felt like I knew a lot of people but didn't interact with a whole lot of them. But this time I felt like I really talked to people and knew them and it was good to see a lot of them again.
~Roxy
Last Friday was Parents Day at our school. So, the students were supposed to bring their parents to school with them to talk to the teachers and then we'd be done around 11:30. We went early so Roxy could finish building the model of a bridge she's making. It was supposed to be done for Parents Day but her group had some conflicts and it wasn't finished yet. Then, everyone assembled in the big upstairs room. This room is usually divided into 3 classrooms just by whiteboards, but they move them out of the way for certain events when they need a bigger space. First, the principal talked to all the parents and students. It was kind of like the chapel service we have every Thursday. Then the staff were introduced and parents could ask questions. After that, the teachers divided up and went to their own classrooms, where the parents could come see them and talk to them and get grades. Each class has a form teacher, who, in most cases, is the teacher they have the most classes with. So, the form teachers had the report cards for the students. I liked the way the report cards were set up. They had the grading scale, your final exam scores for each class, your course work scores for each class, and then your final grades for each class, plus some other information, like how many days you were absent and that kind of stuff. We ended up waiting forever to talk to the principal and we were pretty close to the last ones to leave.
~Olivia
We awoke this morning to hear the stunning results of the local elections here. The political system here is a parliamentary system of government. There is the ruling party and one major opposition party. There is a second opposition party which is largely a group that broke away from the major opposition party because of discontent with its leadership a few years ago. Well, yesterday was election day for internal elections in this major opposition party. The man who formed the party over 20 years ago and who had at one time been the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago was, for the first time in party history, being challenged. And to everyone's surprise, he lost to one of two challengers. Not only that, but the person who beat him was a woman. She won by more than 10-1. The whole victory has a sort of Obama quality to it.
The system of government is different, but the politics is not so different from American politics. It was heated and nasty, with allegations of corruption and personal scandals. The media has been totally consumed by it only breaking to update on Haiti. This country has been an independent nation for a relatively short time compared to what I am used to. This is only the second generation of leaders really, though many have been around with concentrated power for nearly as long as the Bush's and the Clinton's. It has been interesting to watch a government without a real executive branch. Let's just say democrats and republicans are not the only groups that have a hard time working together and live within a political system that encourages adversarial relationships.
~Barb
One of the highlights of yesterday's joint service was the licensing of a new pastor, Navin Benny, to serve at Hope Mennonite Church. This is an important step for the church here. As we've probably mentioned somewhere along the way, there have been only four pastors to serve six congregations—and one of the pastors is an American missionary, Richard Keeler. The goal is eventually to have a local pastor for each one of the congregations, and another local person to serve as overseer for all the Mennonite churches. This licensing brings that goal one step closer to reality. There is also another individual who is in formal training for pastoral ministry, along with some others who are considering such a calling. We see our work here largely as supporting the development of such leadership. Even though we may not be teaching future Mennonite pastors in our classes, our service at WITC helps support the institution where those future pastors are trained. And our current service at Diego Martin Mennonite Church is allowing one of the current pastors, Rawl Gunpath, to have a well-deserved sabbatical so that he may hopefully be re-energized for further service.
In addition to the licensing, yesterday's worship time also included a commissioning for one of the current pastors, Ganesh Kalloo, to serve at Charlieville Mennonite Church, which has been without a pastor for quite some time. Ganesh will continue to pastor the Mennonite Church of Chaguanas as well, splitting his time between the two congregations. This, again, is a very important step since it marks the first time that all six of the current Mennonite churches in Trinidad have pastoral leadership.
We also found out yesterday that the work permit has been approved for the new overseer, David Yoder, who is now expected to arrive in Trinidad from Pennsylvania in a few weeks. That position has been vacant since very shortly after we arrived here. Finally, we continue to pray for the health of Richard Keeler, who has been back in the U.S. since just before Christmas for diagnosis and medical treatment. We are hopeful that he will be well enough to return soon and bring the pastoral team for the Mennonite Church of Trinidad and Tobago to full strength.
~Richard
Sunday, January 17, 2010
January Update
Earlier this afternoon, we went to the home of a family from Diego Martin Mennonite Church. We also had visited there the week before. They are a very musical family and have been wanting to get together with some other musical people from the Mennonite churches in T&T. Since January has 5 Sundays in it, there will be a joint service this month. Usually, the joint service is on the 5th Sunday, but since next week is Mennonite World Fellowship Sunday, they decided to move it to the 4th this time. The worship teams from the different churches take turns leading worship for the joint service. So this time the Diego Martin worship team requested to lead worship. So we have been meeting with music people mostly from Diego Martin, but a few from other churches. We taught a few songs (including harmony, which was mostly new) as well as learned a few new ones, including one African one (along with a dance) and one in Hindi. I think everyone's been having a good time working on this together!
~Roxy
School seemed to pick up a little more this week. For the first three days, nothing much happened and not many people came. Last week most people were back. There actually wasn't as much change over of students as I thought there might be. A lot of people, especially in Roxy's class said they were going to leave and go to a different school this term. Her class has stayed exactly the same, though. I had a new student in my class on Monday, but I haven't seen her since then, so I'm assuming she's not coming back. And there was another new student on Tuesday. One person who dropped out in the middle of last term decided to come back this term and another person who was in my class last term I haven't seen yet. But, the other 11 students have remained the same.
People in school have been talking a lot about Carnival, which is an extremely big and celebrated holiday here! It won't be until next month, but some people are starting to play music already. We actually wanted to go see some steel pans on the way home today, but the music thing went to long, and it was over by the time we got there. We're still trying to figure out what to do for Carnival, because it seems as though most of the Mennonites don't celebrate it because it focuses a lot on the drinking and that kind of stuff. But, we still think it would be fun if we could get in on some of the music. We haven't heard many steel pans live, so we're hoping to catch some between now and Carnival!
~Olivia
The good news of the week is that we finally have our water back! After nearly a month of calling nearly every business day (and spending virtually hours on hold) the water company came on Wednesday afternoon and patched up the line. They basically did the same thing that they did last August shortly after we arrived. We're hoping it lasts longer this time--at least until we head back to the U.S. in July. For now, we're just glad that we are able to do laundry and take showers without worrying about running out of water. The whole affair does make us more mindful of those who don't have access to running water at all.
The day after the water was repaired, we were faced with another reminder that we are living in a country that still is not as developed as what we've been accustomed to. Our car has had an oil leak for a while, and I finally was able to get the mechanic to take a look at it on Thursday. He discovered a leaky gasket. In the United States, it would be a simple matter of getting a new gasket and replacing the old one. The problem here, however, is that parts for the sort of car that we have (a Mitsubishi Galant) are not that easy to come by on the island. So the mechanic suggested that both he and I "keep an eye out" for a replacement gasket. Until then, there's not much that we can do.
~Richard
The day we got our water back was the same day we heard that hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti lost theirs. The local news outlets in Trinidad rarely spend time on world news. There is a fairly developed media network here of print newspapers, radio and TV stations and recording artists. But they are very local in their scope. Mostly we hear about local sports, local crime and dramatic local politics with little concern for the rest of the world. But the earthquake in Haiti has been distincly different. The news here is full of the coverage of it. People in churches are praying for the people of Haiti (and scoffing at Pat Robertson). Companies and individuals and even the government here are offering aid.
The fact that Haiti is also an island country in the general region, even though it may actually be closer to the U.S. than it is to Trinidad, creates a kind of bond. When we hear that there is only 1 airport and one sea port from which to get supplies and that they are badly damaged so that supplies are hard to get in, we know what that is like. When they talk about running out of the supplies that are on the island, we know that if that happens, you have nothing you can do but wait until someone brings more to you. When they talk about the massive death toll, we know that the relationships of people living on an island are so close. In some ways it's like living in a really big small town in which you are always learning that somebody is the cousin of somebody else. Generations have grown up together and most likely everyone has lost people who are very close. And so our prayers go out to you, Haiti. We personally feel closer to you than ever.
Barb
~Roxy
School seemed to pick up a little more this week. For the first three days, nothing much happened and not many people came. Last week most people were back. There actually wasn't as much change over of students as I thought there might be. A lot of people, especially in Roxy's class said they were going to leave and go to a different school this term. Her class has stayed exactly the same, though. I had a new student in my class on Monday, but I haven't seen her since then, so I'm assuming she's not coming back. And there was another new student on Tuesday. One person who dropped out in the middle of last term decided to come back this term and another person who was in my class last term I haven't seen yet. But, the other 11 students have remained the same.
People in school have been talking a lot about Carnival, which is an extremely big and celebrated holiday here! It won't be until next month, but some people are starting to play music already. We actually wanted to go see some steel pans on the way home today, but the music thing went to long, and it was over by the time we got there. We're still trying to figure out what to do for Carnival, because it seems as though most of the Mennonites don't celebrate it because it focuses a lot on the drinking and that kind of stuff. But, we still think it would be fun if we could get in on some of the music. We haven't heard many steel pans live, so we're hoping to catch some between now and Carnival!
~Olivia
The good news of the week is that we finally have our water back! After nearly a month of calling nearly every business day (and spending virtually hours on hold) the water company came on Wednesday afternoon and patched up the line. They basically did the same thing that they did last August shortly after we arrived. We're hoping it lasts longer this time--at least until we head back to the U.S. in July. For now, we're just glad that we are able to do laundry and take showers without worrying about running out of water. The whole affair does make us more mindful of those who don't have access to running water at all.
The day after the water was repaired, we were faced with another reminder that we are living in a country that still is not as developed as what we've been accustomed to. Our car has had an oil leak for a while, and I finally was able to get the mechanic to take a look at it on Thursday. He discovered a leaky gasket. In the United States, it would be a simple matter of getting a new gasket and replacing the old one. The problem here, however, is that parts for the sort of car that we have (a Mitsubishi Galant) are not that easy to come by on the island. So the mechanic suggested that both he and I "keep an eye out" for a replacement gasket. Until then, there's not much that we can do.
~Richard
The day we got our water back was the same day we heard that hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti lost theirs. The local news outlets in Trinidad rarely spend time on world news. There is a fairly developed media network here of print newspapers, radio and TV stations and recording artists. But they are very local in their scope. Mostly we hear about local sports, local crime and dramatic local politics with little concern for the rest of the world. But the earthquake in Haiti has been distincly different. The news here is full of the coverage of it. People in churches are praying for the people of Haiti (and scoffing at Pat Robertson). Companies and individuals and even the government here are offering aid.
The fact that Haiti is also an island country in the general region, even though it may actually be closer to the U.S. than it is to Trinidad, creates a kind of bond. When we hear that there is only 1 airport and one sea port from which to get supplies and that they are badly damaged so that supplies are hard to get in, we know what that is like. When they talk about running out of the supplies that are on the island, we know that if that happens, you have nothing you can do but wait until someone brings more to you. When they talk about the massive death toll, we know that the relationships of people living on an island are so close. In some ways it's like living in a really big small town in which you are always learning that somebody is the cousin of somebody else. Generations have grown up together and most likely everyone has lost people who are very close. And so our prayers go out to you, Haiti. We personally feel closer to you than ever.
Barb
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Back to school!
We have all started school again! Once again, the term started out pretty slowly, with a lot of students absent. We aren't expecting too many people until Monday, at least. PAWI has gained another teacher! She was apparently here a couple terms ago, but last term she was on maternity leave. She is the science and Spanish teacher. Since everything seems to take more time in Trinidad, we have not gotten grades yet. However, the teachers have slowly been handing back tests. This is one of the most exciting things that has happened this term, because we can not expect all the teachers to be back in school and teaching the first week of the new term.
~Roxy
Like Roxy said, we have had 2 mostly uneventful days of school. Yesterday, I got 5 out of my 10 tests back. But, I only had one actual class (with the science teacher Roxy mentioned). Even that class was somewhat unclass like. Mostly the students were asking the teacher questions. I didn't use a pen or a notebook all day! Today, during math, we actually did some productive work, but then the teacher said he needed to go do something and to finish those 2 problems and he'd be back in 5 minutes. Well, it was probably close to a half an hour later when he actually came back. But, by that time that class was over. The teacher I was supposed to have was sitting in the chair she had been sitting in all morning which was on the other side of the board (which is serving as a wall since there is no actual wall there) where she had been teaching the form sixes. So, we didn't have anything to do for the rest of the morning. That teacher was still there when I came back from lunch. After lunch, we had just started Social Studies and the teacher for that was about to give us some notes when my parents came to get me and Roxy since they had a staff meeting at WITC and wouldn't be able to come pick us up when school was over. That's okay. I bet we didn't miss much! There was a girl who came yesterday but she was upset that they actually had to write something down and it was only the first day, so she didn't come again today. Why would you come to school if you weren't expecting to do any work? You might as well stay home then.
~Olivia
Our classes at WITC don't actually start for a couple of more weeks. I've been spending most of my time this week planning and getting my syllabus ready. Right now, there are a couple of classes being taught as "modules." These are intensive classes that meet every day for two weeks. We are not teaching any of the modules. However, we did go to the college for a faculty meeting today. We now know that we will again be teaching classes on Wednesday evenings. We also received our class rosters. I have only two students registered for my homiletics class, one of whom was in the philosophy class I taught last semester. They are the only two theology students in their second year, which is when homiletics is typically taken. This was information that I gleaned from the listing of all the students at the college that was also distributed at the meeting. Until now, I had never known for sure what the enrollment of WITC was. According to the full roster, there are right around 50 students this year. But although it is a theological college, only seven of them are actually getting degrees in theology. The vast majority of students will get their degrees in either social work (19 students) or psychology & counseling (16 students). The only other degree offered is in Christian education, which currently has only one major. The other students are pursuing certificates or are listed as "special" students.
~Richard
Beginning second semester for us all leads me to reflect on the difference a few months make. Looking back to August I mostly remember that as moving month. Every time I have moved in my life, even though they have all been places I chose to move, there is a certain amount of stress that accompanies the settling in period. Everything from figuring out the best place to buy groceries to building new relationships takes some effort that one doesn't expend so much in regular life. Add a new culture to the mix and it is both an exciting adventure and an exhausting maze of things to puzzle through. That's what last semester was. When the term began we did not yet know where the girls would be going to school in spite of much time and effort. They actually began a couple of days late while we were figuring it all out. Because of the typically slow starts here, that didn't turn out to be a problem, but we had not yet learned that. By contrast, this week we did know that. So, we gave them the choice of whether or not they wanted to go to school this week or start next week. They chose to begin. They chose this in large part because what had once been new and scary for them was now a place where they had friends and had come to enjoy being.
As for Richard and I, knowing what we are going to teach and attended a couple of faculty meetings and having a schedule of how many weeks are in our semester, having all this with 2 weeks to go before class begins feels like luxury. I too have been spending time this week choosing a text and planning my syllabus. It feels good to get back into the routine and begin this work again. I am teaching Theory and Practice of Social Work III, so all my students will be returning from the prerequisit class I taught last term. It is nice to know the students and rejoin them. I will also be supervising the thesis of one of those students. Although I am teaching material I have never taught before, I still feel so much more prepared than I did last term. Looking back it is nice to feel the difference. There is a coziness about where we are at the start of this term. Even the water situation is a return to what it was in August. Although it has gone on longer this time and although every day after waiting on hold they tell us they hope to have someone out to fix the leak in a day or two, our resources for handling it are so much greater than they were when we arrived. We know our neighbors better, we know places we can go for help and we can understand conversations and the meanings behind them better. We are so grateful to be able to spend the kind of time here that allows us those opportunities. It is a such a blessing to be able to really live here.
~Barb
~Roxy
Like Roxy said, we have had 2 mostly uneventful days of school. Yesterday, I got 5 out of my 10 tests back. But, I only had one actual class (with the science teacher Roxy mentioned). Even that class was somewhat unclass like. Mostly the students were asking the teacher questions. I didn't use a pen or a notebook all day! Today, during math, we actually did some productive work, but then the teacher said he needed to go do something and to finish those 2 problems and he'd be back in 5 minutes. Well, it was probably close to a half an hour later when he actually came back. But, by that time that class was over. The teacher I was supposed to have was sitting in the chair she had been sitting in all morning which was on the other side of the board (which is serving as a wall since there is no actual wall there) where she had been teaching the form sixes. So, we didn't have anything to do for the rest of the morning. That teacher was still there when I came back from lunch. After lunch, we had just started Social Studies and the teacher for that was about to give us some notes when my parents came to get me and Roxy since they had a staff meeting at WITC and wouldn't be able to come pick us up when school was over. That's okay. I bet we didn't miss much! There was a girl who came yesterday but she was upset that they actually had to write something down and it was only the first day, so she didn't come again today. Why would you come to school if you weren't expecting to do any work? You might as well stay home then.
~Olivia
Our classes at WITC don't actually start for a couple of more weeks. I've been spending most of my time this week planning and getting my syllabus ready. Right now, there are a couple of classes being taught as "modules." These are intensive classes that meet every day for two weeks. We are not teaching any of the modules. However, we did go to the college for a faculty meeting today. We now know that we will again be teaching classes on Wednesday evenings. We also received our class rosters. I have only two students registered for my homiletics class, one of whom was in the philosophy class I taught last semester. They are the only two theology students in their second year, which is when homiletics is typically taken. This was information that I gleaned from the listing of all the students at the college that was also distributed at the meeting. Until now, I had never known for sure what the enrollment of WITC was. According to the full roster, there are right around 50 students this year. But although it is a theological college, only seven of them are actually getting degrees in theology. The vast majority of students will get their degrees in either social work (19 students) or psychology & counseling (16 students). The only other degree offered is in Christian education, which currently has only one major. The other students are pursuing certificates or are listed as "special" students.
~Richard
Beginning second semester for us all leads me to reflect on the difference a few months make. Looking back to August I mostly remember that as moving month. Every time I have moved in my life, even though they have all been places I chose to move, there is a certain amount of stress that accompanies the settling in period. Everything from figuring out the best place to buy groceries to building new relationships takes some effort that one doesn't expend so much in regular life. Add a new culture to the mix and it is both an exciting adventure and an exhausting maze of things to puzzle through. That's what last semester was. When the term began we did not yet know where the girls would be going to school in spite of much time and effort. They actually began a couple of days late while we were figuring it all out. Because of the typically slow starts here, that didn't turn out to be a problem, but we had not yet learned that. By contrast, this week we did know that. So, we gave them the choice of whether or not they wanted to go to school this week or start next week. They chose to begin. They chose this in large part because what had once been new and scary for them was now a place where they had friends and had come to enjoy being.
As for Richard and I, knowing what we are going to teach and attended a couple of faculty meetings and having a schedule of how many weeks are in our semester, having all this with 2 weeks to go before class begins feels like luxury. I too have been spending time this week choosing a text and planning my syllabus. It feels good to get back into the routine and begin this work again. I am teaching Theory and Practice of Social Work III, so all my students will be returning from the prerequisit class I taught last term. It is nice to know the students and rejoin them. I will also be supervising the thesis of one of those students. Although I am teaching material I have never taught before, I still feel so much more prepared than I did last term. Looking back it is nice to feel the difference. There is a coziness about where we are at the start of this term. Even the water situation is a return to what it was in August. Although it has gone on longer this time and although every day after waiting on hold they tell us they hope to have someone out to fix the leak in a day or two, our resources for handling it are so much greater than they were when we arrived. We know our neighbors better, we know places we can go for help and we can understand conversations and the meanings behind them better. We are so grateful to be able to spend the kind of time here that allows us those opportunities. It is a such a blessing to be able to really live here.
~Barb
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy New Year
The churches here typically hold services to mark the end of the year. Instead of referring to the time as "New Years Eve" as we would in the US, the day here in Trinidad is known as "Old Year." So we attended the Old Year Service at Charlieville. It was quite convenient for us since we didn't need to venture out late at night or be on the roads with all the folks who had been partying for a while. (The amount of drinking and driving in the country was reportedly down considerably this year due to the introduction of breathalyser machines last month.)
The Old Year Service started at 10:00 pm, and followed the same general pattern as most any worship service here--lots of singing, praying, sharing, a sermon and an offering. In addition, one of the church leaders read through a listing of significant events in the church over the past year. The report often focused more on what food was served at the gatherings than on any decisions that were made. There was also a special time for silent individual prayer. So at the stroke of midnight, while lots of fireworks were being set off in the neighborhood all around us, we prayed out the old year of 2009 and welcomed 2010. The service ended at around 12:30. Then we had sandwiches, cake and drinks before everyone headed home.
~Richard
The night before Old Year, our family was invited to my friend's house for dinner. They told us to come around 5:00. Apparently that meant that they started preparing the corn soup at 5:00. First, the women went into the kitchen and chopped potatoes, sweet potatoes, eddoes, carrots, chardon benit (pronounced shadow benny), chives, pamento, and corn. They put a big black pot over a gas burner that was sitting outside on the concrete to cook the soup in. They set out snacks while it was cooking. During the preparation time, the women and boys were doing most of the cooking. The girls were decorating with balloons, and then we played cards until the soup was ready. The men sat around and told jokes, most of which started out "A Trini, a Jamaican and a Bajan" (someone from Barbados) "went up to heaven. St. Peter greeted them at the gate..." The interesting thing about that is that pretty much all those men were Hindu! Then, their conversation turned into a discussion about religion. Me and Roxy taught some card games to the other girls there and they taught some to us, but for the most part we didn't know the same ones. Or some of them we didn't think we knew, but we realized that we actually did know it, or at least some version of it, but we knew it by another name. I'm guessing dinner wasn't actually served until at least 9:00, it could have very well been 10:00. The soup was difficult to eat because we had to take the corn out of the soup and suck it off the cob, because no one had bothered to take it off. They just chopped the whole thing, including the cob. Then afterwards, we stayed around and limed some more and played more card games. Then, the women came and watched us, while the men's religion discussion got more heated. And the boys went and limed by the savannah. After a while, my mom started to turn her Styrofoam cup inside out, which amazed us girls who had been playing cards. We spent a while trying to do the same, but no one succeeded. By the time we got in the car, it was 1:00 in the morning! We had no idea it was that late! And the next night was Old Year, so we had a couple of extremely late nights!
~Olivia
Yesterday we officially began our interim pastoring at Diego Martin. Richard preached and I lead communion. We have enjoyed being available to all the churches and getting to know so many people this first semester. When we were at the Old Year service at Charlieville I thought how I would miss meeting with the folks there. But on the up side it will be nice to have a regular church home again. The potential to deepen and make meaningful relationships really depends on regular and consistant contact. We look forward to that. We are still figuring out what it means to be a pastor here. Many of the things we do back home are not done here. There are no bulletins to prepare, no office hours to keep, only one committee meeting a month with the congregation and less clear instructions from others. At the same time, there are lots of potential areas in which to work. People seem pretty relaxed about the whole thing.
After church we went out to eat to celebrate Richard's birthday which is today. Happy Birthday, honey!
~Barb
Things are not always what they seem. Especially in Trinidad. For example, take our water situation. One of my parents has, for the past 17 days, spent a portion of the morning on the phone with WASA (Water And Sewage Authority). Every time the answer has been the same: We'll try to get someone out to look at it soon. Obviously, this has not been entirely true, seeing that we are on our 17th day of no water. Finally, today, when my mom was on hold on the phone with WASA, a WASA truck pulled up! A man got out of it and asked my dad some questions, then wrote a report. So at least now they have seen the leak and written a report! Another example: school. Technically, school started today. But over the break, the government decided that all of the government and government assisted secondary schools would not start until Wednesday. Our school is a private school, but they seem to run on basically the same schedule as the government schools do. So, first of all, we are not completely sure that we would even be having school, and even if we technically are, many of the students (and possibly teachers) would probably assume that we aren't, and so not go. Also, our experience here is that at the beginning of a new term, people rarely show up anytime in the first week. So when we do go on Wednesday, I am sure that there will still be a lot of people who won't be there. Since we were not having school today, we took this opportunity to go visit the preschool next door, which was started by Charlieville Mennonite Church. Even though the preschool is government assisted, they are definitely not a secondary school, so they were in session today. When we walked in the door, we saw 44 very quiet, well-behaved preschoolers sitting at tables and 44 pairs of very dark brown eyes staring at us. The teachers told us that they were having quiet time and they would be going outside soon, but some of the parents were coming to pick up their kids already. Some of the children were very friendly, like the girl who sang me a song, but some were very shy, and when I asked them their names, just shook their heads no. They seem to have a really nice program going on there, and I hope we can visit again sometime.
~Roxy
The Old Year Service started at 10:00 pm, and followed the same general pattern as most any worship service here--lots of singing, praying, sharing, a sermon and an offering. In addition, one of the church leaders read through a listing of significant events in the church over the past year. The report often focused more on what food was served at the gatherings than on any decisions that were made. There was also a special time for silent individual prayer. So at the stroke of midnight, while lots of fireworks were being set off in the neighborhood all around us, we prayed out the old year of 2009 and welcomed 2010. The service ended at around 12:30. Then we had sandwiches, cake and drinks before everyone headed home.
~Richard
The night before Old Year, our family was invited to my friend's house for dinner. They told us to come around 5:00. Apparently that meant that they started preparing the corn soup at 5:00. First, the women went into the kitchen and chopped potatoes, sweet potatoes, eddoes, carrots, chardon benit (pronounced shadow benny), chives, pamento, and corn. They put a big black pot over a gas burner that was sitting outside on the concrete to cook the soup in. They set out snacks while it was cooking. During the preparation time, the women and boys were doing most of the cooking. The girls were decorating with balloons, and then we played cards until the soup was ready. The men sat around and told jokes, most of which started out "A Trini, a Jamaican and a Bajan" (someone from Barbados) "went up to heaven. St. Peter greeted them at the gate..." The interesting thing about that is that pretty much all those men were Hindu! Then, their conversation turned into a discussion about religion. Me and Roxy taught some card games to the other girls there and they taught some to us, but for the most part we didn't know the same ones. Or some of them we didn't think we knew, but we realized that we actually did know it, or at least some version of it, but we knew it by another name. I'm guessing dinner wasn't actually served until at least 9:00, it could have very well been 10:00. The soup was difficult to eat because we had to take the corn out of the soup and suck it off the cob, because no one had bothered to take it off. They just chopped the whole thing, including the cob. Then afterwards, we stayed around and limed some more and played more card games. Then, the women came and watched us, while the men's religion discussion got more heated. And the boys went and limed by the savannah. After a while, my mom started to turn her Styrofoam cup inside out, which amazed us girls who had been playing cards. We spent a while trying to do the same, but no one succeeded. By the time we got in the car, it was 1:00 in the morning! We had no idea it was that late! And the next night was Old Year, so we had a couple of extremely late nights!
~Olivia
Yesterday we officially began our interim pastoring at Diego Martin. Richard preached and I lead communion. We have enjoyed being available to all the churches and getting to know so many people this first semester. When we were at the Old Year service at Charlieville I thought how I would miss meeting with the folks there. But on the up side it will be nice to have a regular church home again. The potential to deepen and make meaningful relationships really depends on regular and consistant contact. We look forward to that. We are still figuring out what it means to be a pastor here. Many of the things we do back home are not done here. There are no bulletins to prepare, no office hours to keep, only one committee meeting a month with the congregation and less clear instructions from others. At the same time, there are lots of potential areas in which to work. People seem pretty relaxed about the whole thing.
After church we went out to eat to celebrate Richard's birthday which is today. Happy Birthday, honey!
~Barb
Things are not always what they seem. Especially in Trinidad. For example, take our water situation. One of my parents has, for the past 17 days, spent a portion of the morning on the phone with WASA (Water And Sewage Authority). Every time the answer has been the same: We'll try to get someone out to look at it soon. Obviously, this has not been entirely true, seeing that we are on our 17th day of no water. Finally, today, when my mom was on hold on the phone with WASA, a WASA truck pulled up! A man got out of it and asked my dad some questions, then wrote a report. So at least now they have seen the leak and written a report! Another example: school. Technically, school started today. But over the break, the government decided that all of the government and government assisted secondary schools would not start until Wednesday. Our school is a private school, but they seem to run on basically the same schedule as the government schools do. So, first of all, we are not completely sure that we would even be having school, and even if we technically are, many of the students (and possibly teachers) would probably assume that we aren't, and so not go. Also, our experience here is that at the beginning of a new term, people rarely show up anytime in the first week. So when we do go on Wednesday, I am sure that there will still be a lot of people who won't be there. Since we were not having school today, we took this opportunity to go visit the preschool next door, which was started by Charlieville Mennonite Church. Even though the preschool is government assisted, they are definitely not a secondary school, so they were in session today. When we walked in the door, we saw 44 very quiet, well-behaved preschoolers sitting at tables and 44 pairs of very dark brown eyes staring at us. The teachers told us that they were having quiet time and they would be going outside soon, but some of the parents were coming to pick up their kids already. Some of the children were very friendly, like the girl who sang me a song, but some were very shy, and when I asked them their names, just shook their heads no. They seem to have a really nice program going on there, and I hope we can visit again sometime.
~Roxy
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