I Love Sundays.

The holidays have come and gone (taking with them a serious bout of homesickness) and life has started to get back on track. By this I mean three to four (full day) Confirmation retreats a week all over the Toledo District up until the last week in February – “Confirmation Week” – three masses a day for seven days straight. We’ll see if Matt and I survive.

The following entry is something that I wrote in my journal this previous Sunday. I have decided to share it as I think it simply describes a little part of where I am in my time here. Hope you enjoy it.

(sitting at the lee table on the veranda – homemade pizza in the oven – 6:17pm)

Today has been one of those perfect days. Started with 7:30am mass which was organized by St. Benedict’s School where seven of my students (Selvin, Louis, Jarvis, Kershaw, Alex, Debbie and Nelmarie) were presented as candidates for the Confirmation program which lasts two years. They did a nice little liturgical dance which was great – all I could do was smile – I was so proud of them. I then did two loads of laundry – one of mine and one of Matt’s as he’s in Belize City where he went to the hospital because we thought he contracted Dengue again but it ended up being e-coli (perhaps from the turkey caldo we ate in San Benito Poite village on Friday). The laundry dried in such a short amount of time as it was perfect laundry weather – sunny and breezy – it’s the little things that can make your Sundays so great!

Em and I ended up going to Ms. Cathy’s for the afternoon and brought a lee “no egg chocolate cake” which came out perfectly! It was so moist and we had just enough frosting left to cover it – again, the little things! Spending time at Ms. Cathy’s is such a rejuvenating experience. It is always so peaceful and welcoming in her home – it opens my eyes more fully to the beauty of Belizean culture. I sat on the veranda with her for hours as her friend watched TV in the living room, Giovanni and Bolo came in and out of the house, and Mr. Roy cracked back in the veranda’s hammock offering only little bits to the conversation per usual.

While spending time with Ms. Cathy, I was struck by the simple beauty of her home and yard; her lawn - so perfectly manicured and maintained with great pride, her tall mango and molly apple trees – bringing so much shade from the intense Belizean sun, her little wooden home – always bursting at the seams with visitors, some permanent, others only temporary. And as many people as there are, Ms. Cathy always manages to make room for more – just an added chair or a mattress and pillow. Her generosity and openness is so humbling to experience and makes me realize how much more room I have to grow in opening myself up to others freely in so many different ways.

I was also mesmerized by all of the hens and roosters running about in the yard. Some belonged to Ms. Cathy and others to her neighbors – ducking in and out of the yards in search of food and perhaps a good lay. I’ve decided I want to raise chickens at some point in time. May be difficult in the city life, but I’ll find a time – maybe when I go abroad again. I find them to be so lively and natural – it just makes sense to have them around. Plus, I figure if I can deal with Baxter’s obnoxious barking from 5 to 8am every morning, I can sure as hell deal with the crowing of a rooster at dawn.

I biked the 4.5 miles home slower than usual; wanting to take in the ride for all that it had to offer – especially because I had the cool evening temperature on my side as the sun began to set. I made a point to really look at every home and field I passed, noticing something different about each one. Some were more run down than I had remembered while others had rebuilt their front steps or painted their veranda a new color. It was great to see the places I pass almost daily in a new way.

I prayed for a good part of the rest of the way home – thanking God for the beautiful day and the time I was able to spend with Ms. Cathy. It continues to amaze me that this is the wonderful life that I have been given and these are the experiences that are being offered to me at the age of twenty-four. If this is what I have now, what still lies ahead of me? All I can do for now is wonder, dream, and be thankful for the present moment. Thank you for this.