Valentine's Day and a new roommate

For once I celebrated Valentine's Day!! Here is it the day of love and friendship so everyone is included! We had a team dinner and small gift exchange. The kids from tutoring surprised my team with a party that they organized themselves. I gave and received some chocolate so this tradition is the same, but it is fun to be able to celebrate yours friends too. This way single people are included :)

Later that night I received some sad news that a teacher at my school had passed away suddenly. I didn't know him very well, but my school isn't very big, 6 teachers or so, so it hit everyone hard. Here they have the wake right away and it was held at my school all through the night until the next day which was the burial. The casket is not open, but there is a window built into it so people can see the face and say their goodbyes or grieve. Here the family of the deceased serves food to all the guests that come to the house or this case the school for the wake. I was explaining to my friend and the other teachers that it is the opposite in the states because everyone brings food for the family so they don't have to cook. There is a large procession to the cemetery with the crowd of people walking behind the casket which is either being carried or driven slowly in a van. There is a small ceremony or prayer time and then the person is buried right then and there, probably less than 24hrs after they died.

I also have a temporary roommate. One of the guys we know from the park who shines shoes needed a place to stay. He is 15, works all day in the park and eats his meals over at my teammate's house. He has become part of our IC family and is hoping he can go back to school soon. He is chill and respectful and I have only had to tell him to clean his bathroom and do his laundry :) His mom passed away and his dad abandoned the family. He has younger siblings who are living with his grandma 2 hours away in a small village and he sends money to her to help take care of his siblings. I know he feels a lot of responsibility to take care of them. Hopefully with some support this will be a good step in the right direction for him towards a more hopeful future.

A Mayan Ceremony

I was invited to a Mayan ceremony/ritual by the owner of my school. My teacher and I both went and it was the first time for both of us. It was quite the experience. First, we hiked a little ways through the hills to find a stone altar. There were about 20 people with us and these altars which are made specifically for different types of Mayan ceremonies. They decorated the altar which also had a cross, with flowers, and food including chocolate, bread and a type of traditional rice drink. Next they formed a large circle with pieces of wood and some type of material that would burn. The circle was filled with some food, gum, they sprinkled sugar, placed more chocolate and bread on top to form a small pile. Around the outside were different colors of flowers representing different elements of the earth. The final thing before they set it all on fire was the lamb. Yep, I witnessed my first animal sacrifice. I won't go into detail, but it was alive when they started, cut into pieces, placed on the pile and finally burned with the rest of the things. While the large fire was burning there were lots of types of prayers and petitions and the lady who I came with had to walk/dance around the fire 13 times. It was a ceremony for her because she was being given the gift/job of becoming a shaman of sorts. At one point she had to hold the head of the sheep and later its heart, but I'm not sure what meaning this part had. People threw different colored candles into the fire, sugar, alcohol all representing a different type of petition I think as the leader instructed/prayed. The ceremony lasted about 3 hours total until everything had burned and then we had a snack afterwards. It was definitely a new experience for me and something I didn't not expect, but I was glad I had the opportunity. Chalk it up to a new cultural experience. Mayan Ritual. Check.