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.