FyA 44 Anniversary - Mass

The FyA logo has been marked onto the side of the mountain using white clay, which can only mean one thing: it's the school's anniversary week!

Students carry San Ignacio from the chapel in Secundaria up the hill to Primaria for the anniversary mass.

The school anniversary mass is overshadowed by the festival of traditional dances that comes later the same day, but it's obviously an important celebration. Almost everyone in the school participates, with the exception of the preschool students and teachers, because the 3 year olds have trouble sitting through an entire mass. They were represented, however, by 4 children who danced up the aisle at the opening song. They left right after that, having claimed the prize of “cutest moment of the mass.”

Pd. Eddy said mass. His homily was very participatory, consisting mainly of questions about Saint Ignatius's life.* I was thrilled that my Primaria 1^st graders knew just about every answer, though that was due more to their classroom teachers repeatedly playing a song about the life of Saint Ignatius (Called “Rock de Nacho”) than it had to do with my small lesson on the patron saint's life.

Other highlights of the mass included the offertory, when students were invited to leave a flower in front of the statue of Saint Ignatius, and the music done by Siembra. Hermana Rosario, who organized the mass, made sure the have students of all ages and teachers from all levels participating; it reinforced the concept of the educational community that the school forms.

As if often the case at big school events, I was put in charge of photography. I ran around the patio throughout the mass, armed with my own camera and Pd. Eddy's iPhone, taking pictures and video clips from every angle. The fun part of moving around so much was that I got to see many of my students through the eucharistic celebration.

Grupo Siembra leads the music during Communion.

After the mass, which had been held at Primaria, everyone walked down to Secundaria for the dedication of the new school library. This has been a big project for Pd. Eddy, and he's excited about it. He has invited not only students, but parents as well, to come and take out books. He's proud to say it's probably the best library in the area, since many of the books come from a former Jesuit residence in Cusco. The dedication ceremony was all the boringness of any such ceremony – lots of basic greetings and words about how knowledge and books are important, and not much to do besides sit and smile politely.

Pd. Eddy speaks at the dedication of the new library.

The fun moment came when the ribbon was cut. Pd. Eddy had handed me a bag of candy before the ceremony “so you can do the sebo.” The sebo is a common part of ceremonies where the people celebrating toss candy, and sometimes money, out into the crowd. It's basically a requirement for a baptism. So when the ribbon was cut I ran past students and teachers tossing out handfuls of candies. Many complained later that they got nothing, but when you only have 100 candies to toss out to a student body of 800 and a staff of 100, most people are going home empty handed.

After the dedication of the library came the almuerzo de confraternidad (Lunch of Fraternity). There was wine and lechón (roast pig) for the staff, and chicha (corn juice) and roast chicken for the students. Everyone went home full and happy to prepare for the most anticipated part of the day: the festival of traditional dances.

The mass choir.

*Remember that Saint Ignatius, known here as San Ignacio, is the patron saint of FyA 44.