Noted with Translation: How to Die Edition

If you have to die, you have to die eating!

Holy Week Schedule

The biggest week of the Liturgical Year starts tomorrow. But as full as the worship schedule I'm used to getting at my parish in Boston is, the worship schedule in Andahuaylillas is even fuller. Don't expect to hear much from me next week. Then expect to hear a lot the week after. 

Here's everything going on at the parish:

Palm Sunday

• 9:30am Procession with Palms from the chapel on the highway up to the parish
• 10am Mass

Holy Monday

• 8am Mass
• 5pm Procession of Our Lord of Earthquakes

Holy Tuesday

• 8am Mass
• 9-10am Confession

Holy Wednesday

• 6pm Procession (I'm not sure for what)
• 7pm Mass

Holy Thursday

• 3-5pm Confession
• 6pm Mass
• 7-10pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Good Friday

• 3pm Adoration of the Cross
• 4pm Procession of the Stations of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows

Easter Sunday

• 4am Easter Vigil Mass
• 10:30am Easter Day Mass

And at FyA 44:

Retreat for 3rd, 4th, and 5th year high school students

• Holy Thursday 9am-4pm
• Holy Saturday 9am-4pm

Reatreat for 1st and 2nd year high school students

• Good Friday 8am-12:30pm

Collection of flower petals and making of alfombra* (5th year high school students)

• Good Friday dawn-when it's finished

*Alfombra means carpet. In this context it is a decoration on the street along the path of the procession. The students will use flower petals to make an image that will be destroyed only a few hours later as the Stations of the Cross procession passes over it. I think it's a beautiful representation of imperamance. 

Noted with Translation: Nationalist Shopping Advice Edition

Generate a job,
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Jesuit Projects: Internado Malqo Wasi

I've been thinking about how many different projects the Jesuits have in the Quispicanchi province. I've interacted with many of the projects, but there's a lot I don't know. So in an effort to educate myself and to highlight the work that Jesuits and their collaborators (like JVs!) are doing, I'm going to do an intermittent series on Jesuit Projects.

 A key Jesuit project in Ocongate is the internado.  It goes by the name “Malqo Wasi” which is Quechua for “House of the Youth.”

The internado is a home that houses and feed boys from rural communities during the week. These are the students that live too far away to travel each day. They go home only on the weekends, so their experience of the public school in Ocongate is a bit of a boarding school experience. There's one man in charge of the 40 or so boys who stay there. He's responsible for getting them up each morning and getting them to bed each night. Their meals are all provided in the parish comedor (dining hall). Most of the boys Rachel I taught during February live at Malqo Wasi during the school year.

I know at this point some readers are wondering “What about the girls?”

I asked the same question, and here's what I've found out. The parish used to run a similar dormitory for girls, but there aren't people to run it anymore. A great injustice in the Andes (and across the world) is the devaluing of girls' education. Many parents aren't very interested in their daughters being educated. 20 years ago, when the FyA 44 project started, no girls were sent to learn. There are girls going to the FyA schools now, which means things are changing, but there are still more boys sent to school than girls, which means there's change yet to happen.

Delia, the girl we gave a ride to the day we went to the hot springs LINK, is an example of a girl from a rural community who does come to Ocongate to study. Girls like her tend to stay with families in Ocongate.

Without the internado, most of these boys wouldn't be able to go to school in Ocongate. The need for a girls' internado seems obvious, and it's something the Jesuits should prioritize. Pd. Antonio has expressed his desire for a girls' internado, but has had difficulty finding people both capable and trustworthy enough to run it.

The lack of a girls' internado is undoubtably a weakness, but the Jesuits are doing more than any other institution in Cusco to ensure the education children living in rural poverty in Cusco.

Tuesday Song - Santa María del Camino

I failed to post a song last Sunday. Here's a final Lenten song. 

Mary's a big deal for Catholics. She's an even bigger deal for Latino Catholics. As we get ready for the celebration of Holy Week, I'm reflecting on what Holy Week was like for all the people around Jesus.

The gospel tells us nothing about Mary's Passion, so until last year I hadn't given it much thought. After last year's Good Friday procession with Mary, these were my thoughts:

I've never given much thought to Mary's passion. Walking with Mary I focused on her sorrow of watching her son tortured, humiliated, and killed. No parent should have to bury a child. I wonder if, while watching her son die on the cross, Mary got mad at God. Did she think, “this isn't what I signed up for.” She took a big risk when she said yes to God at the annunciation, and on Good Friday all that she got from that risk was taken away. It also made me wonder about her reunion with her risen son on Easter. Would that every murdered son - and daughter - could be returned to their mother after three days in the tomb.

 It's clear to me that Mary lived through some serious stuff. So inviting her to come walk with you on the road is inviting someone who knows the depths of pain and the heights of joy.

When the road gets lonely, when it seems futile. When you feeling like giving Big G the silent treatment because "this isn't what I signed up for," call on Mary. She gets it.

Translation after the jump.

The Internet in Andahuaylillas

Pd. Eddy had some big applause lines at the first parent meeting of the school year:

“Starting this year, the snack stands will be forbidden from selling junk food. I saw last year how we tried to feed the children a healthy lunch and so many of them would fill up on sweets and snacks. From now on the snack stands will only sell healthy food that supports a healthy body and development. Foods like corn, eggs, fruit, and so on!” 

“Last year we began construction on a new library space at the high school. The Jesuit community in Cusco has donated most of their books to us – in actuality I stole them – and Fe y Alegría will have the best library in the whole province of Quispicanchi! This library isn't just for students; parents will also be able to get a library card and take books out when the construction is finished this year."

“Part of the reason for building such a great library is that I told all the teachers last year, and I'm reminding them and letting you know, that it is forbidden to assign homework that requires the internet!”

Why would the director of a school in the 21^st century forbid the use of the internet? Why would parents applaud that their children won't be using resources like wikipedia, the online archives of local publications, and so much more? The answers to these questions have everything to do with the cultural reality of internet access in places like Andahuaylillas.

Belleza por Todos Lados: Below the trees