Greetings!  

I wasn´t exactly sure what to tell you about this time, but after last night…I decided to talk about my limited wildlife experiences.

So, I have been getting acclimated to the small animals here.  The bugs are a little different than what I am used to, but so far not too bad.  I actually haven´t had to use any of the bug spray that I brought with me.  A few mosquito bits, yeah, but nothing major.  There are these little ants that are everywhere.  Counters, cabinets, floor, sinks, you name it, they are around, especially if even a bit of food is left out.  Hence, the kitchen is always cleaned.  Here it is normal, but it took me a bit to get used to it.  They are pretty small, not the huge carpenter ant kind, but still, when they swarm a cup that used to have juice in it, it looks akin to  a horror scene from an animal documentary.  

Also, because there isn´t glass in the windows, sometimes I find little critters around.  A couple days ago I found a huge cricket-like thing in my mosquito netting. And I was all ready to sleep, too.  That changed my immediate plans, as I rid myself of my little guest.  I´m still unsure as to how it got there.  Once, after a rainfall, I had a frog in the kitchen.  Luckily, I was able to catch it in a plastic cup and dispose of it outside the house.  It was a fun morning, I assure you.  I am just glad that Sr. Miguelina, who also lives in Casa Maria, did not see me attempting to capture it.  She probably would have sent me to the nurse.

Many of the buildings here are built with a courtyard in the middle,  or with planters in the hallways, so there are a lot of rocks, flowers, and leaves.  Little leaping lizards love to live in them. They are kind of cute, in a reptilian sort of way, and range from teeny tiny to five inches long. So far I have seen bright yellow, bright green, red, rusty brown, and dark brown.  Most of the time, I don´t mind them, but when I found one in my bathroom unexpectedly, it was a little different.  However, since it skittered away quickly and I haven't seen it since, I suppose he was harmless.

I have already described the watchdogs, but I had a personal experience a few days ago.  Eliud and I were peacefully walking to morning Mass, minding our own business, when four of the dogs came out of nowhere.  They were snarling and barking as they ran at us.  We were both very surprised, as the dogs are supposed to be put away before 6:15.  Actually, one of us screamed.  I will leave it to you to judge who was guilty of that offense.  ¨POR QUE?!!!¨ One of the Sisters came to our aid just in time, as the circle of territorial canines had us surrounded.  As soon as she clapped her hands, they ignored us completely! We could have been rocks for all the interest they showed.  It was like an instant demon to angel transformation.  

For my final wildlife anecdote, I observed while walking to the Nutrition Center a bunch of cows grazing, and it made me slightly homesick. Who would have thought that the sight of a bovine would be so powerful?  Although, it was unusual and slightly comical to see a Holstein munching next to banana trees.  But the people here like to use cheese and and other dairy products, so it makes sense that there would be cows in the area.

I am not worried about my safety, but I was up late one night, alone in my room when I heard the noise of someone walking outside my window, and it made me uncomfortable.  My first thought was of the night watchman, but he doesn´t make that much noise, so then I thought perhaps the dogs were digging around in the lawn.  There are coconuts as a decorative border around the flowerbeds, and the dogs like to dig them up sometimes.  But whatever was making this noise was right outside my window, and it was too big to be a dog.  So I turned the handle of my shutters a small bit, just so I could peek out, and what did I see but two cows eating my favorite flower bush.  I don´t know what I expected to see, but it certainly wasn´t two huge cows.  

Then my dilemma began.  I knew that cows don´t belong on the lawn, destroying a beautiful flower bush, but at the same time, I don´t know where they do belong.  Besides that, I had no way to get them there, and these Bessies have some serious looking horns.  It was too late to wake anyone up, and even though the dogs did not mind the cows, I wasn´t interested in another encounter by myself.  What really helped my decision was seeing the stereotypical black bull trampling through the flowers.  I have no desire to get on the bad side of a bull.  So, I banged on the metal window with a book.  They moved away a bit, but I still went to sleep with the sounds of cows around me.  

But enough about animals, because I want to tell you about the children.

Because this is October, it is the month of the rosary, and so every day, at the Center, the children gather to pray a decade of the rosary.  I really look forward to this part of the day, because everyone except the babies comes together.  All the children and adults sit on the tile floor together with their classes.  There is my class, four year olds who have a hard time sitting still, the better behaved three year olds, and the little two year old toddlers.  Sometimes, the ladies who care for the babies bring the ones who aren´t napping.  The ladies who work in the kitchen and the ladies who clean, as well as the men take a break from work and pray together.

But we don´t just pray.

I am beginning to seriously doubt the possibility of any activity here that doesn´t include some form of music.  Music is a part of the culture, which is very interesting for me to see.  So we begin with a few songs.  The teachers take their instruments, several tambourines, and a couple toy drums, and we begin.  There is another instrument, but I forgot the name.  It resembles a kitchen grater, and the stick that is rubbed across it to produce sound reminds me of a peeler.  Why they look like kitchen tools, I cannot say, but they do.  The combined sounds of all the simple instruments is amazing.  The drum that is used is exactly like the one my brothers play with, but the way Miranda uses it, I would never guess that it is a kids toy.   Those of us without instruments clap our hands, and so we all participate.  

Many kids have heard the songs often, so they join in with great gusto. When they don´t know the all the words, they make up for it in volume with those they do know.  After a song or two, we begin to pray.

Each lady has a day to lead, but then about four children are selected to help lead.  They stand in front of the group, and say the beginning part of the prayers, while everyone else responds.  Once again, the ability of four year olds amazes me. There are almost 90 children when everyone is present, so leading prayer is impressive.  

It is hard for four year olds to sit still for ten minutes, so some of the kids are usually moving around during prayer time.  Recently, I have begun to have a child or two pray with me.  They sit either right next to me, or on my lap and we clap our hands together when we sing, and fold them when it is time to pray.  So far, it has worked for some of the antsy kids who need something to do.  The only drawback to this approach is that I can only have so many children on top of me at one time.  Once or twice I had to stop them from fighting over praying with me, so that was a little counterproductive.

I have not stopped my wonder at the joy of the children.  Of course, now that I have been here for a longer period of time, I have seen the tears, the small tantrums, the teasing, but still, overall, they are really happy kids.  In the mornings, I walk past two three tables of the two and three year olds before I reach my class, and every time, at least some of them jump out of their benches and run to hug me.  There is no reason why, they just feel like it, and I am perfectly happy to oblige.

I have to go now, because this is the Jubilee Weekend.  we are celebrating 99 years of Schoenstatt, so there are going to be several thousand pilgrims here tomorrow, which is keeping me busy.  You are all in my prayers.

Love,

Claire