Amigos

My life has become one of kicks and conversations. During the week I reciever kicks--mostly figuratively but occasionally a good hard blow to the shins. At the beginning of the day, when five-year-old Brenda comes giggling into my arms with her hair perfectly prepared for the coming day, the air smells of promise. By the afternoon, when four-year-old Miguel, who everyone calls Mike, falls asleep on my lap in the sweaty van while all the others bump against each other in a tired daze, the day ripens into contentment. When the kids get cranky around six and want food for their ever-greedy bellies and two boys get in a fight over a piece of candy, my feeble brain has no more desire to comunicate in this beautifuly complicated language. I just tattle to one of the women and stand back, waiting to administer first aid when it is needed. These mujeres love the children with an unashamed tenderness. They run the orphanage like a fat man runs a diner--it may be dirty and disorganized, but everything works out and everyone gets fed. What is more, the care with which they treat their customers demonstrates why God intended women to care for children and fat guys to make burgers.

After five days, all I want to do is talk to someone who will have the patience to understand me without running off to make dinner or start crying. Enter: Los jovenes. In the church of over a thousand people is a group of young students and workers who meet to sudy the Bible and have fun. In these men and women I have found my power source like the Green Lantern's mystic green flame that gives force to his ring. They welcome me and treat me like one of their own, asking questions, repeating themselves five times while my stony brain diciphers their coded words, and waiting patiently as I regurgitate my broken, jigsaw-puzzle sentences. The amazing thing is that many, if not most, are recent Christians. I watched as many of them recieved baptism yesterday, praising God and filling me with doubts about the reality of my own faith but also hope for the future. Teri, my hostess, Emanuel, Checo, Nora, Rox, and the others fill the gap that God knew would open up in my heart. Emanuel will take me up into the mountains to hike. Teri will make sure that I don't do anything stupid. And Checo will show me that my struggle to be bilingual will end in victory.