Teaching in Sebastian Cabot School

What a tremendous schedule these Sisters keep! They put me to shame, but of course, they are much younger. I probably ran circles around them when I was their age. It has been a great experience. I spent last week with the Sister in charge of Campus Ministries. She has a ready smile and is very kind. She and I prepared a retreat for 6th graders. There are 3 classes of each grade (6-A, B, C)with about 30 students in each. We had their retreat on a Thursday during the day. She also had a high school retreat on Saturday--all day long. I was invited to attend a "Promoter of Vocations" workshop instead of helping Sister Karla. It was wonderful.

Today I stayed with the English teacher. She is not a religious Sister but she has been teaching English for 12 years. Her accent is very strong and she tends to pronouce some of the words as she knows best. For example, they were studying pets. She said, "dog" and they were to say the word "puppy" but instead they pronounced it "poopy"...oops! She figured that the u was long instead of short. Oh, boy! Nice lady, though. I stayed with her for all of her 5 fifty minute classes. How exhausting!

Just wanted to share with you!

Friday, September 17th Feast of St. Robert Bellarmine

Today was a good day...as far as getting more sleep. We didn't have a priest in the convent chapel and since school has not started we were allowed to sleep in until 7:00 a.m.

Got up and had time for a non-rushed shower, etc. Prayed my Lauds privately and the bell rang for breakfast. In the dining room we have our own designated place. I wrote the names of the Sisters that sit near me so that I can call them by name: Martha, Vicki, Aurora, Patti, me and the Superior General who is still out on vacation in the USA--her name is Madre Alicia. The tables are long, so then there is: Elena, Martha Fabiola, Lupita, Bernarda, Mayra, Irma. They are so nice.

For breakfast we had: fruit (always plenty of fruit available), hot oatmeal, scrambled eggs, beans, tortillas, and cafe de la olla (delicious coffee with cinnamon and hot milk). We just had lunch after our "Visit to the Blessed Sacrament" which lasts 15 min. We gather at 1:45 and pray some beautiful prayers...many directed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus because He is their patron...and then we have a brief examination of conscience and then the bell rings for lunch. For lunch: a round slice of pineapple first. Then a piece of fish (wrapped and baked in foil), beans, a potato salad and a piece of birthday cake for dessert--it was Sister Lupita's birthday.

Ordinarily we will be getting up at 5:00 a.m. Lauds and Mass at 6:00, breakfast at 6:30, leave for school at 6:45. School is 15 min away and it starts at 7:00 a.m. We will return at 3:30. We will eat lunch then. At 6:30 is Vespers (evening prayers). At 7:00 is dinner and after dinner I will try to teach E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) to those Sisters who wish to learn English. I have a list of "volunteers" already. By 10:00 pm go to sleep.

Every Thursday at 6:30 to 7:30 we will have a Holy Hour. We eat dinner and after dinner we will pray "Complines". Saturdays and Sundays we will have pretty much the same schedule except we will rise at 7:00 a.m. and pray at 8:15 a.m.

I have not gotten ill with the food because I am faithfully drinking Airborne daily. Monica Sandoval recommended I do that instead of avoiding food or being so very careful. So far so good.

I love the Sisters. They are so very nice. There is a Sister with the beginning of Alzheimers and she just follows me and asks me if I am OK and if I have any needs. She walks all over town--FAST!

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Well, last night I saw tremendous fireworks from the Sisters' convent roof top. We were all like little "pollitos" (baby chicks) and screaming our heads off as the huge fireworks exploded over our heads..."mejicanos locos" (crazy Mexicans)!! Lucero (a very popular singer) was down below in the center plaza belting out some of her big songs. The celebration went on until 2 or 3 a.m. Dear Lord! These people celebrate. The "Viva Mexico!" cry was heard into the wee hours.

Around 7 pm we were invited by another convent to come join them to celebrate "el grito" (the cry of independence). They told the Sisters to bring some drama outfits as they were going to do a "desfile"(parade) and the works with the country's flag. Off we went in two vans. We got there and the Sisters (same order...about 12 who teach in the "colegio central" -- there are 25 here with many of them teaching about 15 minutes away in "colegio Sebastian Cabot, where I will go on Monday) were watching on TV the celebrations going on in Mexico City. Oh, my goodness! It was like watching the opening of the Olympics! We finished watching and the Sisters dressed up in their costumes...Miguel Hidalgo, Josefa, and other heroes of history. They were extremely serious in the showing of the flag colors and in the singing of their national hymn. It was nice.

That convent is so very beautiful. Ours is baroque and theirs is more modern but still palatial. We played games, had instantly formed teams to entertain us: some of us sang, some pantomime, some did comedy acts. They had a Karaoke machine and we tried singing silly songs. We laughed like crazy ladies. The majority of the Sisters is very young and only some are elderly. The infirmed Sisters live in another town. Finally...around 10 pm we finally ate dinner--we started with fresh, delicious "tunas" (the cactus fruit)...they were already peeled and very cold, full of seeds but delicious and then we had a bowl of posole with tostadas.

A young Sister drove the van. Well, on our way back, around 11 pm we got disoriented and lost due to the great number of cars all parked and double parked. The cobbled streets are narrow and then with the many cars and people walking and not wanting to move....oh, boy! We got stuck and wedged in an impossible situation. The Sister was ready to cry. A man came over and told her to relax and he would guide us. We got home around 11:40 and went directly to the roof top to watch the midnight fireworks. Awesome! Incredible.

Up at 5:00 a.m. and to Lauds and Mass at 6:00 and breakfast. I love praying Lauds in Spanish. The Sisters pray and sing loud and clear. The kitchen Sisters...I doubt that they slept. They cut up fruit and had everything ready for breakfast. We had papaya, Mexican sweet bread, papitas fritas (little fried potatoes), frijoles, scrambled eggs and tortillas, chile...always chile!

I'm going to clean my room. Due to whatever...the weather, the age of the house or whatever, I've already killed 2 cockroaches the size of my thumb! The critters are huge. They crack when I step on them. Yuck!

It's so funny to turn my clock radio on and every station has SPANISH music!

Step One: Spending a Year in Mexico -- Sept. 14, 2010 until July 14, 2011

My flight from PDX to Phoenix was smooth and no problems. My arrival from Phoenix to Mexico City was a little scary when we went through clouds which were full of thunder and lightning and lots of rain. In Mexico City (huge city) I had to go to another terminal and so I kept asking for directions. Finally I got on a bus to take me to the terminal but they charged $2 pesos so by the time I went into my purse to get the money a young adult standing by told me that he had covered the cost. I said a prayer for him! We boarded a tiny shuttle plane to Zacatecas...time was one hour. In Portland they did not weigh my suitcases. The suitcases went straight from PDX to ZAC and in ZAC they did not open my suitcases at all. They asked me the usual questions and I said that I had nothing to declare and that was that! I am so blessed!!

In Zacatecas my suitcases did not arrive in the same area...all foreigners had their luggage in another room. I saw the two Sisters,Daughters of the Sacred Heart and St. Mary of Guadalupe, waiting in the waiting area but I could not get to them. I finally went through customs and no problems...found the Sisters again. They came with a chauffeur and he loaded my suitcases and it took us 10 min to get to the house.

The Sisters prepared hot milk (I added coffee to it), sweet bread, and a hot quesadilla. I ate and went to my room and went to bed. My bedroom is on the first floor. It is their guest room. It has two twin beds. It is very beautiful. I have a TV (don't know if it works!) and a private bathroom with shower and all. The house is gorgeous! I'll send pictures later.

Next morning I got up at 6 am. I heard all 25 Sisters praying office real loud and clear. They have about 45 min of meditation together too. No Mass in chapel today as the priests were invited to celebrate Mass at the cathedral at noon with the bishop. Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows but that feast had to be set aside to preach about the bicentennial of the country. Tomorrow is Independence Day and all the streets are blocked in downtown for the fireworks, music, festivities.

At 7 pm we are leaving to join another convent as they are putting on some ornate decorations, dramas, food, etc. to celebrate Independence.

I'm very tired. My body is not ready to enter full force into their schedule. School starts on Monday. They rise at 5:00 a.m., have Lauds at 6:00 and Mass follows...just like us. They leave for school at 6:45 as it starts at 7 and they return at 3:00. Meals are served at 7 - 2 - 7. This is a bit different from our schedule there.

Must sleep now.