Soooo, what does that title mean you ask? It means "kid's day". You know how in the states we have a Mother's day and Father's day and all that? Well, here, there's a Kid's day, you know for the sons and daughters, to celebrate them all. Not sure how convinced I am that this place needs this holiday. Total side note about what I think about the culture here: the kids are spoiled rotten! Argentines are very relational and verrrrry loving of their kids. I think the idea of discipline is really off-putting for them. Not that they're all horrible or that parents don't discipline at all, it's just certainly not at the level there is in the states....I'm not even sure I'm in accordance with the level these days is in the states! Haha! Also, to be a mother and father, you have to work hard! Not sure that there's really anything about being a kid worth celebrating? Life is awesome already!
But, all that to say, I loved kid's day. Not the holiday, or even the idea behind it as I explained. But I loved what the church did. They had a giant, carnival-type celebration! It reminded me of the Harvest Party Halloween alternative my church would put on or just any kind of game-day at my church.
The saturday before, we went to the church and helped set up. It was wonderful! I don't know if I've enjoyed serving with a church body this much since... my home church! (Never found a church at college that I really enjoyed through and through.) It was space-themed, so we spent the entire afternoon and evening decorating with space ships, stars, planets, satellites, etc.
Then the next day was super awesome! Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures because my camera died at the second photo, buttt it was legit. Trust me!
That's right. There was a buzz lightyear. AND facepaint. I got the job of going around to the games with one of the kids that came from a local orphanage. I totally accepted without a thought, that's something that'd be ideal for me back in the states. But, as soon as I tried to go up to kids and ask if I could help them, I knew it would be a lot more difficult than I expected. I felt so insufficient with the language. I was slow to speak and it was definitely hard to understand me. I finally, with the help of a swell Argentine, was matched up with a little boy named Mateo. He was about 4 or 5 but he was so tiny! He was precious and I was so mad my camera was dead, otherwise I would've taken ten billion photos of him, I'm sure! He was definitely a stinker. He was super impatient and wouldn't wait in line with me for the games and would just take off when we were next in line to play. It was so frustrating and I kept having to explain to him that he had to play all the games in order to get the prizes at the end. Haha, but he was precious. He sat on my lap during the time of worship and held my hand randomly. He kept showing his little friends how many points he had gotten in each game. It was adorable in every way. At one point, towards the end of our time together, he tugged on my shirt so I could bend down and hear him scream in my ear over the blaring spanish tunes and he said, "Why do you talk so weird?" I told him that I wasn't from here, I wasn't from Buenos Aires. He asks, "Why don't you talk like us?" and I said I was from the United States and that we speak English. Then I said hello (in english). And he told me "You guys don't speak well like us." That was the most presh-est moment I've had here. I really can't even think of the right words to describe it. It touched my heart, made me laugh, and was a little humbling all at the same time.
Wish I could share more of what that weekend meant to me, but I don't even know the right words. I felt like I was finally fitting in and at the same time I felt like a total outsider still, observing all the cultural ways. That's how I feel like 80% of the time here these days. Accustomed but not. Just trying to take it allllll in, every. single. bit of it. :)
Chau for now!
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