Good Friday

We were up a little before six today. A lot to do. We had chilaquiles for breakfast: tortillas, tomato sauce, crema, and cheese. A nice solid breakfast for a long day.

We left for La Antorche about 8:00. The bus, which had always been an hour early was 15 minutes late. We wanted to get visitas in before the 10:00 Via Crucis, the way of the cross. I made it to three homes, which I will describe in detail...or as much as I can, since my Spanish is limited and I missed some of the details.

Our first stop was at the home of Jose Alfredo. He is separated from his wife and although he has children who want him to move, he says he likes La Antorcha. He invites us to sit on this patio, which is also his dining room. His house, like many is made of what looks like might have been a beaver-board insulation for under corrugated roofing, held onto the wooden structures using bottle caps and nails. The roof of the porch is a little of everything, netting, wire, some insulation material. His table cloth is an old shower curtain. The chairs don't match nor do the glasses as he offers us water. You can see into his house, which might be 12 X 12 feet...probably less. The floor is dirt. The full size bed sits on cinder blocks. There is a stove on cinder blocks, which works because he made himself coffee. The stove is on the wall opposite the bed...with only about 2 feet to spare between the two. There is a small refrigerator also on cinder blocks, which is probably used for storage, since the town has no electricity. He like all the people here came with the hope of owning their own property. He has tools inside the door and says he does auto body work or painting. He has an old truck in the back he is working on.

Our next stop is Cleo. She lives alone with her six month old grandson, Roy. Her house is made of cardboard nailed to wooden shipping pallets. It might be 10X10. Sheets of tin are tied to the roof. She has a couple of chickens in the yard and two dogs. She has three daughters. The one daughter is in a mental hospital, Roy is her son. She doesn't know who the father is, so it seems there may have been some abuse in the hospital. Cleo has paid about $100 as a deposit for land. She is waiting for the permanent location with will cost about $1000 total. She has lived in La Antorcha for about three months. She would like to have Roy baptized. We did some asking around and hopefully that will happen on Easter Sunday since a priest is coming with us.

Patty was the last person we spoke to. She has three children. The roof of her house was black plastic sheeting. The walls were the insulation board that makes up many of the homes in La Antorcha. Her children have all been baptized. We invite her to the services. All these people have come to this area with one hope: to own land and make a better live for themselves and their children. They were warm, friendly and accepting of us. The boys will tell you about their visitas when they get home, but they will be the same. Stories of incredible poverty and incredible hospitality. It was a very emotional day.

The via cruces began pretty much on time. There were a good number a villagers there and the number grew as we wound our way through the streets. The exalumnos did a wonderful job with the stations. A couple of our boys had minor parts. The love to crucify us! Something about pale northerners on a cross! The kids did a great job and it was very moving. There are a ton of pictures on flickr.

After the via cruces we had Good Friday liturgy. Our church was a shaded path next to the arroyo. There was a really good turn-out. The veneration of the cross is always very powerful. I am not sure all of our kids had ever experienced it. But they were moved by the tears of the old Mexican women as they approached the cross. The mothers with children in arms, bringing their little ones to kiss the food of the cross.

We finished that part of the day by playing with the little kids.

We arrived back at school to pretty much do the same thing all over again. The village was much more powerful, but it was nice to be with the Fraternities and some of the family members.

We had spaghetti for dinner and quesadillas with nopales. Yum!

Now we are hosting a little retreat here with people from our Fraternities.